Crappie Bites at Twilight
May 11, 2011-I could smell the smoke from the fires in Dare County; it made it feel like there was a haze in the air. It was cool and I had been doing 3 hours of yard work for the past two days, so today is going to be a fishing day before it rains for the next 5 days if the weather man is right.
I made it out the driveway with the boat hooked up by 5:30 p.m. and decided to hit the Tar River Reservoir instead of Sapony Creek. I’ll stop by my favorite bait shop EL’s and get some medium minnows, a.k.a. crack for crappies. No go….EL’s was closed, which was very unusual. I’m going have to do it all with jigs, that’s fine, I like working the reel.
Pulled in the boat launch parking lot and to my surprise there was only one boat trailer there. I saw two boats vertical fishing around the supports to the Bend of The River Bridge. I took a right and starting fishing right next to the boat launch. I would hit all my old haunts where I’ve caught fish before.
At my 1st cove I caught one keeper. I kept working the area, changing out lures, fan casting, switching the pace of retrieve, etc., but nothing else was biting. Now it’s 6:30 p.m., but still plenty of daylight for fishing.
I motor up and get to my second cove, water temperature is 74 F, and I’m in 5 to 4’ of water. Again fan casting with the tube jig tipped with Berkley crappie nibble gave some short strikes from bream, but no crappie. I switched up colors from red & white, to black & white/red tail, and finally to a grasshopper crank bait.
Got some nice strikes and a bream to keep me entertained, but the big slabs were elusive. Looking down, my watch now reads 7:30 p.m. Feeding times chart said prime time is around 7:00 p.m., and there’s a half-moon in the sky.
I switched to a small Rebel crawfish color crank bait, and decided to fish the main channel and cast to the bank as I drift. There was a light wind and I wouldn’t need to put the trolling motor down. I might as well give it one last shot before going home with one fish.
I drifted by a good size man made brush pile and got a good keeper size crappie on the crank bait just 20 yards from the brush pile. I immediately set the anchor to stop, and fan casted the area again with the crank bait. No luck. Now I switch to the trusty old red & white tube jig. Casting up wind, I threw right next to the brush pile. One thousand 1, one thousand two, and boom…
I got a nice strike, another keeper.
Now I’ve got three fish in the live well. I quickly re-baited the hook and threw again. This time I didn’t get to one thousand two, and a nice fish hit it. This one pulled hard and the line went straight down. Splash, splash, splash, I could see I needed the net for this guy and wasn’t going to yank him into the boat using the line. 14.5” long, wow, I’m pumped now!
Four fish in the boat. I cast again to the same area, but no luck. I begin to cast to the edges of the brush pile, again no bites. I switch up and use my black with white/red tail and get another keeper into the boat.
Now I casted to the edge of the pile, and count to one thousand two…and then Wham, another good strong pulling fish. This one measured 15' long.
The sun was going down, and I kept throwing like a machine, but nothing was biting. I decided to reposition the boat and anchor up wind of the pile and see if there were fish on the other side.
I stayed and threw for a good 5 minutes and didn’t get anything. I decided to go back down wind and try some more, I had about 5 minutes of twilight and got one more keeper.
Wow, what a great day on the water. And to think I was going to quit and head in at 7:30 p.m. I’m glad I went around the corner and fished the main channel at 6-7’. It made the difference between a 1 fish day and a 7 fish day.
I made it out the driveway with the boat hooked up by 5:30 p.m. and decided to hit the Tar River Reservoir instead of Sapony Creek. I’ll stop by my favorite bait shop EL’s and get some medium minnows, a.k.a. crack for crappies. No go….EL’s was closed, which was very unusual. I’m going have to do it all with jigs, that’s fine, I like working the reel.
Pulled in the boat launch parking lot and to my surprise there was only one boat trailer there. I saw two boats vertical fishing around the supports to the Bend of The River Bridge. I took a right and starting fishing right next to the boat launch. I would hit all my old haunts where I’ve caught fish before.
At my 1st cove I caught one keeper. I kept working the area, changing out lures, fan casting, switching the pace of retrieve, etc., but nothing else was biting. Now it’s 6:30 p.m., but still plenty of daylight for fishing.
I motor up and get to my second cove, water temperature is 74 F, and I’m in 5 to 4’ of water. Again fan casting with the tube jig tipped with Berkley crappie nibble gave some short strikes from bream, but no crappie. I switched up colors from red & white, to black & white/red tail, and finally to a grasshopper crank bait.
Got some nice strikes and a bream to keep me entertained, but the big slabs were elusive. Looking down, my watch now reads 7:30 p.m. Feeding times chart said prime time is around 7:00 p.m., and there’s a half-moon in the sky.
I switched to a small Rebel crawfish color crank bait, and decided to fish the main channel and cast to the bank as I drift. There was a light wind and I wouldn’t need to put the trolling motor down. I might as well give it one last shot before going home with one fish.
I drifted by a good size man made brush pile and got a good keeper size crappie on the crank bait just 20 yards from the brush pile. I immediately set the anchor to stop, and fan casted the area again with the crank bait. No luck. Now I switch to the trusty old red & white tube jig. Casting up wind, I threw right next to the brush pile. One thousand 1, one thousand two, and boom…
I got a nice strike, another keeper.
Now I’ve got three fish in the live well. I quickly re-baited the hook and threw again. This time I didn’t get to one thousand two, and a nice fish hit it. This one pulled hard and the line went straight down. Splash, splash, splash, I could see I needed the net for this guy and wasn’t going to yank him into the boat using the line. 14.5” long, wow, I’m pumped now!
Four fish in the boat. I cast again to the same area, but no luck. I begin to cast to the edges of the brush pile, again no bites. I switch up and use my black with white/red tail and get another keeper into the boat.
Now I casted to the edge of the pile, and count to one thousand two…and then Wham, another good strong pulling fish. This one measured 15' long.
The sun was going down, and I kept throwing like a machine, but nothing was biting. I decided to reposition the boat and anchor up wind of the pile and see if there were fish on the other side.
I stayed and threw for a good 5 minutes and didn’t get anything. I decided to go back down wind and try some more, I had about 5 minutes of twilight and got one more keeper.
Wow, what a great day on the water. And to think I was going to quit and head in at 7:30 p.m. I’m glad I went around the corner and fished the main channel at 6-7’. It made the difference between a 1 fish day and a 7 fish day.
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