Bobfish Tales

With social media, it is easy to Google any information you will ever need to know for just about anything. Crappie fishing is no exception. This brings us to the crappie fishing reality and what peoples' perceptions are about their fishery. The term "slab" comes to mind while researching the many crappie fisheries around the country. The perception of what is a slab crappie all depends on logistics. I have seen posts and videos of fish that averaged 8-12 ounces with a fish weighing a pound and a half as a "huge slab." That huge slab may be just an average fish in other fisheries. In some locations, folks may not bat an eye at 2 pounders and 3 pounders are very common. Then you may see the most envious post of all, those 4lb plus catches and some even pushing 5lbs. To most crappie fishers, this is the ones crappie enthusiasts can only dream of, which brings one back to their own reality of their crappie situation. There is no doubt, that fishers who live in the ...

   No, this is not a blog about the poor. This is about a small lake in north Louisiana. Poverty Point Reservoir is a 2700 acre lake located north of Delhi, Louisiana. It was constructed in 2005 as a bass lake, but its fertile waters with large populations of shad, have made it one of the best crappie fishing lakes in the state. The number one black crappie and six of the top ten white crappie records have all come from Poverty Point. In 2016 the lake exploded with 3lb crappie. Three of the top ten all were caught within weeks of each other. There was at least 15 fish reported that year that broke that magical 3lb mark. Those kinda of numbers of trophy fish would rival some of the best Mississippi lakes. This has been well publicized throughout the state and the country. It has brought many fishers from all over the country to this small hidden gem. But something has changed since 2016. Those trophy size crappie have seemed to disappear overnight or at least the past two year...

Perhaps my favorite fish to catch is crappie/sacalait. I grew up fishing with my dad using a cane pole. He graduated to a fly rod way before the modern day crappie pole was developed. He was ahead of the times for sure. Today there are a bunch of crappie poles to chose from, but here in the south, the long pole really hasn't caught on. Seems that the spin cast or spinning rod is the rod and reel of choice. But, you may be missing out on the best rod to use for catching more fish. So why a long pole over a short? First, a long pole can get you into cover that a 5ft spin cast won't. Second, most of the time if you get hung it's a lost bait, whereas with a long pole it is easy to punch out that lure. FYI: use a cork that you can slide up and down on your line. It makes punching your lure out easier . Third, a light weight, 10ft crappie pole is easier to flip into to that sweet spot with heavy cover. A prime example of this was on a day when the fishing was tough. Of the 18 ...

Maybe this blog should read, from "bottom to top." Cold water temps can make speckled trout fishing tough at times. This last cold snap has been no different. While red fishing was fantastic, the cold water had slowed the trout bite, or had it? While it is certainly true when water temps are in the forties, trout are difficult to catch. There are always exceptions to this rule. Deeper waters may produce trout even with cold water temperatures. When the waters warm to the fifties, it becomes much easier to catch wintertime fish. The one thing to know about cold water trout fishing is to figure out what presentation is most effective. Today was a perfect example of what to do and what not to do. Some folks went home with very few fish, while others had limits. So what made the difference from a slow bite to fast and furious? It was simply presentation. Trout fishing can be predictable if you know the pattern. If it has been a cold night, it may be better to either find deepe...

Many fishers think of cold water crappie as fishing deep in the many lakes and rivers throughout the country. While this is certainly true, the marsh here in southern Louisiana is a whole different estuary. The many bayous and canals are typically shallow. Finding deep water may mean finding five to eight foot pockets that have been dredged by oil companies. Thinking deep for cold water fish may mean fishing two feet or less. A fellow fisherman had told me many years ago, that on the coldest days, he would prefer a bright sunny day and would fish extremely shallow. This thinking goes against everything you read about catching fish in freezing weather. Marsh crappie and many other species adapt to their environment. This means finding fish in places that some may not think about fishing. This past cold snap has been no different. Most people fishing were beating the bank fishing two to three foot under a cork. While this can be affective, a lot of fish simply get passed over. Many times...