Author Topic: Nice morning for crappie catching....  (Read 645 times)

Offline ctom

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Nice morning for crappie catching....
« on: 10/21/22 17:46 UTC »
With the overnight lows at around 48 degrees and very light winds, we decided to hit some Mississippi River marinas this morning to jig the dock pilings and it paid off. I had two rods rigged, one with a 1/24 ballhead with a keeper wire on a #6 victory sickle hook sporting a 1.5" Thump-It and the other a Eurotackle's "Z" Viber in the 1/16 size sporting a #14 treble in lieu of the single hook it comes with. I used the blue over chartreuse belly. The paddletail got fish right off, 5 crappies and a dandy perch within 10 minutes of starting. The sun was just cracking the hill tops when we walked out on the first dock and by the time the sun was up past the horizon the bluegills decided to wake up and while they're a ball to catch they seem to have mastered the art of tail plucking and that got annoying, so I switched over to the Z Vibe. Good move. Over the next three hours it was a regular game day. I quit the clicker counter at 61 fish with another hour of fish yet. Generally, the Z Vibe got much larger crappies and sunfish.

There was a guy came out and stopped on a piling between my buddy and I [neither of us had any reason to leave the pilings we were on]. He had minnows and waxies. In the first half hour he was there we saw him unhook three fish, all small. I finally saw him walking towards me asking just what the heck I was using so I showed him the paddletail rig and the vibe. I looked the vibe bait up on a search and sent his phone the link for our local Scheels where they showed in stock. The I got out a small zip-lock and put a dozen assorted "good" colors of the paddletails in it along with a couple of the heads and handed them to him and simply said "use these". He strung one up and was in crappies on the first drop. In the end my buddy and I had traded phone numbers with this guy and after his asking how I make the paddletails I told him the next time he was coming to Rochester to call, and I'd make time to show him the process.

I never thought to get any pictures but long story short, a great few hours of fishing, a beautiful day, a new friend.... can it get any better?
There are good ships
and wood ships
ships that sail the sea
but the best ships are friendships
and may they
always be ......An Irish Toast

Offline Les Young

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Re: Nice morning for crappie catching....
« Reply #1 on: 10/21/22 20:29 UTC »
Tom that's cool. I'd say you've definitely made a new friend.

Offline ctom

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Re: Nice morning for crappie catching....
« Reply #2 on: 10/23/22 09:13 UTC »
I live on a creek with a major river confluence less than a block away. Its a fishing magnet for people here in town. Kids flock to this area. When I see a bunch of kids at the confluence on the sand bar I'll grab a bunch of Thump-Its and some jigs and go down and hand them out to the young anglers. Boy, do they like that. Some lose them right away, some fish them for an hour without getting hit and others have actually caught smallies or small walleyes or crappies while dinking with them. The cost to me is small and the reward is getting these kids excited to try something new or something they wouldn't or couldn't go buy.

Kids are eager to learn if you feed them the right stuff. They haven't developed any attitude towards what will work or not. Totally open minded. For several years I would go to one of our local high school's Outdoor Biology class and work with the kids, casting jigs and then tying either hair of feathers on them. Mostly juniors and seniors. Some had fished, sone never. They had to have a certain gpa to get enrolled in the class. The kids each got to build a rod, then I worked alongside the teacher to show the kids how things were done to make their tackle. Finally, the kids were taken on three different, half-day, field trips where they used their creations to actually fish. Nothing on this earth was more rewarding for me than to watch a kid who'd never had any inkling of catching a fish catch using something he/she made themselves. I saw them laugh, I saw them just look in awe, I saw them cry tears of absolute joy.

By the way, the instructor and I grew up together and he knew I was making tackle and asked me to come help with the kids. He retired and I guess the class has taken a different spin, but I haven't been asked back but for the three or four years I had a ball. I still carry far more tackle than I will use in a day and I always have a few zip-locks with me. If I see someone having a tough time while I am catching fish, it's just a great feeling to put some of the stuff that is working in a bag and hand it to them. If they need to see how to rig and fish it I am more than happy to show them. I think that this is what the sprt is about. Catching fish is a bonus.
There are good ships
and wood ships
ships that sail the sea
but the best ships are friendships
and may they
always be ......An Irish Toast

Offline Les Young

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Re: Nice morning for crappie catching....
« Reply #3 on: 10/23/22 18:54 UTC »
Seeing the kids having a ball is great. I'll give folks baits too & have yet to see anybody that was unappreciative. I like ut when they tell me they caught a bunch on something i gave them. If they want more i usuakky tell them to come by & we'll make some together & let them try their hand at it especially making plastics. They always have a blast. I have a buddy that's brought his nephews several times & they love it.