4/13/2013, 4/14/2013 Creeks and Ponds

Amanda and I fished a local creek Saturday morning. Most of the creeks were over their banks, however after driving around for a little bit we found a stretch of creek that was still running clear, high but clear. We put the kayaks in around noon and fished until dark. Water temps ranged from 52 to 55 degrees. The winds were ripping real hard (20+ MPH), couple that with the higher than normal flow and it made for some very interesting fishing. We started out looking for areas of slack water, current breaks made by boulders or fallen trees. We figured that the fish would be stacked up in these areas trying to conserve energy, also we thought that we could fish slack water with more control. The bite was slower than it has been, but we managed just over 30 crappie, 6 largemouth, and 4 bluegill. I threw chigger craws, rooster tails, bobby garland baby shad, crankbaits, jigs, and minnows at them. Minnows were only productive when we jigged them vertically, the wind was too bad to fish them under floats.

The biggest fish of the day was a 16.5" largemouth that went just at 2lbs.

I took a quick picture of it on the measuring board for the kayak wars tournament and then paddled over to Amanda for a better picture. After watching Amanda slay the crappie, I decided to try for a kayak wars crappie.....12" minimum. Well after 17 crappie the day was almost over and I fell short of the 12" mark. My largest crappie of the day was 11.75", a heartbreaker.

Sunday 4/14/2013

Sunday Rylan, Amanda, and I loaded the car up with the kayaks and decided to hit a few ponds in the Shawnee State Forest. My game plan was to throw a black and blue jig with a Berkley Chigger Craw and then throw an F5 Rapala original floating minnow when I wasn't near structure. Rylan went with a more proactive approach and decided to throw a swimbait. Amanda had a few dozen minnows and her game plan was to throw a float out with a minnow, and then jig a small plastic around while she waited for a fish to bite. We started fishing around 10:30am and fished until dark...8:30pm.

Rylan did significantly better than I at the first two ponds, he managed a few bass in the 13-15" range. On the other hand I managed a few bass under the 12" mark and to be honest all of which came off of the Rapala. We found out that the bass were not holding to structure yet, rather sitting right on the edge of the bank or cruising the middle of the ponds. Once we figured this out I started tossing the Rapala everywhere, even out in the middle. I ended up catching a few 8" bluegill and over over a dozen small bass.

On the third and final pond I found a few crappie and told Amanda about where I had caught them. She quickly anchored up and started to wear the crappie out. All of which were in the 10-11" range. I continued up the bank continuously casting a jig and then switching to the Rapala. About a half hour before dark the bite picked up and I managed my first bass over 14" and then a crappie just over 12".

Shortly after releasing my crappie I heard Amanda yell over and stated that she had a crappie over a pound. So I paddled down to her to see what she had caught.....seriously doubting that she had a crappie over a pound, maybe a half-pounder. Sure enough she had landed a 13" crappie that weighed 1lb 1oz. So I then gave her my camera to take a picture for the Kayak Wars tournament and it happened. The fish made a few good flops and overboard it went. Luckily for me she held onto the camera. It was at this point I realized that not only was that worth points in the tournament, but that was her new personal best crappie and she didn't get a picture. She was pretty upset, but she continued on. As we were paddling back we all discussed what we had caught. Amanda had landed 25 crappie and 2 largemouth; Rylan had landed 6 largemouth (4 over a pound) and 1 crappie; and I had landed 17 largemouth (1 over a pound), 8 crappie, and 6 bluegill.....all in 10  hours of fishing. Not quite as good as we had in the creeks the week before but we were happy to get out and try some new water.

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