duckydoty

Those crappie are tough right now. I went out yesterday for 3 hours and did not catch one. Now the last 2 weeks I have been getting some on the brush piles. There is one that the Corps put in down by Cape Fair Marina in 16-18 feet of water that has been producing pretty good for me. It is on the flat just outside the marina cove. There are a couple on the tip of the point just across from Virgin Bluff that have been giving up a few good crappie and they are in 18-20 feet of water. The flat just up lake from Virgin bluff has 2 good piles on it in 17-19 feet of water that has been fishing pretty good last week also. They are just across from the bouyed short cut that you can take in higher water to get from Bridgeport to Cape Fair Marina. Water temps were 46 degrees yesterday and like I said I did not get a bite. Wont be long and they should start moving up into the shallower flats out in the open. Flat Creek area. I've been fishing Salt and Pepper crappie magnets with gold 1/16th ounce crappie magnet jig heads on 4 pound test and really picking the brush piles apart. Loose alot of gear but usually catch some fish. Hope this helps you some.

When guideing for trout in Alaska, I mainly use 2 and 3x. Rairly will I go down to 4x. For some odd reason, I use alot of 6 and 7x on Taney.

Im sure you will see me. I'd be happy to show you how it is set up and let you see it in operation. It is reaally not that bad and I'm getting it dialed in so I can see what I want to see. I was out there yesterday afternoon. That was not the best idea I've had in a while. 3 hours of cold and wet for one little white. I did get a couple more brush piles marked though.

I have the humminbird 899 si transducer mounted on the port side of my transom on my tracker 185 with sport jet. I try to stay in atleast 8 inches of water. I do get just a little turbulance or interferance on the starboard side of my side imaging screen when running the big motor but none while using the trolling motor up front. It does not seem to effect the di at all.

I'll take em. PM me your address so I can send you a check or money order.

You guys are putting the hammer to them. Nice job.......green with envy

LOL.....yeah, I think I'm the one he volunteered to build it.

the rebar is almost directly across from outlet 3

That is a hawg!

If my schedule allows, I will participate in some manner wether it be fishing or helping with the weigh in or something. Question on the trophy???? Should it be one that you take home and keep or should it be one that you get to hold on to for a year and then pass to the next winner the following year where the names keep getting added to it?

Nice fish! Great story wrench.

Enjoyed meeting everyone. The food was awesome and the fishing was great. Sure did like catching all them Browns.

Phil and I will be there Thursday night. My number is 417-294-8672

Nice fish Richy! Thanks for the report.

Where can we see some photos of your work?

Better than watching TV

This time of year is kind of new territory for me. Im usually doing nothing but duck hunting right now and dont start the crappie fishing till mid to late Jan. There seems to be a lack of willing to participate ducks in the area, so the crappie are keeping me entertained. I enjoy picking them off and out of the brush. The electric steer troller I have comes with a foot pedal too. There are times that I prefer to use the foot control rather than the hand held remote. I enjoy the spot lock electronic anchoring. It keeps me within 13 feet of my target. I think I can upgrade the gps antena and get that down to about 5 feet.

Its been a long time since Ive hunted Fellows. Use to have to camp out in line to get a blind. Its first come 1st serve and the gates did not open till 4:30 or 5 in the morn.

That's right, a little rain didn't hurt, them fish were already wet. Spent a few more hours out on the James River Arm chasing crappie again today. I think it rained the whole time I was out there. I did have on some new rain gear that I got from Bass Pro and I can say that I was impressed with it. Stayed dry even in the torentual down pours. The BPS 100mph gortex is a little pricy but works good. Water temps were right around 50 degrees. Today I started off by highligting all the water depths between 18-24 feet deep on the Lake Master map in the 899 sonar. I then motored slowy staying in that depth range reading the DI and SI looking for brush piles. Found 2 that are not on the MDC website in the Virgin Bluff area. I marked them as way points and then spot locked the I-pilot on them one at a time. I fished these two brush piles hard from all angles picking them apart and managed to catch 11 keeper crappie, 5 shorts, two short spots and one white bass. All fish were caught on crappie magnets. Killer Krill worked the best but I did pick up a few fish on other colors.

Nathan, Thanks for the casting demo and class on the water yesterday. Im making the leap and ordering a 12 foot 6 inch Clear Water rod today with a Rio 450 grain skagit versi system line. Its going to be a fun learning experience.

This is my 3rd winter of chasing the James River winter crappie. I feel like I finally have the right equipment and Im building on a knowledge base that is making me more confident in the chase. Should be a fun winter. Cant wait tilll the lake turns over and they get out on the flats.

Thanks guys. I forgot to mention the watert temp was 46 degrees. The new electronics are almost as much fun as the fishing......na, not really.

Spent some time on the water looking for some crappie today. Put in at Bridgeport and worked my way up past point 15 checking brush piles in 10-15 feet of water and trolling flicker shad to the next pile. Caught a whole lot of nothing. Decided to head down to Virgin Buff area. Trolled the flats and worked the brush piles on the way down. Picked up a few shorts on brush in 12 feet of water down by Bear Den. Picked up a short spot on the flicker in 18 feet of water on the next flat down. I was trolling the flat just before Virgin heading towards a brush pile down loaded from the MDC website. It was in 20 feet and I had the i-pilot following the contour at 1.5 mph. The brush showed up on the down imaging graph and I could see fish on top of it. The flicker shad snagged the brush pile so I turned around to get it. Once I was directly over the snagged lure I threw out a marker and hit spot lock on the i-pilot. The flicker shad came free and then a familiar thump. Reeled it in and had a 14 inch crappie attached to it. Started dropping crappie magnets 20 feet straight down. Lifted them about 2-3 feet and let it sit. Started getting quite a few light taps and every now and then actually hooking up. Ended up with 7 keepers before it started getting dark. Fun day out there watching and playing with the graph.

Im pretty sure I'll be riding along with Phil if I can get my schedule worked out..........Phil????

Been catching a few. The landing on Taney should fire up soon