Spring crappies..It's about time

[tip-up]

A few days late but better than never..It's been a while folks. So nice to finally be fishing again!

 

I could not have asked for better morning. Awoke at 10a.m. to the smell of french toast and bright sunny conditions that made my eyes squint as I rolled over to the window side of my bed. Usually at this point I throw the blankets over head and flake right back into doh-doh land, but today was different...today I put a hurtin' on the crappie for the first time this year. After breakfast and watching the Senators highlights(Again ) from the game last night, I put my gear by the door, patiently waiting for my ride down to river.

 

Noon came and and so did the car :razz: Gunned it down to the spot hoping the sun would be hitting my first spot I had planned for attack. I find it sucks fishing solo but it's also nice sometimes..Kind of helps you concentrate more on catching and besides when we get the boats in the next weekend, there will not be that much alone time.

 

Arrived at 12:30 and was greeted by the many wildlfe that surround the local watersheds in my area..You name it, I saw it this morning. If I had my new camera then I would have been able to take some really nice quick snap-shots of the animals. Unfortunatly, I am stuck with the old Kodak for the rest of the week. Couple of the sights included raccoons, deer, a fox, and numerous species of bird and turtles.

 

Temp- 17' C

Winds- SW7 Km/h

Conditions- Pure sunshine

 

Looking good so far :!: First pond..Noticed mass number of bluegill and sunfish through-out because of how shallow it it in most spots. You can clearly tell these fish are in their beds, and will bite anything you tossed at 'em. Seen many schools of them but they were all small or very small. I continued on walking until I found structure and relitlivly deeper water knowing if that my best chances of getting a few would be in these key areas. Within a few minutes of my casting and twitching, the first crappie hit. I missed it initially but watched him dart out from unter a tree and swoop at it again. This time I made sure to impale T.H.E. jig right into the roof of the mouth and with seconds I had my first crappie of the day gripped tight between my fingers. After a quick measurment and pic, back it goes until next time. One under the belt! How many more to go? Who knows, who cares, I only started

 

 

 

This 4lbs+ largie was kind enough to pose for the camera..Another couple of weeks and we can finally start fishing for 'em :!:

 

 

Monuvering my bobber and jig in and out of the branches of fallen trees was important. The crappie were hugging the structure which it made it a bit difficult to get them..from shore at that. Every once in a while you could see them dart out from the cover and cruise slowly into the sun. Could not get those guys to bite. Caught a bunch in a time frame of 20 minutes...The fish would move..I follow. That was pretty much the game plan today. Biggest of the day was 12''. The fish were really dark in color and for the most part really aggressive. It was hard to tell who put the real show on today, the crappie or myslef

 

 

You can see the crappie dart out from submerged structure.

 

 

Tried to tease this guy into taking my white micro tube..it fell for it :razz:

 

 

Later on in the afternoon as the bite turned off again, I walked to a nearby nearby creek to see if the action was picking up over there. Sun was hitting my side of the shore so I grabbed my rod with T.H.E. Jig tied on and fired it out to the middle. Not a minute later my bobber immediatly vanished. Set the hook and was into another 12'' slab. Waited it out a while and caught another small one. Bluegill were everywhere and constantly playing with my bait. Decided to move on to the next bay where I finished off my day.

 

 

The final bay I reared a few, carbon copies of the 30 or so I caught. Made a small clip to fill up the rest of the space on my camera. Do these fish ever inhale a jig :smile: man I love it.

 

 

Before taking off I snapped a quick photo of the main river in all of it's beauty. The might Ottawa's backbays proved to be a good spot of choice for today's outing.

 

Now that I have finaly broke the ice I can get out and test all these new great products I have coming to me. A new order of the T.H.E Jig will be a must along with tensor bandage from a sore arm :wink: Still have alot of fishing ahead of me this year :razz: Can't wait for the real gamefish to open up..All the best catchers and good luck and be safe out on the water :!: Thanks for taking the time to read :razz:

 

P.S., I will have the good camera for next weekend :!:

 

 

 

A few more photo's from the week..

 

Only was able to dish out about an 1 hour worth of fishing today. Found a few small fish in the back bays and ponds of the Ottawa River. I had to be at a family supper at 5 so Anthony and I could only stay the few minutes we were walking the dog. Sunfish and bluegill bite was pretty consistent the whole time while the crappie were not hugging the shore and foraging for prey a bit deeper. They were a bit harder to get. Caught 2 around the 9'' range so far. Anthony reared a beauty first spring slab at 12''. T.H.E. Jig worked awesome :!: The slow drop of it drives them nuts. My good camera was at my dads place so I had to opt with the ol' Kodak. Snapped a few quick ones for you guys and gals. Shots were surprisingly not too bad with the 8 year old camera

 

I have a good plan set for tomorrow :twisted:

 

 

Anthony with a nice one..

 

 

-Andrew

Edited May 12, 2007 by tip-up

[bassmaster4]

great report nice pics and slabs wtg

[98Fahrenheit]

awesome report. nice catches!

[FinS]

wtg nice slabs

[Jen]

Wow Andrew, very well written, the pictures and dialogue were awesome.

 

Nice fish as well.

 

WTG>>>

 

Jen

[Badger Shark]

Hey Andrew, once again nice report, man your everywhere. Hope you have good luck out on the Ottawa today, let us know how you did. Talk to ya tomorrow.

 

Don

[bbog]

Great report and work on the "tastiest" fresh water fish - the Crappie!

 

We haven't had any numbers in our favourite spots this year so took a break to chase Walleye yesterday. Hope to resume my quest of this tasty fish in the next several days.