BSL Trip Report 12-7-15

[Ham]

I had some stuff planned that was going to keep me off the water, but that fell thru. I had not planned to fish at all. I helped the wife around the house for a while, but the BassCat was calling my name. I finally got to the water around noon. What beautiful weather for this time of year. It was sunny with light and variable winds. It was still in the 40's when I launched, but just fantastic. Made me wish I had been there at daylight.

Water was pretty clear. Water temp was 56 degrees when I launched and the water got up over 57 before the day was done.

The fish made me wish I had gotten there at daylight as well. I caught em as soon as I got there and pretty consistently until I quit at 5:00. I caught a fish on my next to last cast. I wanted to catch some crappie, and I did. I would have caught more except my lack of fully funtional electronics. I'll spare you the details, but I'm stuck with what I have for the foreseeable future. Just know, that I am seriously jealous of all the people with good depthfinders/ GPS units. The smallies also got in the way. A bunch. BSL is just flat loaded with smallies right now. I have a hard time leaving them alone when I know I can ease over there a little ways and catch them basically at will in 15-30 foot of water.

I got enough crappie for a meal. I wanted to catch a few more and ran to a few spots trying to do that, but I really only found them in one location. I did however find smallies every where I went.

[Johnsfolly]

Sounds like you had a great time Ham! Makes me jealous being stuck at work on a Monday.

[Ham]

Thanks John! I dearly love swinging a 1/32 oz crappie down past stuff and getting that big ole THUMP. Tell you what though, sling that 1/32 oz jig for a while and suddenly that 1/8 oz Ned feels like a cinder block.

I caught all three species of bass. Bluegill, Longear Sunfish, Green Sunfish, and Black crappie.

[mjk86]

17 hours ago, Ham said:

Thanks John! I dearly love swinging a 1/32 oz crappie down past stuff and getting that big ole THUMP. Tell you what though, sling that 1/32 oz jig for a while and suddenly that 1/8 oz Ned feels like a cinder block.

I caught all three species of bass. Bluegill, Longear Sunfish, Green Sunfish, and Black crappie.

I'll even go so far as a 64th oz no collar jig with a 2in swing impact and a dab o glue.   The slower the fall the better imo for crappie.  

[Ham]

"the slower the fall the better for crappie" A lot of times yeah. There are practical issues like how deep are you fishing, how much wind are you fighting, and can you throw it far enough to be effective. I have lighter jig heads than 1/32 oz , but I rarely use them. I've used super light jig heads on a dropper from a heavier head, but that leads to a lot more hang ups in cover and almost no feel on the light jig.

No way am I going Swing Impact for crappie. Even I have to draw the line somewhere and I am too cheap for that.

[mjk86]

Good point....i generally will use the 64th oz jig for less than 15fow....any deeper than that and ill bump it up.  Bob Bennett (stockton guide service) fishes for crappie in the winter using a 16th oz jig sometimes over 50 ft deep.  Thats a bit of a stretch for me. 

The 2 inch swing impacts you get 12 per bag, so its not too terrible....need lots of super glue, and fortunately crappie are gentler than bass....although bass do love em and rip em up in a hurry.....they are by far the most effective swimmin minnow lure ive come across and ive tried them all and then some.  Another good one is the 2.25 inch lake fork lures boot tail baby shad...although still doesnt get the bites the swing impact does, in my experience. 

[Ham]

I've got some LFT stuff, but Zi have become really fond of the Gene Larew Baby Shads. I start with those. 

[Guest]

You need the SlimZ in greasy prawn, Im just saying....

[jpb2187]

24 minutes ago, TrophyFishR said:

You need the SlimZ in greasy prawn, Im just saying....

The Slim Swimz?

 

[Ham]

TFR, you don't have to tell me twice. I ordered some from TW at 20% off. I haven't gotten to use them yet.