Chickamauga crappie hunt - 3/20/07

[Liveliner]

Slow day with the crappie widely scattered. That last little cold snap we had seems to have driven the Crappie away from the banks and blowdowns even on deep banks. I fish several docks and trees with no luck. Moved back to my old standard. I fished the wide open water in the CF bay in 8' to 12'. Found bait and found the crappie holding under the bait suspended near the bottom. Most of what I was catching was in water deeper than six feet below the surface.

I was fishing by sight again. It works even on slow days. I used my side scan again to find the fish and then I would cast to where the fish was. I even cast to single fish and caught most of them. I caught approximately forty crappie most of which were less than 10 1/2" long therefore they went back into the lake for another day. I generally only keep crappie 11" or over if they are fat and healthy. I ended up with 12 keepers that were 11" to 13". I could not find the slabs today. What I did catch averaged about One pound each. (See the scale in the pic). And oh yeah, Yellow Stripe out the Yen-yang'

In addition to the crappie I caught a 3lb channel Cat, more than a dozen bluegill, one of the prettiest Sun Perch I have ever seen, two bass landed, one big didn't see it and the lighlight of the day was a LM Bass that had to weigh a minimum Seven pounds. I got it to the edge of the boat on a small crappie jig head and 4# line on my ultra-lite. I saw it very well but the hook poped out as I was trying to lip it. I wanted so much to get a CFF pic of that big guy.

It rained for about about 30 minutes and ran most everyone off the water. but I stuck it out untill Dark:Thirty

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the report LL! What model side scan are you using?

 

[Liveliner]

Man you are quick on the post there Mr Haun. I think you had that ready before I hit "send".

I have an old unit that I used in the late Eighties on my Vision Bass boat. Worked great then and works great now. It is a Hummingbird Wide-Eye. The graphics are not the latest but they do very well in showing bait fish, limbs in the water from overhanging trees, limbs off logs in the water, brush piles, mud and gravel bars, shallow banks and will show fish hidden in the brush or in the trees. It will show fish holding on shallow bars. It will even spot fish on a bed up to 120' away. Think I am kidding? Don't bet on it. Why do you think I would remove a $500.00 Lowrance unit to install this little ole Wide-Eye on my ProLine. David you can relate to this. When seeking the Redfish in the saltwater flats when they are not "Tailing" I can see them and stay with them.

If I had not had that unit with me I promise My creel would have been only a fraction of what I caught. At least 80% of what I caught was by sight and casting to it.

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the info LL. I can understand the benefits having a side scan unit, especially reading your posts - Thanks for sharing that info! I think mine is a 20 degree Humminbird 535 on my boat. I have seen the recent ads for wider side-scan capabilites - some look almost like images of sunken ships...you can even make out the masts. I'm impressed at the technology today, but also interested in a cheap side scan off ebay...Thanks again for the info. emoThumbsup

 

[MrWiskers]

Today I ordered a Humminbird 797C SI. Should be here tomorrow. It is the smaller unit with the side imaging, GPS, built in maps, etc. Hope to have it installed and on the water this weekend. I will post a product review once I get some hours on it. Should be sweet.

 

[Liveliner]

The Wide-Eye is designed for two transducers with a "A - B" switch. I have a transom mount dual beam down transducer with narrow and wide angle beams and a TM mounted Transducer that has a single down beam plus sideviewing scanners on each side of the transducer. You can switch from down view to side view with the push of one button. Or you can view only the left or only the right side or both sides at once. I did not need the rear transom transducer so it is not installed at this time. I am only using the front one since that is all I need for fishing. I have a console GPS/Sounder for running.

There are some units out there that are Wide view. They have a down sonar that shows a broad area or dual beams that show fish in the narrow beam as solid and fish in the wider beam as hollow images. They were advertised as being able to see slightly out to the sides of your boat as the water gets deeper. But they do not look horizontal and parellel to the surface. I can spot an oak leaf floating on the surface. In fact, A floating partially submerged object is the only thing that fools me. I have thrown at a many a floating leaf.

 

[bigorange]

I have an old wide-eye 3-d I use for trolling walleye. I have used it so much that I can tell if it's a keeper walleye on the screen. I'm just getting into catching crappie. Looks like I got a good sonar for the job.bigorange

 

[Liveliner]

Welcome to the forum Big Orange. You sure do. I could give you stories that go back twenty years on side-view Crappie fishing. It works for schooling fish when nothing else does. If you have one you know what i am talking about in spotting fish in brush and in the water near the banks.emoThumbsup emoThumbsup