Kicking Off 2020 Spring Crappie Season

Location: Cedar Creek Reservoir - Alabama

Time: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Air Temperature: 70 degrees AM - 82 degrees afternoon
Water Temperature: 68 - 72 degrees
Lake Level: 582.12' - Very high for conditions and muddy.
Weather Conditions: Moderate Winds from South,SW 10-16 MPH . Sunny to overcast.

Today was my first day on the water for spring crappie.  I figured it may be a bit early but the 80+ degree weather this week had me itching to give it a try.  I launched at Britton Bridge and fished log jams, tree tops, cyprus trees, and bushes all in about 3ft to 8ft of water.  My main goal today was to see if the fish had moved into the bushes. 

I picked up a good mixed bag today with 1 white bass, 7 yellow bass, 6 largemouth bass, and 6 crappie.  Only 3 of the crappie were big enough to keep. All fish were caught on minnows under a bobber. My first crappie of the season was a beautiful black nose.

It seems all but one of the crappie were males and were just beginning to move up in the shallows.  I think we are a week plus before the shallow fishing gets good.  The surprise of the day was finding the live cyprus trees in 3-5ft of water and finding fish holding to them on the north bank east of Britton bridge.  I will definitely be back to this area.

I cleaned the 3 keeper crappie and we ate them for dinner.  Sure was nice to enjoy fresh fish again!

Lazy Jugs...

Location: Wheeler Lake
Time: 11:00 AM - 3 PM

I've been gearing up for spring fishing season.  I took all my crappie rods apart and lubed them and soaked the spools in hot water to release line memory.  I needed to retie all the lines and figured I might as well launch the boat at the house and float some jugs while I drifted along tying rods.

I didn't catch but one catfish, but sure did enjoy floating around and I did get all my crappie rods tied and ready to go.

My favorite fishing buddy!

March 19, 2020

My favorite fishing buddy! 

BUILDING NEW TROTLINES FROM SCRATCH!

March 1st - 15th, 2020

BUILDING NEW TROTLINES FROM SCRATCH!

Some time around 1978, my dad, Ronny Watkins, picked up a Memphis Net & Twine catalog, ordered supplies, and built a set of trotlines with a couple of friends. I have great memories from when I was a kid running those same lines. This month, Doug, Douglas, Daniel, and my Dad helped me assemble four new lines that I too ordered supplies from Memphis Net & Twine. We had a great time assembling these and truly respect this as a lost art. My boy even got in on the action! Looking forward to many years and memories with these new lines.

If you are in the market for supplies, check out Memphis Net & Twine.

Below is a list of supplies and techniques we used.  This was enough material for 4 new lines (two 50 hook lines and two 100 hook lines):

• 12 Spools of TWB-60 Braided Nylon Twine Size 60
• 1 Spool of TWB-12 Braided Nylon Twine Size 12
• 2 CSW - 6/0 Champion Swivels, 12 count per bag (24 total purchased)
• 4 CSW - 1/0 Champion Swivels, 100 count per bag (400 total purchased)
• 7 - L198 - 5/0 Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp Big Eye offset trotline hooks, 50 count per box (350 total purchased)
• 34 SB5 PVC Sponge Floats 3-1/2" Dia x 1-1/2 thick.
• Custom made dog tags for line identifications (Amazon)
• 5 jump boxes - 16" x 16" x 5-1/2" deep.  Constructed from poplar 1 x 6 board for sides and 1/4" maple plywood for bottoms.  Stained and triple coated with clear coat.   

6/0 swivels used for each free end and for joining ends together when splicing main line.  1/0 swivels used for hook float and hook stagings.  Size 60 twine used for main line. Size 12 twine used for float and hook stagings.  Floats at the beginning and end of the line and after every 10 hooks.  Hook stagings cut to 20" to give approximately 10" of drop when tied.  Float stagings cut to 56" to give about 24" of height when tied. Approximately 20 feet of free line on each end.  Hooks staged about 8-9 feet apart.  100 hook lines end up being about 950 feet long and 50 hook lines end up being about 500 feet long