I was able to sneak out Friday and go fishing. It seems like that's something that is getting harder and harder to do nowadays. I made it to the house about 11am and the boat was already hooked up and ready to go. Unfortunately I sat still to long and ended up taking an unintended 1 hour nap. I guess father time is catching up with me and to quote Indiana Jones from Raiders of the Lost Ark, "It's not the years, its the mileage." Whatever the case, after stopping for fuel, ice and beverages I was on the water by 2pm. I took my time and eased out onto the water not really knowing what to expect.

It was windy, as has been the case almost everyday lately and I'm beginning to think that a little wind isn't as bad as I once thought it was. But I advise you to just remember to be careful and not take on anything that you or your boat can't handle. I began with a methodical long cast with the wind at my back and counted to ten before dragging the Roadrunner and Crappie Thunder jig back to me, bumping the bottom as it went along. The fish were not there in the numbers they had been before but when I did get bit, it was a good one. I fished the same spot for about an hour only catching a fish every 15 to 20 minutes. Just about the time I decided it was time to go, along came another nice fish. That makes it hard to leave even though I knew that I hadn't covered any of the other productive locations I had in mind.

My guess is that I had seven fish that would have weighed in at over nine pounds before I decided to leave for greener pastures. I found a new brushpile on the way out and noted some key landmarks for a return at the end of the fishing trip. The brushpiles in 15 FOW were holding plenty of willing fish. They just weren't very big fish, but I had fun catching the little guys and also donated a few jigs to the piles. Holding a jig still while sitting over a brush pile isn't my favorite tactic but I made myself stay just to prove to myself that I could still do it. After two hours and fifty or so just under 10" fish I headed to a brush pile nearer to shallow water. The bigger fish were holding in about 6 to 10 FOW on the bank side of the pile. A cast to the bank and a drag back towards the pile yielded a few more keepers.

It was at this point that I began wondering. What would happen if I were using a different color? Now I have several colors of Crappie Thunder jigs in my tackle box. A tackle box that has been lightened by a gradual reduction of the type of jigs I keep. All I have left is my assortment of Thunders and a couple of packages of Berkley Power Bait Minnows. I even have one package of 2" Lightning jigs in refrigerator white. But I just couldn't bring myself to change color or type of jig. The Thunder has been very, very good to me lately. Maybe next trip out I'll indulge my curiosity and try a different color. Strike King makes the Crappie Thunder in sixteen different colors.

- Pumpkinseed/Chartreuse Tail
- Electric Chicken
- Hot Chartreuse
- Popsicle (new)
- Blue Grass
- Tuxedo Black/Chartreuse
- Tuxedo Black/Sparkle
- Blue/Pearl
- Refrigerator White (my personal favorite)
- Red/Chartreuse/Sparkle
- Junebug/Chartreuse
- Electric Lime
- Cajun Cricket (new)
- Purple Sage (new)
- Monkey Shine (new)
- Punkin Pie (new)

http://mrcrappie.com/products/Strike-King/crappie-thunder.php

The live well was looking pretty good by this time and I decided I would stop at that brushpile I had seen while motoring out of the spot that held the majority of the bigger fish of the day. It was loaded with fish. There were even a couple of keepers in the group. I'm hoping that this spot will load up in the near future with some of the bigger fish I've been catching lately. So I dragged out the fish cleaning table today and went to work. I clean fish about as fast as I catch them, slow and methodically. After 45 minutes I had a nice mess of fillets to add to the freezer which is now starting to bulge at the seams. Guess its about time for a fish fry isn't it?



I stopped at Wal-Mart (just because it was on the way to the launch point) and had to search for Crappie Thunder jigs. They only had one package of my favorite refrigerator white jigs and they were hidden behind some other jigs on the side of a cardboard display sitting on the shelf. Maybe Wally should look into having them stock more of the Thunders? In the mean time, I have got to make another run to Academy to restock my supply of Roadrunners and refrigerator white Crappie Thunder jigs. If I don't, I'll have to try that package of 2" Lightning Shad jigs because I'm down to my last package of Thunders with only one jig body left in it.



Getting stuck in a rut, using the same color jig all the time, isn't so bad. As long as it keeps producing those nice slabs for me I'll keep doing what is working! As always, I hope you get to go fishing often and soon.

Way to go sir, nice fish!

Nice Catch!!

Nice story. Great job.

I always enjoy your fishing stories, good job, once again!

Nice Fish. Awesome post. Thanks for sharing.

Boom baby! I got a lot of those Mr Crappie jig bodies. They are good too. Have plenty of plastics. But buy 2 every time I see something new.
Great job and congrats!

PNSP,
Those Strike King baits are designed by Wally Marshall (Mr. Crappie)..
The Thunder is as good as they get. When I'm not using hand tied I've been fishing the Shad Poles..
They are also great baits that stay put on a jig with a keeper...
I like the new colors best...........
Thanks for sharing your thoughts...
Jigum

I like the Strike King jigs as well. I also use Bobby Garland Baby Shad in Lights Out color that works great for me but all their colors are as good as Strike King's.

Nice.

its mighty tuff to beat a chart and white .....
pretty much could be the ONE color combination that works generically
with the threadfin shad typically being predominantly white with yella tails its a pretty easy decision
sorry I left ya stranded the last 2 outings brother ....
my back is some kinda not happy
hope to see ya soon
and as always
KABOOM

Yea I'm liking this bait also....June Bug/Chartreuse ...
Plus yall no I'm a tackle Ho ...lol

Hmmm, ok JE, whatever you say...but you will be...Oh, btw...quit playing in the jig maker section...or you will be mistaken for a tackle ho...

Today I used a 2" Lightning Shad in the Glow Silver Flake color. Caught three in a row, one drop after another. I put it away and went back to using my refrigerator white Thunder. I had spilled my tackle box and saw that I had a color I wasn't aware of.

The fish were biting again today! It was a hoot getting bit on the fall, vertical jigging and pitching and retrieving. This has got to be my best year ever as far as number of fish I've put in the boat. I prefer the Thunder jig but it doesn't matter what brand you use as long as you are putting your jig near the fish they are biting it. Location, location, location my friends....

definitely a great outing! there is one more color not in that link,hard to find too,its called acid rain.back when mr marshall did his segemnt on fork,thats the jig he was using.the 2 trips i had with cliff,we used wh/ch rocky tops,i also used the refrigerator wh jig,had great results.