# Tallapoosa River solo trip



## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Since the south Alabama deer season is closed, and the weather has been warm, I decided to see if I learned anything from the "Crappie Lessons" thread on this forum. I went alone, which allows me the luxury of piddling around, experimenting, etc.

My Dad was a crappie master on Smith Lake, and he told me if you get 3 or 4 days of a warming trend, the crappie will turn on. I located a treetop in 20 ft of water and tossed out a crappie jig. BINGO! A nice 12" crappie in the boat. I let the wind drift me away from the tree while I got everything ready for the upcoming slaughter. Giddy with anticipation, I eased back to the tree and wore that place out ... without another bite.

I marked fish at several locations and never got a tap. I even tried a small jigging spoon - no luck. I didn't have any live bait, so I tried several different jigs. Not squat.

As the afternoon wore on, I decided to do what I do best, so I caught a few shad and caught 2 stripers in the last hour of the day (one 24" and one 28"). I kept the bigger one for some fish sammiches, and went to the house.

Either I suck at crappie fishing, or I managed to catch the last remaining crappie in the river.


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

There are two types of fishing that completely mystify me....

Crappie and Stripers... Been trying for YEARS to figure them both out!


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I just think you're a crappie fisherman.....

Nice fish though!


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

Yep. Have prepared several times for the "oncoming slaughter" that never materialized
Thanks to you and all the posters here that don't just post their success OR LIE!!
It really helps my feelings when I see the occasional fail!

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Some of my very best striper catches on this lake (Yates Lake) started off as crappie trips that didn't produce any crappie. The mindset was, if we're NOT gonna catch any fish, we would rather NOT catch giant stripers than NOT catching crappie.

Basic ******* reasoning. :001_huh:


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## bowdiddly (Jan 6, 2010)

Bodupp said:


> Since the south Alabama deer season is closed, and the weather has been warm, I decided to see if I learned anything from the "Crappie Lessons" thread on this forum. I went alone, which allows me the luxury of piddling around, experimenting, etc.
> 
> My Dad was a crappie master on Smith Lake, and he told me if you get 3 or 4 days of a warming trend, the crappie will turn on. I located a treetop in 20 ft of water and tossed out a crappie jig. BINGO! A nice 12" crappie in the boat. I let the wind drift me away from the tree while I got everything ready for the upcoming slaughter. Giddy with anticipation, I eased back to the tree and wore that place out ... without another bite.
> 
> ...


Even though you can't gun hunt right now, isn't it still legal to bow hunt ?


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Yes, you can still bowhunt because they delayed bow season until the 25th of October instead of the usual 15th opening.

I went back to the lake today with Frank (the Googan) and "planted" three crappie beds - one in 18ft of water, and two in 10ft of water. I'm pretty sure Mark Collins would have laughed himself silly at our operation, but the Googan and I are already getting the grease hot.

We did stop by the "magic tree" that produced my one crappie day before yesterday. He caught one and I caught one, then we hung jigs all over the treetop, scaring hell out of the remaining crappie (if there were any). :thumbup:


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Bodupp......... got a chuckle out of your post. Sounds like some of my exploits lately. Have been reading the crappie lessons thread also and a lot of good info there, if I can remember it. About the time I think I know what I'm doing on crappie they seem to teach me I don't know very much. So will take a break from crappie on Monday and go chase mullet although I'm not doing much in that department either. Weather prediction are good for next week so need to take advantage while we can.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

Bodupp said:


> I went back to the lake today with Frank (the Googan) and "planted" three crappie beds - one in 18ft of water, and two in 10ft of water. I'm pretty sure Mark Collins would have laughed himself silly at our operation


Dropping those things over the side is harder than it seems!

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Try'n Hard said:


> Dropping those things over the side is harder than it seems!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


Our first effort was truly comical - after cutting a massive pile of canes and piling them in my boat, the program became like a CIA covert mission, complete with strategic planning that the Joint Chiefs of Staff would have been proud of. After studying Google Earth, coupled with my intimate knowlege of the lake, we finally picked a spot at random, using the old Blind Luck Technique (BLT). After marking a spot with GPS that looked good using my downscan sonar, and backing it up with infallible land-range triangulation, and making sure we were in an area where no one could possibly see it on their sonar accidently, we finally launched the entire mess over the side and watched it sink - smug as hell that we had pulled off the ultimate secret crappie spot.

When the smoke cleared, and the dust settled, .... we had about two feet of canes sticking up out of the water. :whistling: About 20% of the canes floated to the surface and began drifting away...

Plan B: "Do something, Frank."

We stared at each other - expressionless - until I noticed that slack-jawed idiot was drooling as much as I was. Finally, we lassoed the exposed canes, tied on another concrete block, and bombs away.

"I can still see it."

Yeah, well, whatever. We're never gonna catch any crappie from this lake.


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## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

First one I dropped over hooked over my fire extinguisher and when I finally let go it created a catapult type situation that launched the extinguisher nearly 30' - did you know that they do not float?


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Hell, Try'n, it sounds like you could fish with us!


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## Mark Collins (Dec 27, 2012)

Yall make me laugh
This is how I make a stake bed
2 pieces of 1 1/2 or 2 inch pvc 10 feet long temporily joined together with a coupler
Use a comparable size hole saw and cut a block of wood with the hole saw to fit in the PVC. Insert the block of wood about 2 feet in 1 end of the PVC, use screws to hold in place.
This is your driver
Just load a piece of wood or bamboo into the PVC to the block of wood, insert it into the water to the bottom and drive it into the mud, I try to put at least 100 in a spot


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## Mark Collins (Dec 27, 2012)

If the fish are not on cover, look for them suspended, that is what happened here about 2 weeks ago


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## Mark Collins (Dec 27, 2012)

Side imaging really helps finding the fish when they suspend !


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Mark, how much cane do you like sticking up off the bottom?


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## Mark Collins (Dec 27, 2012)

In water 10 feet or less I like about 3 feet sticking up
Over 10 feet and I like 4-5 feet sticking up


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