Unconventional, as in not conventional or being out of the ordinary as opposed to conventional meaning in keeping with a rule of conduct or behavior. No, I'm not talking about the buggy whip again. Although, I've whipped quite a few 2+lb crappie into the boat over the last few years with a 5' rod. Yesterday's gusty winds had me break with my usual unconventional rod and reel and break out the heavy tackle. When I dropped the second anchor to hold the boat in place it made me question the reasoning behind the need to fish under those conditions. Was it really blowing 15-25mph? It must have been leaning towards the 25mph side most of the time.

Between the boat bouncing in the chop, my shirt flapping in the stiff breeze and the line getting maligned by the subsiding whitecaps it was just plain hard to detect a bite on the 1/16oz jig. My first cast culminated with the first big fish of the day and I never felt a thing until I began reeling in the slack. The next three casts produced three fish with only one being an 11" keeper and I could barely feel the thump. So I wondered, would this be a good time to switch to an 1/8oz and pull out the heavy tackle? Yep, I decided it was. So I put away the buggy whip and broke out the 6 footer. I picked up a Diawa Crossfire 1000 3Bi at Academy a couple of months ago and paired it with a Diawa Laguna 6' rod and hadn't really used it much. It was meant to be a spare rig for a guest or for just dropping another jig in the water using a rod holder.





Having just replenished my supply of 1/8oz Roadrunner jig heads I figured the Diawa rig was a good fit given the conditions. It turned out to be a good choice after all. I had picked up a spool of 6lb Stren fluorocarbon line on clearance for a couple of dollars and decided to use it on the spare rig. So now I was using what I consider heavy tackle for a relatively small and light fighting fish, in this case the poxomis annularis or white crappie. Casting with the wind to my back made it easy to reach the brushpile that was some 30' away. You see, I wasn't using a marker buoy and it was difficult to get the boat to stay put in the chop and wind. So sitting over the brushpile wasn't going to be easy and I decided to cast beyond it and drag the jig through it. This has become one of my favorite methods of fishing for crappie.

The fish were biting in a slow and steady manner with a few casts yielding no results followed by the occasional hook up at a good distance from the boat. I was fishing as it is often called "with an empty backseat" or in this case because I was in the backseat, the front seat was empty. Fortunately, one of my fishing buddies sent me a text about 10 am asking if I was fishing. A few minutes later he was on his way to meet me at the boat ramp. I had 5 nice crappie in the livewell at the time and had just thrown back a rather large flathead catfish. So I had convinced him that the fish were co-operative in spite of the wind. I packed up, headed to the ramp, gave the crappie to a nice couple that were fishing the bank close by. I had spoken with them when I launched and they were catching some fish but couldn't find any keepers. I picked up a couple of drinks and a burger at the marina and my buddy showed up just in time for me to wolf down my brunch and head back out into the wind. We both looked at the whitecaps and turned to each other with an unspoken glance asking if we were really going to go out in this and try to catch fish. The answer was a resounding yes.



I explained what had been working for me and I pulled up in the same general vicinity of my prior success. The fish were still biting and we started to fill the livewell once again. I caught a couple of really nice size crappie and my partner asked me to measure one (just because). It was 15 1/2" and turned out not to be the largest fish of the day. We had seven that were as big with most of them being slightly larger. I don't keep a scale or even a net in the boat but I know there were some 2+ lb fish that will soon meet the frying pan. We put a total of 28 in the box before we finished. We were more beaten by the wind and hunger than anything else. The fish were still biting when we left.



I am reminded of a recent post about "search lures" and I have to say. The roadrunner paired with your favorite jig body is about as good a lure as any to search for crappie with. On the couple of occasions when I was able to anchor away from and end up directly over a brush pile I was at a definite disadvantage. My buddy, when we were able to use the traditional vertical jigging technique, out fished me by far. Still, he was left with a great appreciation of the unconventional tactic he had witnessed me employ throughout the day and the number and size of fish it produced. Casting out away from the boat and "feeling" for structure is a good way to lose a few jigs but it also put quite a few fish in the livewell.



If you can get out safely and fish in windy conditions it can be very rewarding. Just be careful and don't attempt to take on more than you or your boat can handle. Safety is always a primary concern when enjoying our passion for fishing and the outdoors. As always, I hope you get to go fishing often and soon!

Good read PNSP and thanks for sharing!

Good job PNSP. Nice story.

best 7 was in the 14 pound range ....
and I thunk I tired you know who out with all the brimmin the day before
good thing this aint a competitive sport ....
breakin all the well defined crappie ketchn rules is just wrong my friends
nice read and sorry I couldn't go .....flooring issues have been resolved FINALLY
and the other half was a sweety ....
she spooned all them brim for me while I put down the quarter roun
then I made em into fry material ....sounz like yawl was even more busy than me
good read brother and sounds like a mighty good day in the breeze
lets go put out some brush next week in the weee hours
have a few ideas on some water beautification and enhancement
maybe do a bit more of the ole
and as always ....
KABOOM

thanks for another good report. I was In the other seat Friday. My friend put his boat in all the right places as we caught 50+, kept 27. Some hit the grease Friday. Fishing in the wind is not easy, but very rewarding.

Hey, this is an informative thread! Nice explanation of roadrunner use...Hope you guys are having a good mother's day...

That white/chart Wally Marshall Crappie Thunder jig body by Strike King has been very, very effective over the last several months. I see the other styles like the Joker but just can't bring myself to switch when the Thunder has worked so well.

Crappie are easy to catch, generally speaking. They are just hard to find most of the time. This is why we don't talk about exactly where we find them. Lake X and vague references to locations on mystery lake are necessary when posting on the World Wide Web. Otherwise you risk a flood of armchair fishermen visiting. I met a couple of gentlemen at the boat ramp when I was leaving who asked for help finding the fish. I gave them some specific information and their eyes grew large when I showed them the livewell. They said they were definitely coming back the next day. I figure if someone is willing to go out and try to find the fish and are willing to ask for help, they deserve as much information as I can offer (which isn't much most of the time). But if you aren't out on the lake looking for them its a little harder for me to be forthcoming.

Ketchn, I think I'll wait until winter to sink brush but I'll lend a hand if you are going to do it now.

You have my respect, battling 25 mph wind to fish. And a good box of crappie to show for it, which is worth more than my respect.

Given the box I now use for a fishing vehicle I think I will use my slip as my alternative fishing vehicle on these high wind days. But to the brave go the rewards and I know I will not match your catching when I fishing the slip, as I am not counted among the brave.

I agree with you on the shorter rods. My two favorites are a five footer and a six foot six incher. I recently bought two ten foot rods. They are great for sensitivity but are hard to fish the way I prefer to fish, which is jigging over the side of the boat or the edge of the slip walkways. (I bought three but broke one the second trip. I'm just not use to a rod being that long. )

I bet you didn't have much trouble with other boaters during the day.

I agree with you on a lot of things but this isn't one of them. It is hard for most people to fish as often as some of us do. So I like to see them succeed when they do get to fish. We need as many people with happy fishing memories as possible to combat those who would limit fishing on public waters for their private gain.

So I don't hesitate to state the lake, even one as small as the Cleburne State Park lake. I don't mind telling if I am catching them from from bridges, brush piles, shore line or creek beds. If somebody is fishing my favorite spot then I will go to my next favorite spot. If all my favorite spots are being fished then I will have fun searching for a new favorite spot.

I will provide the GPS coordinates on any natural structure I find, such as drop offs, points or sunken logs. I will provide the GPS coordinates of Corp brush piles, as they were placed in the lakes for all people to use, not just a lucky few. And especially for Joe Pool since some A^^hole has removed the Corp markers from them to keep other people from finding these brush piles.

I will not provide GPS coordinates for brush piles I find that other people have placed into the lake, as the people who made them went to a lot of work creating them. So I don't feel I have the right to disclose them.

Of course my fishing is pretty much restricted to Joe Pool now so "Lake X" would work for me, even if I was of that mindset.

Nice fish

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing.

Ez, you and I probably aren't as far off as you might think as far as helping other anglers find the fish. I meant to say that I'm more likely to go the extra mile with someone I meet at the gym who's working to lose weight than I am with someone sitting on the couch eating a Twinkie asking how to shed a few pounds. I'd encourage both but the person putting forth the effort would get more help and encouragement.

Everyone (myself included) needs help finding the fish at times. Hope you can get out and find a few soon!

I will not be able to use my pontoon until the end of July. But the foot doctor ordered me a knee scooter last Thursday, which should be delivered Tuesday or Wednesday. That will get me out of the wheel chair, so I plan on going to the slip as soon as it arrives and fish the slip.

I have foot surgery on May 19th, which might put me back into the wheelchair for a month or so. So you can count on me spending as many days at the slip as I can between the arrival of that knee scooter and May 19th. If the crappie won't cooperate I'll fish for bream.

I almost got some of those the other day at BassPro in garland. After your post I guess I`ll have to pick some up now that I have a clue how to use them.GREAT INFO CAPT.

Ole Piscatur is deadly with those roadrunners..If you want to learn how to fish them well, get in the back seat and try to keep up! Oh Yea, and ask lots of questions...even if you think you are fishing them the same way (depth, speed, etc.) he always has some wrinkles that are guaranteed to amaze...if he ever puts one of those little fishies on that roadrunner head, lookout!