Monday Crappie fishing on the Chick 2-12-07

[drumking]

I got out today around 11:30 for a little Crappie fishing since I hadn't been on the water in several days. What a great day for me. I went to the river and started out in a little cove just off the main river. I stayed there about 30 minutes and caught 4 yellow bass and 4 keeper Crappie.

Went on upriver a ways and found a mother lode. The fish were about 20-30 yards from the main river channel. I was sitting in 20 feet and over a huge ball of threadfin shad. The crappie were just underneath them. I counted 17 keepers which I culled down to 15. Might as well get used to the new limit. I probably caught 35-40 crappie. I had 3 of them that weighed 1.5 pound each. The rest were around 1 pound or slightly under a pound. I used tube jigs and panfish assassins. I caught the most on tubes, but the largest ones came on the assassins.

I also caught 2 nice white bass and 3 bluegills. I found the water temp in the river to be between 46.8 and 49 degrees. Back in the little cove the temp was 50 degrees. The crappie were full of 2" threadfin shad. I counted down to 1000/8 before slowly gliding the jigs back to the boat. I am including pics of the fish, fillets and the proper way to rig the panfish assassin. It is on a 1/32 oz bleeding hook jig tied to 4 lb test hi vis yellow line.

 

[DHaun]

Great report King! Thanks for the tip on rigging the Assassin too - I lost a nice crappie yesterday fishing with one...probably due to inadequate hook exposure.

 

[fishinvol]

Great day Drumking!! Hope everything is going better for you and your family as well! I now realize I have been rigging my assasins wrong(nothing new there),but I now know the proper way. Learn something new everyday. Glad you got to get out on this warm winter day!! I am stuck in the hospital(home away from home) hangin out.emoThumbsup

 

[rsimms]

You are "The Man."

'nuff said.

emoThumbsup

 

[Buoy-Master]

Theres those Bass Assassins! Polo got me using them awhile back.

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From the looks of what your catchin, I need to go! </p>

Nice day on the water DK! =

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[Jmax]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!emoWorthy I needed to be with you. I did not find them like you did. the next time you have an empty seat or would want to fill my empty seat give me a Pm and maybe you can show me how to catch a few. Nice going there Drumking.emoThumbsup Jmax

 

[Jack]

Nice mess of fish!!!emoThumbsup emoWorthy emoThumbsup

I could have "stomped" every fish I caught on 02/11 in the Wife's kitchen floor, and not have a "mess"......

Good Pics!!

 

[slo-ride]

wtg, drumking emoThumbsup those are some good'uns!
never fished an assassin rigged like that..i'll be sure to try it.
btw, do you rig them the same when you're bream fishing?

 

[shocker]

way to go Mr DK nice mess of fish. RS is right, U R D man........

 

[Liveliner]

Thanks DK Great reports like that one will keep the 46 people that are online with us right now coming back for more.emoThumbsup emoThumbsup emoThumbsup You got me wanting to go tonight. I may just hook up and fish tomorrow in the rain.

 

[DHaun]

Liveliner - 2/12/2007 8:21 PM

Thanks DK Great reports like that one will keep the 46 people that are online with us right now comming back for more.emoThumbsup emoThumbsup emoThumbsup You got me wanting to go tonight. I may just hook up and fish tomorrow in the rain.

Well said LL - For those unaware of why CFF exists, Fishing Reports keep CFF going! I know things are slow on the water (for some) right now but I would really like to see more members posting reports on CFF...no matter how vague they have to be to protect your secret spot. There is a nice bunch of consistent contributors that make this site what it is and are owed our gratitude. It only takes a few minutes to post a report and it is truly the fuel that keeps this site online. If you like this site, are online, and gaining any useful info whatsoever from visiting CFF then I respectfully ask that you leave a little something in return...

-Thanks
David

 

[drumking]

slo-ride - 2/12/2007 7:53 PM

wtg, drumking emoThumbsup those are some good'uns!
never fished an assassin rigged like that..i'll be sure to try it.
btw, do you rig them the same when you're bream fishing?

Panfish assassins are not my lure of choice when fishing for bluegill, shellcrackers, etc. I prefer a 1" pumpkinseed squirming squirt grub. However, bluegills will hit these assassins rigged this way. Sometimes though, they will grab the little assassin by the tail and jerk it off the jig. Doesn't happen very often, but it has happened to me a few times. Hope this helps. BTW, I read about rigging the assassins this way a few years ago. I believe that the fishermen in Arkansas were doing this. I gave it a try and I like the results.emoBigsmile emoGeezer

 

[polo-dog]

Wow DK, that's a bunch of slabs!!!!!! It would be fun to be into bunches like that. I tend to fish the assassins with the head threaded onto the hook to the head of the jig. I'll have to try that way. They are a bit wimpy in that they want to tear a little and I use them right side up and then upside down to get more fish per bait but I guess I'm just chaeap. Great report DK. So, you think that those fish were suspended at about 6 feet or so underneath or in the bait ball? Suspended fish over 20 feet of water, sounds like the way to go if you can get them biting.

 

[drumking]

polo-dog - 2/12/2007 9:53 PM

Wow DK, that's a bunch of slabs!!!!!! It would be fun to be into bunches like that. I tend to fish the assassins with the head threaded onto the hook to the head of the jig. I'll have to try that way. They are a bit wimpy in that they want to tear a little and I use them right side up and then upside down to get more fish per bait but I guess I'm just chaeap. Great report DK. So, you think that those fish were suspended at about 6 feet or so underneath or in the bait ball? Suspended fish over 20 feet of water, sounds like the way to go if you can get them biting.

Polo, they do tend to tear when you thread them onto the head of the jig and the little barb will tear the plastic. When they are rigged like I have them in the pic they seldom ever tear. I didn't lose a single assassin today.

I do think that the fish were around 8 feet deep or so. I started off this morning counting down to 12 like I have the past few weeks and didn't get any bites. At first I thought the fish had moved, then I tried an 8 count and caught a fish. I stayed with the eight count all day no matter what depth of water I was in and the fish seemed to be there. This is one reason why Crappie fishing can either be a boon or a bust. If you don't change things up at times, there will be days when you won't catch many.

I was lucky I guess in that the baitfish never did leave the area. They would just swim in and out from under my boat. I was watching both of my graphs. There was very little wind and the current wasn't too severe. Everything was just right.

 

[greless]

emoThumbsup 8)'

 

[Gator]

Congrats again on a great day of Crappie Catchin' DK. I've been gone for a week and glad you got out there.

 

[MadBomber]

Nobody mentioned how DK opens up the gap on the hook!!!  Those assassins come in a curly tail version as well.  The tail is very flexible and works with very little movement.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info on the lure. That sure was a nice looking mess of fish. Is one of your fishfinders an EAGLE fishelite 642 igps? If so, how do you like it? Cory at sportsmans warehouse helped me with my purchace of one and I thought he had said you have one.

 

[drumking]

whisler11 - 2/13/2007 1:43 PM

Thanks for the info on the lure. That sure was a nice looking mess of fish. Is one of your fishfinders an EAGLE fishelite 642 igps? If so, how do you like it? Cory at sportsmans warehouse helped me with my purchace of one and I thought he had said you have one.

I have the eagle 500c elite series. I really like it. Wish that I was proficient at using it. Maybe that will come in time. You know it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

 

[drumking]

MadBomber - 2/13/2007 1:23 PM

Nobody mentioned how DK opens up the gap on the hook!!!  Those assassins come in a curly tail version as well.  The tail is very flexible and works with very little movement.

MadBomber, that is supposed to be a trade secret. I didn't think anyone noticed it. Since the cat has been let out of the bag, here is my .02 worth on it. Opening up the gap on these tiny jigs will greatly increase your hookups and the fish will not get off as easily while you are winding them in. Most people think that the fish will get off easier with the gap opened up, but "not so fast my friend", to coin a phrase used by Lee Corso (the football village idiot). Just the opposite is true.