Muskrat, Chickamauga, crappie, 5-3-15, Debbie

[Muskrat]

A crappie fishing trip in the pontoon Sunday with a late start around 12:30. Boats everywhere ! We checked to see if the crappie were showing up at some of our favorite post spawn spots... and they weren't. We went back to a good 'ol reliable spot lately...and they were ! We put a lot of big crappie in the boat and we're still catching quite a few "very" dark male crappie. Some nice 12.5 - 13 inch crappie with good weight. We caught around 20 crappie and all but one was an "easy" keeper. We've been adding some minnows to our jig arsenal the last couple of trips. Most of the fish were in 10 feet but caught a few deeper in and around brushpiles and on a point. I kept 5 for dinner. emoHungry emoTongue

Deb lost a near 5-pound bass a foot from the net when her 4-pound test line touched a rail on the pontoon. Just the extra tension against the line snapped it. We couldn't believe it. She was really depressed about it but she started catching some big crappie and that got her mind off of it for awhile. We catch a lot of fish in the pontoon but we lose a few also. That's fishin' I guess...

 

[EricM]

Great outing. Sorry about the lost bass. Light line sure isn't very forgiving with a big fish!!

 

[Tenncrapie]

Good job guys. Great report. You didn't finish that was your story and you were sticking to it! I know of one trip I witnessed last year of lousing a big fish to a shoddy net man ! Hope that wasn't the case. lol. Great pix as usual . You guys need an award for being out in all the boat traffic. Keep it up it's got to get better.

 

[BRamsey]

Wow those are some good lookin crappie Jeff! We fished for 9 hours today and I don't think we caught one over 11 inches.

 

[BRamsey]

Wow those are some good lookin crappie Jeff! We fished for 9 hours today and I don't think we caught one over 11 inches.

 

[Kingfish]

Sorry about Deb losing the big fish. The Crappie looked very nice. emoThumbsup

 

[drumking]

Great looking crappie, Jeff and Debbie. emoThumbsup I know the heartbreak of a broken line with a big fish on the other end. emoBigsmile emoGeezer

 

[the maddog]

emoThumbsup That's some great crappie fishing for a busy Sunday on the lake...The current full moon phase has them 'turning on' around midday right now, the night bite is really slow with all that light on the water after dark...its weird right now where fish are being caught...You'all did Gooood! emoApplause emoToast

 

[Muskrat]

Tenncrapie - 5/3/2015 8:58 PM

Good job guys. Great report. You didn't finish that was your story and you were sticking to it! I know of one trip I witnessed last year of lousing a big fish to a shoddy net man ! Hope that wasn't the case. lol. Great pix as usual . You guys need an award for being out in all the boat traffic. Keep it up it's got to get better.

Chris...the pontoon sits so high off the water it's hard to keep keep a rod down enough so the fish stays in the water. We have to open a side gate and both of us squeeze in a small area. Our teamwork is pretty good but if we lose fish...it's usually in the pontoon. Deb was trying to walk the bass a little closer to me when the line touched a side rail to the top and it just "popped" from the tension on the line. Just terrible luck.

 

[Muskrat]

BRamsey - 5/3/2015 9:39 PM

Wow those are some good lookin crappie Jeff! We fished for 9 hours today and I don't think we caught one over 11 inches.

Just the right place at the right time and got lucky Bobby. I realized when we got home that I had kept a 12+ inch crappie that I thought I had replaced with a smaller one in the livewell. I was just going to take a pic of it. I don't usually keep them when they are that big. It was dripping blood in the boat and half it's tail was gone from fanning a bed. I took a pic before it wound up in my belly.

 

[Muskrat]

BRamsey - 5/3/2015 9:39 PM

Wow those are some good lookin crappie Jeff! We fished for 9 hours today and I don't think we caught one over 11 inches.

Just the right place at the right time and got lucky Bobby. I realized when we got home that I had kept a 12+ inch crappie that I thought I had replaced with a smaller one in the livewell. I was just going to take a pic of it. I don't usually keep them when they are that big. It was dripping blood in the boat and half it's tail was gone from fanning a bed. I took a pic before it wound up in my belly.