One Of Those Crappie Nights You Hope For

Sometimes a last minute change of plans can lead to something really wonderful. Darrell and I were on our way somewhere last night when we found out we no longer needed to go. Since we had a couple of fishing rods in the trunk, we decided to take advantage of our location and head to a crappie pond that a friend introduced us to. Having fished this a few times in the past, I knew we could catch several small crappie and have a fun night, but I never realized just how much fun I would end up having.

A beautiful evening to be fishing.

Very peaceful. My idea of a perfect fishing spot.

Having only recently given up my resistance to using a slip-float for crappie fishing, I have now fallen in love with the technique, especially when fishing from shore. The float enables me to cast further and keep my jig in the strike zone longer, as well as letting me slow down and catch fish on the light-bite days. However, it seems that whether or not I use a slip-float, the go-to lure for crappie continues to be the Berkley Micro Power Nymph. I cannot say enough about how well these things work for me.

With the first few casts, Darrell and I each managed to land some small sunfish (think micro-sized), and some rock bass. The rock bass were hitting hard and putting up a good fight for their size. Most of them looked to have been putting the feed-bag on lately and were quite chunky.

One of the smaller rock bass, but they were really chunky.

Then the crappie started biting. On three consecutive casts I landed some small crappies. Darrell started hooking into them and we both zeroed in on some schools that were producing bite after bite, with the occasional rock bass mixed in, and those silly sunfish that would grab at the trailing appendages and not let go until they were lifted out of the water.

The crappie started small and were being caught in pockets close to the shore, as well as off some rocky points. At first, the bite was so light that we basically had to use a gentle sweep with our rod to feel for some weight on our line before reeling a fish in (if the float disappeared quickly, it was a sunfish). Yet, as the sun started to go down and we moved along the shoreline, the crappie bite really turned on. Casting further out into the pond and reaching some deeper water, we started pulling in larger fish. We didn’t change the depth our lures were at, but the deeper water seemed to be holding the slabs. The change in size over the span of an hour or so was really impressive.

My first crappie of the night.

Darrell found some nice ones in a school.

And they started getting bigger…

Um, can you say slab? I had just finished telling Darrell that I loved fishing here since there was always something to catch, but that we never caught anything of size.

After I caught that slab I was pretty pumped. The adrenaline was flowing, I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing, and I was almost ready to call it a night. The wind had picked up, I was started to get cold, it was getting late and the horses still needed to be fed. But I couldn’t help taking another cast. When I first started fishing it used to drive me nuts that I would tell Darrell it was time to go, and he kept taking casts. Now I find myself doing it all the time. We agree to leave and I just have to take another cast, then another, and even though I keep saying “just one more”, it always ends up being more than that.

So now I was on my third or fourth cast after that slab and telling Darrell we should start heading home. Of course, I had to take yet another cast, let the float drift for a bit, then give it a pop, sweep it in a little bit, give another pop, and let it sit. The float slowly went under the water and I gently started reeling in. I knew immediately that I had caught another slab, but as we saw the mouth come out of the water, Darrell kept telling me there was no way it was a crappie, maybe it was a smallie. But here is what I ended up getting my hands on…

As you can tell by my expression, I was in disbelief. What a slab! This could very well be my personal best crappie. It felt like I holding up a decent bass.

Another shot of this beauty. The picture doesn’t do justice to how chunky this fish was. I was terrified that I was going to drop it and it would end up back in the water before I got a picture.

After a few quick pictures it was time to practice what my friend so perfectly coined as ‘kiss and release’. Since we were on a steep bank and I wasn’t wearing rubber boots, I had Darrell release this slab back into the pond so I can hopefully catch her another day. While I know crappie are great fish to eat, I really don’t like keeping any fish unless I have to. It’s just personal preference. A huge part of my enjoyment comes from watching them swim away. Maybe I will once again hook into that fish, or maybe it will have produced many other fish that I will have a chance to catch. I think there’s nothing wrong with people keeping fish (within the regulations), but for me, catch-and-release, or kiss-and-release, is why I do this.

Really, what is there to say after that slab? We fished for a little longer, caught several small ones, and finally headed back to the car. Neither of us could stop talking about what an amazing evening of fishing we had. I have a new-found appreciation for last minute changes to my plans!

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argosgirl

Sporadic blogger and sometimes podcaster who loves fishing, the outdoors, hanging with her animals, gardening, and reading manga.

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