Here’s one of the two lb bass I’ve been catching.  Caught this one on a Berkley paddle tail shad minnow. 

I was really looking for the big crappie again and on the fifth cast of the day, I caught this bass.  I thought I was going to have a really good day.  But, as luck would have it…he was my only bass for the day. 

I did manage to catch a few crappie and one fairly nice one but the rest were mostly small.

Then, the wind started up and it got cold in a hurry.  I knew a cold front was coming in and I had dressed for it, but the bite just went dead.  The wind was so bad my line had a large bow in it and I couldn’t tell when or if I had a bite.  My little two man boat just kept swaying around in the wind that made things worse.  I kept at it anyway but all I could muster up was a few small crappie.  They were caught on the rust colored tube with the slip bobber.  In spite of the wind, I could see the bobber go under and that helped.  My goal could not be reached today either. 

I hope that there will still be some better days before I start my annual equipment cleaning and line changing.  Tight Lines.

Jim

I tried for some of the big crappie again today but only caught the smaller ones, however, I did catch several very nice bluegill.  All hand size and on light tackle.  They were hitting on the rust colored tube and were putting up a good fight for their size. 

I was using a slip bobber this time as it doesn’t make make as loud a noise when it hits the water.  This proved to be more effective because the fish weren’t spooked as they apparently were when I was using a clip-on bobber.  The water is only 5′ deep so this is very important.  I first tried at 3′ with no takers.  Then I tried 4 1/2 ‘ and this, being just off the bottom was effective. 

The bluegill were all hand sized as shown in a previous photo.  And the crappie were all in the 7" range.  There are some big slabs in the lake.  I know this because I caught some this spring.  They’re not plentiful  but there are some in the 12-14" range.  I’ll keep trying until it gets too cold for me to be out there.

I couldn’t stay out long because it started to rain and in this chilly air, I didn’t want to risk getting wet and cold.  No sense to catch pneumonia.  Hopefully, I’ll have some more good weather in the next few weeks before the real cold sets in.  Well, tight lines.

Jim

Have you ever caught channel cats on a fly rod?  Well, believe me it is fun!The one below, however was caught on a jig and Berkley craw in brown and orange.  I was fishing for the elusive large crappie in the pond, but again I failed to locate them.  I did manage to catch some of the smaller crappie but gave up when it was  getting late in the day when I switched to hunt for bass.  I manage to catch only two bass, a four lb and a two lb on the jig and craw and the cat shown.  The cats were 3-4 lbs. 

I used a tripod to hold and point the camera.  But when I tried to capture the bass with the camera for a picture, I didn’t realize that the sun was at my back and all I got was a bright washout for a picture. 

Catching the cats on the fly rod was a real blast, they just don’t want to give up.  I caught them on a orange Strike KIng baby craw pre rigged on a #6 hook.  I was using it to probe for bass or large crappie under the over hanging shoreline brush.  It seems that the orange color is the preferred color lately.  Well, I’ll keep trying and having fun.  Tight lines.

Jim

My primary purpose yesterday was to try to locate the biggest crappie in the pond.  Using my favorite tubes and the ‘’swimmin Minnow" on my fly rod, I caught several crappie, but none of the slabs.  They were all in the 7-8" class.  I never use live minnows or other live baits for them and maybe that’s the reason I didn’t catch any.  However, I’ve caught several crappie in the 10-12" range before and on my tubes and other small jigs.  I just can’t seem to find them.  They usually school together, i.e., larger fish with larger fish and smaller… but there are some slabs in the 14 " range and that’s my goal.

I only had three hours to fish before I had to be home so, I decided to go for some bass in the last hour.  I caught five nice bass ranging from 1 lb to 2 lbs, (12" to 15") and they were aggressive.  These were all caught on the Zoom ribbon tail worm in pumpkinseed.  Huh!  The baby craw got me nothing!  Well, that goes to show that you can’t always predict what they’ll be hitting on.  No bragging size fish today, but fun none  the less.  I’ll try again on Monday if the weather holds up.

Nice to be retired.  By the way I’m retired from the U.S. Air Force and on social security and from my civilian career after the Air Force.  This is a plug for the Air Force.  All you young people thinking of starting a career, think Air Force.  There are many opportunities there and an education for those who want to get ahead in life but can’t afford to go to college on your own. I  studied with the USAFI program and received my college GED, I had a career and got invaluable experience and now I have my Air Force pension, (for the last 34 years and I’m looking to the future for more).  I also receive medical insurance (Tricare) and Medicare now.  Of course, while still in the service, my whole family had excellent medical care. There will be difficult times but the rewards are great.  I would do it again.  And it’s the patriotic thing to do as we all know.

Tight Lines.

Jim

I went out again yesterday, 10-13-08, but this time to see if I could find some of the larger crappie.  I did manage to catch several crappie but none in the bragging size.  However, I thought you might be interested in how catfish are also prey to crappie tubes.  The tubes shown are my favorite.  The rust color is also my favorite.

Most crappie fishermen will usually tell you that chartuse, green, or  white tubes will catch you the most.  I do not agree.  Yes, sometimes they will work and probably often in some lakes.  I find that the rust color shown catches more fish especially in dirty water.  They kind of look like small crawfish.

I often catch channel cats when I’m fishing for crappie using the "swimmin Minnow, or the tube shown.  Also, if your state allows, fish two tubes like shown here and you will sometimes catch doubles.  More fun! 

I’ve tried other tubes and jigs in various colors and I have many to choose from, but these give me the most consistent catch. 

I did try for a while to catch some bass later in the day from 4:30 P.M. until 5:30 P.M.  I tried the wave worm, a Zoom ribbon tail worm, and a watermelon jig with a Berkley 2" ribbon tail.  No bites. 

Switched to my baby craw and caught a couple of small bass.  No big ones today. 

When I’ fishing using the tubes I rig it with a slip bobber to a depth of from 3′ to 5′ depending on where they seem to be; away from shore to right next to shore.  In shallow water a snap on bobber works just as well, but the slip bobber is lighter and makes less of a splash which can spook the crappie.

And I often just let the jig just work by itself if there is a ripple on the water caused by the wind.  That  keeps the tentacles moving.  When there is no ripple I twitch the bobber slightly moving it along till its back to the boat.  That’s it for now.

Tight lines.

Jim

This nice bass was 22" long and weighed about 6 lbs.  I didn’t have my de liar with me so I’m just guessing based on the average weight for fish of that length.   He was also caught on the Yum baby craw in much the same way as was the channel cat.  Again, I saw some water movement under some overhanging brush.  I was able to pitch to him however, to just get near the swirling water.  I didn’t want to cast right on top of him but about a foot and half away.  Again, the water was about two feet deep and the bait was weightless.  I had just retied the lure and I’m thankful that I did.  Catfish have a way of fraying the line with their rasp like teeth.  This fish didn’t want anything to do with being caught and put up a mighty struggle.  Real fun!  I was using the same rod and reel as with the channel cat.  And, by the way, all these fish are still swimming.  I keep them out of the water as  short a time as possible.

This channel was a nice four pounder, and really put up a struggle.

This is the Yum baby craw in watermelon pumkin seed that caught the bass and the channel cat.  As I said before, "if you don’t have any, get some", they’re great for fishing and often out fish the plastic worm and the wave worm.

I saw some water movement under this brush overhang indicating a feeding fish.  And sure enough the nice 4 lb channel cat was just waiting for my Baby Craw to dine on.  I’m using a 6 1/2 ft Rapala spinning rod and my Abu Garcia 304 spinning reel with 8 lb test line to skip the Yum  under the overhang just one foot from the shore under the brush and…bang!  I had to haul him away from the roots under the brush and get him away from shore to ensure that the fish didn’t break off, which is often the case.  Skipping onto the target with a lure is difficult, but with practice, anyone can do it.  It pays off after you’ve mastered it but, you will often get snagged until you have.  Don’t be discouraged, keep trying.  I was tossing the lure weightless as the water there is only about two feet deep.

Another picture of the best bass this year.