Time: 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Air Temperature: 83 degrees high.
Water Temperature: 68 - 72.5 degrees
Lake Level: 581.76’ - Perfect level and conditions.
Weather Conditions: Calm. Sunny.
Got a late start and didn't get to the lake until mid morning. Fished mostly around the Britton Bridge area today. Concentrated on the bay by the pump house, cyprus trees, some bushes on the east side of the road way levee, and a tree top in a southern inlet to the east of the bridge.
I started my morning in with minnows under a slip bobber in the cyprus trees, but only caught one. Fishing was slow. I moved to a tree top in an inlet and caught one more. At this point, about an hour and a half had passed and I decided to swap tactics entirely. Conditions were perfect, so I had to find something that the crappie liked.
I swapped over to my 11' jig pole and tied on a 1/8 oz jig head with a red and chartreuse tube skirt. I was trying to go ultralight so it would fall slowly and be more sensitive. I begin vertical jigging with this single pole, single jig in the tree top and... SUCCESS! I immediately began getting strong hits in 3-5 FOW and started hauling the crappie in. I proceeded to catch about 10-12 out of the same tree top.
After this area slowed, I moved down to some bushes on the east side of the road way where I had success in 2018. Immediately, they began pounding the jig and I pulled 5-6 more out of this bush. I then moved over to the pump house bay and jigged the log jams. Same successful results as I pulled another 6-8 out of this area.
After the pump house bay, I went back to the tree tops and started over. About 2:00, overcast conditions began to blow in and the fishing shut off like a light switch. I tried switching back to the minnows and went down to the dam end of the lake, but nothing work. The day was done.
I ended the day having exclusively caught crappie. I pulled 27 out of the water but only 19 were big enough to keep. I'll take it! Overall, this was an excellent day and showed that sometimes a change in tactics really pays off. I cleaned the fish and they dressed to about 4 lbs. About 60% were males, but this was an improvement that suggested more females were beginning to move into the shallows compared to the prior week.
We made fish tacos for dinner!
I started my morning in with minnows under a slip bobber in the cyprus trees, but only caught one. Fishing was slow. I moved to a tree top in an inlet and caught one more. At this point, about an hour and a half had passed and I decided to swap tactics entirely. Conditions were perfect, so I had to find something that the crappie liked.
I swapped over to my 11' jig pole and tied on a 1/8 oz jig head with a red and chartreuse tube skirt. I was trying to go ultralight so it would fall slowly and be more sensitive. I begin vertical jigging with this single pole, single jig in the tree top and... SUCCESS! I immediately began getting strong hits in 3-5 FOW and started hauling the crappie in. I proceeded to catch about 10-12 out of the same tree top.
After this area slowed, I moved down to some bushes on the east side of the road way where I had success in 2018. Immediately, they began pounding the jig and I pulled 5-6 more out of this bush. I then moved over to the pump house bay and jigged the log jams. Same successful results as I pulled another 6-8 out of this area.
After the pump house bay, I went back to the tree tops and started over. About 2:00, overcast conditions began to blow in and the fishing shut off like a light switch. I tried switching back to the minnows and went down to the dam end of the lake, but nothing work. The day was done.
I ended the day having exclusively caught crappie. I pulled 27 out of the water but only 19 were big enough to keep. I'll take it! Overall, this was an excellent day and showed that sometimes a change in tactics really pays off. I cleaned the fish and they dressed to about 4 lbs. About 60% were males, but this was an improvement that suggested more females were beginning to move into the shallows compared to the prior week.
We made fish tacos for dinner!
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