Crappie biting ?

[Moose1am]

I finally found that place this past summer. I had heard about it but could not figure out exactly where it was. I must admit that I was not trying very hard until last summer. Nice facility. I found out that they want $100 in check or cash and won't take Visa. I like to use my visa to pay for things. And I also found out that you have to have a current member to sponsor you.

All I really wanted to do was to sight in my 222 rifle's new scope. I was not going to pay $100 just to do that.

I found out about the Isac Walton League about ten years ago when I ran into Jim Daniels at the Boat Show. I enjoyed talking to him that evening. Now I get to see him on TV from time to time when he host the show Ask your legislatures.

Right now I have decided to either drive up to the rifle range at Sugar Ridge F&W area or just make my own gun range with my laser range finder and some paper targets out in the boonies. I'll probably use the gun range at Sugar Ridge someday this summer.

I saw a coyote running across a hillside this evening out at Bluegrass F&W area. He had a cotton tail rabbit in his mouth and was heading somewhere fast. I suspect that that rabbit was for momma and the new coyote puppies. This is the time of year that they are with puppies in the den. So he or she was probably out hunting for dinner for the family. That's why he was out during daylight. Both parents hunt for dinner when they have pups.

Last year I played a recording of a siren in this area and there were coyotes howling back at me from both sides of the road.

The crappie I caught two days ago were full of eggs. Those eggs sacks were developing some bright red blood vessels around them which is a sign that the spawn is not too far off.

They should start spawning when the water temps reach 62 to 65 deg F in the depths that they spawn at. The surface may be 65 deg F but the bottom in 10 ft of clear water may only be 55 deg F. If the water is muddy they can spawn in shallower water and that warms up faster. Clear water takes longer to warm up and they spawn deeper in clear water.

Hey guys - my vacations winding down so I headed up to my crappie spot at Izaak Walton League { I'm a member } , near Alcoa . There is a high wall pit on the property that is stocked every year and it connects to a smaller lake which I fish . With all the rain it is way up so you have launch where the gravel road is flooded . I got a portable Humminbird Piranha fish finder and the water was 62 in some spots - the warmest was 69 so the crappie should be getting close to spawning . Water has cleared a lot from last week . The wind was very bad - 20-30 mph out of the S/SW . I had to put out 2 anchors just to fish in one spot . Like most every time here lately I caught more bass than anything . Did find one lay down log that had some crappie - 2 small blacks and a 11" white but I had to hang on to a limb on the log and dip my minnow right down next to the log to get bit . Years past the crappie would be roaming out from the wood some and were easier to catch . This year they seem to be holding tight to cover or structure . I would like to fish Friday before the rain moves in but I doubt the crappie will be moving any better . One other thing I forgot to post earlier about Oakland City New Lake - I first tried to bank fish off the dam but the midges/gnats where so thick I didn't even make a cast , just ran back to the truck , left and launched the Jon boat at the ramp on the other side . Hopefully in the next few weeks the morel mushrooms will come up & the crappie will start biting !

[daniel240]

I fished a new stripper pit today northeast of bluegrass today and caught some nice ones. I just drove around for over an hour today and happed to stop at this pit and I'm glad I did. The biggest one weighed 2.2lb and was 15.5'' long. I had 2 that broke my line close to the boat and at least a dozen that got off. The crappie are really starting to bite now. I would post some pictures but I cant figure out how. Does this site not allow you to post pictures?

[Moose1am]

You can post a link to the picture. Get a photobucket account and create an album for your pictures. Upload the pictures from your hard drive to the photobucket album. Then at the bottom of each photo in your photobucket album there are several lines of text. One of them in an IMG thing. I think if you click on that line it will copy the link to your copy/paste buffer. Once you have that link copied in your buffer simply open up fishin.com and create a post. Find a blank area of space in you post and paste the link into your post. Save your post and the link should appear in your new post. People can click on the link and see your pictures that way.

Now if you want to you can post pictures in the fishin.com photo forum. There you can link to a photo that's on your hard drive. In that forum there is some new stuff for a post. The new stuff had a way to add pictures to your post. Check out this link:

http://www.fishin.com/forums2/forumdisplay.php?f=4

I fished a new stripper pit today northeast of bluegrass today and caught some nice ones. I just drove around for over an hour today and happed to stop at this pit and I'm glad I did. The biggest one weighed 2.2lb and was 15.5'' long. I had 2 that broke my line close to the boat and at least a dozen that got off. The crappie are really starting to bite now. I would post some pictures but I cant figure out how. Does this site not allow you to post pictures?