I LOVE this time of year... when the prespawn crappie begin their annual migration toward spawning grounds and will suck up wayward crappie jigs in a heartbeat!
I made a crappie excursion last week with very poor results. But today I headed to new water on Chickamauga Lake with Ed McCoy. The morning was tough. We started searching on the main lake, looking for fish staging up before they move in. "Slow" was the word, with only three big keepers in two hours of fishing.
We moved back into the creek where the water was slightly warmer and stained. It was a good move! We put a limit in the boat relatively quickly once we moved in, along with quite a few short fish. No doubt the day would have been far more productive if we'd been "on the X" first thing in the morning!
The crappie didn't seem too picky and were eating a selection of baits including Berkley Fishing Powerbait, some on Z-Man Fishing Products and others on my tried & true Crappie Magnets - all rigged on 1/16th ounce Road Runner jigheads. Orange/chartreuse or red/chartreuse seemed to be the preferred color. Early the planer boards were hot but later in the morning the planer boards went quiet and the longlines started producing best. Barring any crazy weather, we're off to a good start for a great bite for the next few weeks. Scenic City Fishing guides still have open dates for crappie. If you want in on it, e-mail me ([email protected]) or call 423-509-4655.
I made a crappie excursion last week with very poor results. But today I headed to new water on Chickamauga Lake with Ed McCoy. The morning was tough. We started searching on the main lake, looking for fish staging up before they move in. "Slow" was the word, with only three big keepers in two hours of fishing.
We moved back into the creek where the water was slightly warmer and stained. It was a good move! We put a limit in the boat relatively quickly once we moved in, along with quite a few short fish. No doubt the day would have been far more productive if we'd been "on the X" first thing in the morning!
The crappie didn't seem too picky and were eating a selection of baits including Berkley Fishing Powerbait, some on Z-Man Fishing Products and others on my tried & true Crappie Magnets - all rigged on 1/16th ounce Road Runner jigheads. Orange/chartreuse or red/chartreuse seemed to be the preferred color. Early the planer boards were hot but later in the morning the planer boards went quiet and the longlines started producing best. Barring any crazy weather, we're off to a good start for a great bite for the next few weeks. Scenic City Fishing guides still have open dates for crappie. If you want in on it, e-mail me ([email protected]) or call 423-509-4655.
