Bobfish Tales

  Every fisher dreams of that day or time when everything aligns and you catch a fish or fishes of a lifetime. Well that happened to the Doc and me one week in March 2015 at my favorite small lake in north Louisiana,  Poverty Point Reservoir.  The weather that March day was cold and when we arrived at the lake there was no one there, not a truck in the parking lot or boat on the water.  We launched my 17ft G3 and hadn't been on the water long when Doc hung a monster crappie. It was a 3 lber and his second one he could brag about. I was thinking, where's my trophy.? Some things are just not fair. Day one on the lake had started great, at least for Doc. The next day a few other seekers of the giants had arrived and one was a bass guy looking for that trophy. We were fishing a cove that had a log pile we had come to love over the years and had produced big fish. The only problem was the bass guy knew about the log pile also.  We were anxious to fish it, but he stay...

    One thing a good fisher will tell you is that you can learn something new every time you go out. This is true no matter how many years you've been fishing. Modern day technology has certainly made learning something new each trip easier.  It's a given that location is always the number one reason you will be successful or not. No matter the presentation, type of bait, or color that you are using, the area must have fish to catch. Location is the key for success, but presentation  may be the most important reason you will catch fish once you have found them. There are many ways to present your bait to crappie. You can cast, dock shoot, spider rig, pull or push baits, or by drop/tight lining the bait onto the fish.  For those using Garmin's Livescope or Lowrance's Active Target, presentation is made easier. For those who don't have such technology, knowledge and skill are the keys to catching fish. With this modern day technology, one can visualize the bait in...

No doubt over the past few years Grenada Lake has been the destination of crappie fishers all over the country. There is good reason for this. Grenada Lake has produced more wall hanging trophy size crappie than all of the other lakes combined. So what is the reason that Grenada is the best crappie lake in the country? For one they have some of the most rigorous regulations. It is 15 fish per person with a 12 inch length limit. But is that the single reason that the crappie have grown to trophy size in great numbers? Perhaps it is. But is there another reason Grenada keeps producing numbers of big fish. It's no coincidence that places like Grenada produce so well. The lake was created to control flooding along the Yazoo River Basin. Living here in south Louisiana, flooding is a part of life. Over the years on the water, I have noticed that when there are years of high water during the spring, the next few years, the crappie populations tend to explode. This can hardly be coincidenc...

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 three years. Last y...

Every year, starting late winter, well-into late spring and even early summer, crappie begin their spawn. The wave starts here in the deep south and will continue as far north into Canada. It is perhaps the favorite time of year for crappie anglers. It's that time of year when even the novice of novice fishers can catch numbers of spawning fish. Just like clockwork, the spawn occurs here in the southern regions of the United States and progressively moves like a giant wave of crappie fishing heaven. Typically starting late January to mid February, the flurry begins and spreads north through the middle states from middle March through April. The wave continues north through April and May. So if you are a crappie enthusiust, and have time to travel, you can ride this crappie wave all the way to Canada. This may be a little far fetched for most of us, but it is possible to catch part of the ride by traveling a few hours north of where you are fishing. Perhaps the best example here in ...

Shallow water livescoping is not as easy or simple as one might think. The sheer amount of noise can make it difficult to spot the targeted fish you are trying to catch. When talking shallow, I mean 6 ft or less. So you have bought the coveted holy grail Garmin livescope or the new Lowrance Active Target. These innovations have changed the way fishers fish for certain. Deeper lakes/reservoirs are easier to navigate and spot brushpiles and fish. Shallow water seems to be more difficult. The settings are basically the same, usually noise rejection on low or medium. Then you adjust the gain and depths accordingly. Some scopers like to keep the bottom at the lower part of the screen which works fine in deep water. But sometimes in real shallow water, the view gets distorted and it's harder to see the fish. I like to put the depth at half or three quarter screen. These are only personal preferences that work for me. The key to catching more fish in real shallow water, is knowing what t...

Veteran crappie fishers have known or assume to know where and how to catch more fish than most folks. We all know that person, the fisher that everyone calls the fish whisperer. While these folks are great at their crafts, for many, it's not that simple. There are basic steps to help you catch more fish. While they seem simple, technology has proven what most thought as truths not to be so true. Crappie are always found near cover. Where you find one there has to be more. In extremely cold weather, they are always found deep. The list goes on and on. With inovations like the Garmin Livescope, it has changed the fishing world as we know it. That being said there are 3 basic steps that will help you catch fish. The first step is location. While all the tackle in the world and having the the best technology help, you have to be in areas where fish are actually located. This may take a little research. The many social media sites are valuable for finding the best spots. W...