Crappie from the Yak?

Does anyone else fish for crappie from their kayak? I fish both fly gear and conventional for these morsels and have done quite well in the past. Anyone else?

but of course
you can pull up under anything

Recently bought a Lund. The new plan is to tow or stow my yak to the happy hunting grounds and go between stuff no boat can fit in.

that should be absurd

I kill crappie in my yak

I had myself all talked into it..then work raised it's ugly head. Yuk.

water is low, now is the time to mark some hidden debris

Should be great from a Kayak. I usually fish the bridges first and then the brush piles.

I do - in fact I am taking my daughter out again on Lake Alan Henry Wednesday in my tandum. Bass by day - crappie by night

Don

That's what I started out with until I got a new boat this year. For a couple of years, I went every where with it. I got 3rd and big fish a couple years ago in BFC tournament on Cedar Creek fishing out of a kayak. A kayak allow you to sit so low near the water and make it easier to shoot docks. It's a good alternative to get around the lake with if you don't have a boat.

Yegua creek December 6th. Caught these and many more just like them between noon and 2 pm with the fly rod and flys that I made myself.

That's a great catch, Crappie on the Fly from the Yak! very cool

What fly were you using?

Here's what I should have been using The JigFly



The truth is that I got out of my kayak and fished from the bank because it's a rare opportunity on the Yegua to find the fish stacked up and accessable for fly fishing.. there's just to many darn trees!

Many times I use my kayak to get to the fish but once there given the chance I'll fish standing upright on the bank or wading.

All the crappie were caught using a varity of #6 to #10 streamers or beadhead woolys, mostly in olive. When the crappie are stacked up like they were on Wednesday it really doesn't matter what you use as long as it imitates something to eat to the crappie and will sink to the correct level. If I didn't let it sink long enough I would not catch anything.

Several times I would catch a fish, cast the fly back out, put the rod down and then let it sink while I put the fish on the stringer. I repeated this process several times one fish after another.. It was fun and these were some pretty big crappie especially being that every one was male. The females are the ones that get really big but they have not moved into the creeks yet... as far as I can tell...

Great day to be outside.. made it back to my spot on the Yegua by noon and fished it until three. No reason to move around much the fish were stacked up pretty much in the same general area but were harder to catch then last Wednesday. I kept 14 and missed or released maybe 8 more. All good fish, all male like before (or maybe female without eggs yet ???).

Very nice pics ...kinda miss those days fishing from a kayak. What I don't miss is having to paddle with a stringer full of Crappie.

Dragging a stringer slows me down too much so I put them in the yak behind the seat when I head to the truck! My yak smells like fish and cat piss.

Anything new developing?

Yeah! Caught these ...but from a boat

hoss of a crappie!

Had the lower Yegua to myself from about 10:30 am until 2:00 pm when the first boat showed. I hit the same hole that I had caught crappie out of in December before the rains. Ended up with 9 good Black Crappie, missed about 6 others, had 3 throw-backs and 2 gaspergoo. No whitebass, lost lots of jigs to the brush. Went about halfway to Newmans Bottom (where I could see evidence of bank fisherman) looking for whitebass but found none.

nice stringers. I have trouble finding them in my yak. I don't have any electronics. It's very hit or miss. I can't find that good structure. Any suggestions?

I have but don't use electronics very often, I call it my lying fish finder because it shows fish but I can never catch them... The crappie that I've caught on this thread were all from the same place that I found by chance one afternoon while fishing for whitebass.

Very nice picture!! I will hit "the" creek next week in my kayak ...will post pics.

Well, I got 6 keepers today and a couple of misses. I'm getting the hang of this and hopefully get better with more practice. Tried the jig & bobber set up but caught more sandies than crappie.

is that creek in Mansfield?
thats nice

Looks like central Texas water to me.. maybe around Bastrop or Limestone?

Fishing without electronics can be done especially during the spawn. You all know to look for stumps, rocks, gravel, or even a single twig. Once you locate the males in the shallows (from the dirt to 4feet deep), turn around and look for any structure in 5-12 ft of water. Fish them thououghly because that's where the sows hang out waiting for the right moment to go shallow. Also: don't be afraid to do the "high stick" technique and drop your fly into crooks and crannies you can't cast into.
One thing ya just gotta, gotta have is a brush grabber so you can hook onto timber and leave your hands free.

how slow do you fish the jig and bobber? I have never tried that method can you expand?

Well, I learned from Ernest and Guy (TFF'ers extroidinare). They taught me to fish my jig about 18-24 inches below the bobber and fish s-l-o-w-l-y. When you think you're going slow, slow down some more. Slow and steady, stop often watch the bobber closely and pop it once in a while.

I don't use a bobber, I would rather "feel" the take then see it. I have found that the colder the water the less you should move the jig. I personally don't jig up and down as much as I go side to side. I love the thump!

Hook-line&sinker: do you fish the Yegua down by the bridge or do you ever make it a little farther up to the culvert on that county road? I've fished up there a few times and had good luck catching whites about this time of year, maybe later. I've been thinking about planning a trip up there some time. Unfortunately, I've moved to Dallas and now Houston since my College Station days and don't know where to fish around here yet. What kinda yak you got?

If I go up the yegua in my yak it's from Nails Creek park. I have an old town loon 111 (SIK) that I bought in 2000. I am very pleased with my kayak. The Yegua is winding down pretty fast as far as the whitebass go but the crappie should be good until May. This rain should help things a bit for those that still want to try the Yegua.. I have avoided the Yegua for the most part favoring Cedar, Nails and Birch creeks to get away from the crowds. Every creek around Somerville has been good this year for one thing or another at one time or another...

I caught this crappie from my yak on Sunday. I was in 4-6 ft the wind was blowing gale force on Benbrook.


~gober

gober,
Sweet ride, did you make it?

Thanks, yep made two of them, one for me and one for my brother. I am trying to put together a website that details the build process. I finished them back in Oct 05. The plans were purchased at ClCboats.com.

here is a picture from their maiden voyage in the keys.

~gober

look at the water. that wasnt in texas was it>?

That was down at Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys, about 30 miles above Key West.

Shot I am sending you mail now.

~gober

That’s a sweet yak, Gober! You need to check out TexasKayakFisherman.com if you already haven’t. There are a few guys on that board that are builders as well, and there is actually a get together planned for wooden boat builders.

On another note, I managed a few slabs from the yak over the weekend...