# Cerro Gordo (Holmes County)



## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Left the house at 0630 and stopped in Argyle for crickets...no crickets...so on to Caryville for crickets. Should have bought some minnows for crappie...no minnows at Cerro Gordo landing although I had a net to catch a few. The landing is about 6 miles north of Westville on hwy 79A. The turn off is Buck Rogers Dr to right...there is no boat ramp sign on 79A.

Bait shop guy said folks been catching crappie for some time in the river. Should have took the hint and got minnows. 

Going into the landing we saw a historical market and stopped to read. Turns out Cerro Gordo was first county seat for Holmes County. I think the date was 1848.

The landing is a dog leg setup and a little tricky for a first time launch but it wasn't too bad. Plenty of parking space for several rigs. i

Decided to try accessing a lake upstream a couple of miles, but what we figured as the access was high and dry. We could see the lake on the GPS map but could not get to it. So fished treetops and log jam eddies in the river. Used crickets and a few skinny wigglers.

Ended up with 30 bream and one crappie in the box. Tossed a couple dozen.

Motor starter has been giving trouble and would not work at all this morning, so used the hand crank on my Yamahopper. Once started it's an easy one pull start the rest of the day.

Decided to drop the boat off at repair shop up on hwy 2A, and stopped by the Baker landing on the way so my partner could see the place. His and my first trip to this area to fish. 

Had a great day with a good friend on a first trip to new part of the river. 

Made a few photos of the area. I'm the portly one in the photos.

http://s1207.photobucket.com/user/fishwalton/slideshow/Cerro%20Gordo%20100614


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## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

As usual, great report and great pictures.


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

Those are some beautiful fish!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner


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## jcoss15 (Oct 11, 2010)

Man those are some pretty bream, good job!


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## spinfactor (Sep 22, 2013)

Great report. Some beautiful fish.


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## Rustifaro (Jul 16, 2008)

*Jigs*

Some pretty bluegill there.

For most of my years I wouldn’t go crappie fishing without minnows. A couple of years ago I fished with a new friend that only used a bream buster and a jig. He would drop the jig next to a stump and jig it a couple of times and move on. He was catching twice a many as me so I started tight lining jigs and have had better success than with minnows. I also use a jig under a cork and cast to likely spots and jerk it back a couple feet at a time. I’ve had good success with that too. I still take minnows with me cause I like to watch the cork, but I’ve had good success jigging.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Rustifaro......I'm somewhat in the same boat about jigs but haven't been able to wean myself off minnows when I want to get serious about crappie. Just started using jigs a couple of years ago due to becoming friends with a guy from Kansas here on PFF. He's very good with jigs. 
Have all sorts of crappie gear but a bream buster will work just as good in some waters. Also have a box full of jigs and grubs I need to use more.


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## spinfactor (Sep 22, 2013)

Rustifaro said:


> Some pretty bluegill there.
> 
> For most of my years I wouldn?t go crappie fishing without minnows. A couple of years ago I fished with a new friend that only used a bream buster and a jig. He would drop the jig next to a stump and jig it a couple of times and move on. He was catching twice a many as me so I started tight lining jigs and have had better success than with minnows. I also use a jig under a cork and cast to likely spots and jerk it back a couple feet at a time. I?ve had good success with that too. I still take minnows with me cause I like to watch the cork, but I?ve had good success jigging.


I use a little jem which is same as bream buster. Never heard of jigging with these types of rods. You by chance have any recommendations which jig and color I should try for crappie?


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## gastonfish (Mar 24, 2012)

Nice job and Awesome pictures. Taking a look at them was a good start to a busy work day. Thanks


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

spinfactor said:


> I use a little jem which is same as bream buster. Never heard of jigging with these types of rods. You by chance have any recommendations which jig and color I should try for crappie?


Over at Lake Talquin the Hal Fly is a very popular jig for jigging. It has a caribou tail. Usually white or chartreuse. A friend up in Alabama swears by the Hal Fly. He fishes the Chattahoochee below the Lake Eugaula Dam and kills the crappie. Can't get them around here so have to order online and visit Academy next time I'm near one. I think I have seen a few at Wal-Mart but not sure. 

For past couple of years I have been using the 2 inch curly tail ,triple tail and stinger type baits with litewire jigs that bend when you get a hang up. I like the stinger type best for jigging and the curly/triple tails for longlining. Colors that seem to work at Talquin and a nearby lake here are bubble gum and acid rain. I have done well with popsickle as well. These are the go to jigs but yellow and white are good as well. I have probably a dozen or more different colors I try from time to time but seem to keep going back to bubble gum, popsickle and acid rain.

The litewire jigs save you a lot of jigs and downtime tying on jig after jib if you are fishing heavy cover. I get them from litewirehooks.com or at Lake Talquin Lodge when I'm there. The hook bends and you can straighten it out by hand. You have to be careful though if you get a big fish on and not horse him to hard. After it bends several times it's a good idea to change or be more careful pulling in a fish. I have lost some good bass with this jig because I tried to horse them too much.

If you are long lining with a litewire jig and hang up don't stop or other lines will drop and hang up. Just keep moving and the jig will usually come loose. 

The Lil Gem pole will work just fine with a cork. I have used this type a couple of times and caught a few crappie but found that when jigging it's best to shorten the line if you are fishing shallow water.....2 to 5 or so. I use a 11 and 12 foot B n M graphite and shorten the line a couple of feet rather than same length of pole. It's easier to control a fish and get it out of the brush or sitck-ups. I think a 9 or 10 ft pole would actually be better. I do use an 8 ft and 9 ft regular crappie rod with reel that I really like for jigging. You have much better control with a shorter pole. I like a jig pole to have a little backbone too so you can handle a fish better in cover. A real limber pole is a pain in the neck for me. With a regular crappie rod if you decide to do a little long line work you already have a rig ready to go.

Hope this helps.


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## spinfactor (Sep 22, 2013)

fishwalton said:


> spinfactor said:
> 
> 
> > I use a little jem which is same as bream buster. Never heard of jigging with these types of rods. You by chance have any recommendations which jig and color I should try for crappie?
> ...


Very much so. Thanks


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## Rustifaro (Jul 16, 2008)

spinfactor said:


> I use a little jem which is same as bream buster. Never heard of jigging with these types of rods. You by chance have any recommendations which jig and color I should try for crappie?


Good stuff from FishWalton right there. BTW Crappie.com has tons of posts from some real good crappie fisherman. Mostly down here in S FL but probably applies all over.

The white jig is my go to for vertical jigging. The other one, tipped with a minnow, is my cast and jerk bait. Honestly, many other colors would probably work but this is what I started with and I've had good success. I grew up in Pensacola and crappie fished a lot there, but I live in S FL now and fish some lakes that at full of specs (crappie). I don't have to work as hard as you guys to catch a mess.


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## FishWalton (Jul 22, 2010)

Rustifaro said:


> Good stuff from FishWalton right there. BTW Crappie.com has tons of posts from some real good crappie fisherman. Mostly down here in S FL but probably applies all over.
> 
> The white jig is my go to for vertical jigging. The other one, tipped with a minnow, is my cast and jerk bait. Honestly, many other colors would probably work but this is what I started with and I've had good success. I grew up in Pensacola and crappie fished a lot there, but I live in S FL now and fish some lakes that at full of specs (crappie). I don't have to work as hard as you guys to catch a mess.


I really like that top jig. Have read about some constructed like that. 

You guys in north central FL and further south have much better crappie fishing than we do up here in the Panhandle. Talquin and Seminole are the only places reasonably close that hold a large population. I'm headed to Seminole in early Nov. and soon after hope to get to Talquin for a few days.

You are right about crappie.com. Have learned a lot from those guys and have made some friends who post there and fish Talquin.


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