Happy 4th of July TFF! If you don't lose any fingers playing with firecrackers tomorrow, here is how we're catching our fish right now:
Lakes: Cedar Creek, Eagle Mountain, Benbrook, Lake Arlington, Lake Weatherford
Water Temp: 84-88 depending on lake and time of day
Best Fishing depth: 12-18ft
Best Fishing time: Last week it was mid day. This week it will be daybreak til 10:30-11:00ish judging by the moon.
Baits of Choice: Thump Chubbies and Thump Jumpers from
www.constantpursuitoutfitters., small chartreuse hair jigs from
www.sscrappiejigs.com and minnows
Best Rod: 7ft G-Rod
Best Reel: Shimano or Pflueger
Best Line: Wally Marshall 8lb hi-vis
Best Tip: The number one thing I would change about most people jigging is they aren't moving slowly enough. This time of year, I want my customer's moving their pole at an unnaturally slow pace. B
Right now it's all stick and move. I'll pull up on a pile that loaded, catch 4-6 fish on jigs, then pull another 4-6 on minnows. If we don't get bit in 2-3 minutes, we move. The bites are light, with most of them being simply a shift in weight or a twitch of the line.
Regardless if a pile has hundreds of crappie on it, I'll move if they don't get their act together in the first 3-5 minutes we're there. I'm starting to see it more and more where a pile will have 50+ fish on it and we can't get them to cooperate. I'll simply move on to another pile and either hit it later or save the pile for the next trip. I have way too much good brush to be patient.
We are still averaging 40-50 keepers in a 4-5 hour trip. Over the next few weeks, I expect to catch around 35-45 keepers per half day. I'm looking forward to another good summer, and I simply can't wait for my favorite two months of the year to get here: October and November.
I'll give away more tips and techniques this Saturday on KRLD 1080 around 6:00-6:30am if you're an early bird heading to the lake!
Last week's catches: