5/11/16 Causeway fishing

[Johnsfolly]

A couple of coworkers and I went and tried crappie fishing the Rt T causeway and closed bridge last night after work. We have never fished here before. We got fishing around 5:45. Wind was coming from the north. Partly to mostly cloudy. I fished the south side of the causeway on the west end of the bridge. I began using a float and black/green jig. I caught a couple of small bluegill under the bridge and had one big strike that pulled the hook. Judging from the slime on the line, it was likely a catfish bite. Saw a guy on the east side catching crappie without a float. I switched to a 1/8 oz jig head and slider body. I fished this near the bottom with a medium fast retrieve. I lost a large crappie right at my feet. I first thought that it might go 12" in length. I caught 6 crappie with this set-up and lost one other. I also caught a small largemouth, a few small channel catfish, and an 18" hybrid. Stopped fishing around 8:30. I kept five crappie, four of which were female and all were 11 to 11.25" in length. The last fish was a male and he was a little over 12" in length. All of these fish were noticeably shorter than that first one that got off at my feet, which was likely 13-14" in length. I did catch a channel catfish on the float and jig combo later in the evening that also slimed up the line.

My coworkers also each caught four or five crappie and a couple of hybrids up to 18". All in all not a bad night of fishing. For this being the first time fishing this water, I was pretty happy with the results. Don't know if the crappie bite will continue much longer, but will likely get up there again soon. Just need a couple more jig heads.