Posted By: Bud B
Cedar Creek - 4/22/14 - 04/23/14 01:00 AM
I got home from work early this afternoon, and couldn't resist such a beautiful afternoon, 82 degrees with light north winds. Plus, I know full well that with all these 80 degree days we're getting now, the spawn will soon be over, at least on most of the lake. I hitched onto the boat and was on the water by about 2:15 this afternoon. Cedar Creek Lake is now exactly 4 feet low. I saw water temps from 71 to 73 degrees.
I first went to the cove where I caught so many fish on Saturday to see if there were still shallow fish to be found. They were there, but it was a tough bite. After an hour, I had only caught 5, so I decided to move on. There were plainly lots of fish there, though. I missed a lot of fish. When I do that, I usually just decide that there were a lot of small fish in the area, but that theory didn't work today. With the bright sun and cleaner water, and the jig only 14 inches below the bobber, I would see the fish flash when they made a swipe at the jig. A number of the large white flashes left no doubt that I was missing some large female fish. I guess it's a reminder to never assume anything about fish you're missing.
All 5 shallow fish were nice fish. The first photo is the first fish I caught, an especially nice one. Only one of the 5 was a male, and the females all looked like they still had eggs. So, the spawn is plainly not over yet.
I tried a couple of other shallow spots, but caught nothing, so I decided to try some deeper fish. The bite there was tough for me, too. I probably would have ended up with more fish if I had just stayed on the shallow fish. I ended up catching 5 more keeper fish, 10 to 12 feet down, on bridge pilings. A couple were just small keepers; the other 3 were nicer. It was a lot tougher bite than Saturday, but I guess if you can pick up 10 keeper crappie after work, you can't call it a bad afternoon.
I caught the fish on the same tubes I've been using lately, the shallow fish on a 2" chartreuse glitter tube and the deeper ones on a 2" firecracker tube.
The first fish of the day.
My first bridge fish, another nice one. With its scattered spots, and lack of bars, I was calling this fish a black crappie, but it only had 6 spiny fins, instead of the 7 or 8 a black is supposed to have. A hybrid?
I first went to the cove where I caught so many fish on Saturday to see if there were still shallow fish to be found. They were there, but it was a tough bite. After an hour, I had only caught 5, so I decided to move on. There were plainly lots of fish there, though. I missed a lot of fish. When I do that, I usually just decide that there were a lot of small fish in the area, but that theory didn't work today. With the bright sun and cleaner water, and the jig only 14 inches below the bobber, I would see the fish flash when they made a swipe at the jig. A number of the large white flashes left no doubt that I was missing some large female fish. I guess it's a reminder to never assume anything about fish you're missing.
All 5 shallow fish were nice fish. The first photo is the first fish I caught, an especially nice one. Only one of the 5 was a male, and the females all looked like they still had eggs. So, the spawn is plainly not over yet.
I tried a couple of other shallow spots, but caught nothing, so I decided to try some deeper fish. The bite there was tough for me, too. I probably would have ended up with more fish if I had just stayed on the shallow fish. I ended up catching 5 more keeper fish, 10 to 12 feet down, on bridge pilings. A couple were just small keepers; the other 3 were nicer. It was a lot tougher bite than Saturday, but I guess if you can pick up 10 keeper crappie after work, you can't call it a bad afternoon.
I caught the fish on the same tubes I've been using lately, the shallow fish on a 2" chartreuse glitter tube and the deeper ones on a 2" firecracker tube.
The first fish of the day.
My first bridge fish, another nice one. With its scattered spots, and lack of bars, I was calling this fish a black crappie, but it only had 6 spiny fins, instead of the 7 or 8 a black is supposed to have. A hybrid?
Great day to be fishing! 
