Invited an old dear friend from Sulphur Spring to fish yesterday. Gerald couldn't make it because some worthless uninsured drunk driver T-bone his daughter. Blessing that she will be ok after scaring ICU time..
Our prayers to her quick recovery....

For being up all night at the hospital and bigger thing to care for, Gerald couldn't make it. Already on the road 40 mins before I heard the news. I called some buddies here in TFF was just pushing the luck to see if someone would fill the empty seat, but no luck avail so off I went solo.

Yes, it was more than cold.... God has a funny way to play trick on us, but you got to love it. In the winter, the colder it is, the better the bites. But when it is so cold, your hand can't feel anything which is also the time when the crappies like to just mouth it at times. Wearing gloves would keep you from freezing, but also fishless so what ya gonna do?

I know someone will soon enough ask "which lake?" if I don't post it, and I will. However, please note that if anyone post without mentioning a lake, it is because they wish not to share. It is perfectly ok so please don't act naive by asking as if that poster own anyone the answer. Just respect and leave it as that.

Two hours to Palestine alone is not what I usually like to do, but fishing alone is way better than no fishing. Actually, fishing alone is great, but during the winter months, I like to have at least someone to help you launch and load. As long as you can pull the truck out of the ramp in a straight line after launching and load, you are helping. Also, on the safety aspect, it is always a good idea to fish with someone in case of overboard...

Ski-masking myself after all the winter gears made me into a micheline man (I am a fat boy to begin with so imaging that). Lesson learned.... If you are wearing a ski mask, don't wear your baseball cap on top of that... I din't feel that my favorite cap flew off until I arrived at the bridge.

Now the actual fishing report. I started out like what most typically would... caught a nice mess of crappies. It was on, if you know how to read your electronics. Having electronics and not utilizing them is like having a nice Porsche, but always parked in the garage covered. If you are going to spend good money, maximize your investment, or in this case, your man-toys. The reason I mentioned electronics because not all pilons are created equal. It changes from day to day.
Caught 18 solid black crappies and didn't keep anything less than 11. Still I wanted more... I want to know where the heck are all the big white crappies at Palestine this year. And since I was fishing alone, it is perfect for me to stop catching and go hunting without the guilt trip of having a guest to put up with my insane decision.
Water is cold in the livewell so releasing any fish caught is also lively. I also gave the old man and his fishing buddy who was fishing right behind me some jigs and some nice crappies because it wasn't biting for them. Gave them some techniques and voila, happy anglers!. I kept only about 4 black crappies among the 25, and the rest is:



Color: Chart/Black
Size: 1/16 oz
Depth: varies
Hint: your electronics!!!!!
Yes, I invited the sheriff "PEPOP", but he couldn't make it either...Although I did check with him and got permission to fish...hahaha... Thanks Vern for the weather report prior to being on the road!!!!

Great Job SmS!!

Prayers for your friends daughter.. Appreciate the story and pics.. Looks like you found the bigger whites, great job... but I thought you were about to tell us that part of the story.

I am sorry to hear about your friend's daughter. Drunk drivers should receive jail time anytime they cause injure to other people while driving drunk. Being insured does not matter, insurance will not remove the pain they cause by driving drunk.

While I appreciate your right to express your views about not naming the lake being fished I don't agree with those views.

In my opinion, any post about fish caught that does not include such basic information as the lake being fished, type of bait used, depth found and general locations found, such as brush piles, bridges, shallow, etc. is just a post by somebody wanting to brag about themselves.

So, in my opinion, if you want to post to brag about how great a fisherman you are, then other members have the right to ask you to provide basic information about the lake being fished, the type of bait used, etc., to back up your brag.

I don't expect you to agree with me about this. But I would hope you will appreciate that other members have the right to ask questions about lake and fishing conditions when somebody makes a post to brag about how great a fisherman they are without providing this information.

The poster doesn't have to respond to those requests for more information but they should understand how that makes them look in the eyes of other members when they don't respond with basic fishing information about their catch.

The part of the story that amazed me was he said he had buddies I thought I was the only one.ha Good report next time I can show you where the big MAMAS live in the winter on Stine.Darrell

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Agree or disagree respectfully as I do see your point, and it's ok too if that's how you see it.

I view TFF as a great place to READ, and along the way, we all learn. I've learned a great deal over the years. There are many types of posts and many different sections within TFF. Crappie section is mainly in regard to anything related to crappie fishing, NOT just report.

As you can see, I did provide my lake and lure used etc., I do, however, read other posts from time to time that do not provide location, and I am ok with that as well. I would rather see someone's catches to fire me up to get out there to hunt. In my defense, I fish every chance I get over the years so I have lots of lakes and locations, but not everyone has many choices, thus he wishes not to share.

By asking a question in which one knows (or can assume) that the original poster wishes not to share just to make him look bad isn't me, that's all. Surely anyone has the right to ask, and anyone has the right to answer(or not), but I don't view that the unanswered questions make that person a bad person. Maybe, he is happy with what he caught and wishes to share (or brag), but he doesn't know many spots thus, such lake/spot/honey hole is golden to him.

Here is another scenario I hope you can understand. Let just assume a friend invited me to fish at his secret lake. He asked me not to tell anyone where (meaning lake and location), but he also would like to see it posted. After a successful trip, are we to the point that if I would post such trip without lake/location, then I am a bad person? Are we to NOT post because we are subject to be judged?

I guess my view is this: If someone post catches just to brag, at least he has the right to brag since I am not catching any. Instead of the glass 1/2 empty, I'd be happy for him, and it pushes me to get out there somewhere and hunt. End result, I will be a better angler due to more time on the water....

I was the other boat (white aluminum Triton) in the area, in the opposite direction of the guys you were talking to, CV. The forecast here wasn't calling for the temperature to get above freezing until 9:00 am, so I decided to just make a late start, and have breakfast in Seven Points with some fellow TFFers first (thanks for the invite, Woody). It was 11:15 before I got on the water.

Water temp was 44 degrees, as I got reminded with a shock any time I had my hands in it, and with the outside temperature in the 30's and the rain that started a couple of hours after I got there, I was glad I was fishing under a bridge. I still had trouble keeping my fingers warm. The one saving grace of the day is that the wind was light. I don't mind fishing a cold day if the wind is light.

I was experimenting with some new colors of plastic I had made, and the bite for me was pretty tough the first few hours. My last couple of trips had restocked the freezer, so I figured if I didn't slay the fish with all my experimenting, it was no big deal. But I finally got tired of the tough bite, switched exclusively to the two colors that were working best, and caught fish pretty well the last couple of hours.

I caught more small fish than I had since the summer here, but also managed 16 keepers. Most were pretty nice fish, including several really nice white crappie. I was using 1/8 oz jigs, fishing just off the bottom in 22 to 27 feet of water, and the two best colors for me were pearl chartreuse pepper, and green chartreuse. I kept seven of the nicest fish and released the rest.

Nice catch CV!

Well if you really feel like showing someone "where the big mamas live in the winter on Stine"... come on down, let's go fishin. I've been looking for em for years!

Awesome Post! Good job on some super poor conditions.

Thanks for your informative post also Bud B. Good job catching em.

Well stated CV and nice catch braving the cold temps and sharing the techniques and catch.

CV, Thanks for your report, I have a free cap for you @ our next meeting.
worth

Happy fishing, no need for drama.