12/23, Rocky Fork Lake Kayak Crappie

Monday I had the chance to get the kayak out and hit Rocky Fork Lake in Highland County. Last weekend I did pretty well fishing from the marina but I wasn't brave, or stupid, enough to bring the kayak along. This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday it rained all day long dropping nearly 3 inches over the weekend. The air temperatures were in the mid to high 50's, which meant the rain was much warmer than our current water temperatures. Which in turn eliminated any ice that was still lingering from the previous week. It also meant that the lakes and rivers would warm up slightly. I was hopeful that the spike in temperature would trigger one last feeding event before the onsite of ice.

Monday marked the beginning of a cold front for the region, the daily highs of 50-60 degrees dropped into the mid 30's. It wasn't predicted to rain so I was willing to deal with the cold.  I woke up at 9am and started to load up my kayak. Amanda was unwilling to fish once again so I was on my own. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and hit the water. I initially drove to a cove near the shallow end of the lake, however once I got to the boat ramp I noticed that the water was up a foot (rare for Rocky Fork Lake) and very turbid. Water clarity was less than 2", although the water was probably warmer near the shallow end of the lake I was not willing to fish with poor visibility. I got back in the car and drove down to the dam. Water clarity had improved to 2-3 feet, so I unloaded my kayak and gear.

I made a half mile paddle to a pair of fallen trees that were near the dam. I anchored at the base of the tree and started working my 1/32oz jig and tiny shad. After three casts I decided to grab a second rod and pair my 1/32oz jig and tiny shad with a crappie nibble. I then dropped the jig down to the bottom, lifted it up 1 foot, and set the rod in the rod holder.  I then proceeded to cast and jig my other rod while keeping an eye on the one in the rod holder. About 5 minutes later the line on the  rod holder in the rod holder went slack, I slowly picked up the rod and set the hook........right into a snag. I applied pressure and eventually bent the jig hook out of shape and retrieved my lure. I bent the hook back into shape, tipped my tiny shad with a crappie nibble, and dropped my jig back down to the bottom. This time around I lifted my bait 2 feet off of bottom in order to avoid the branch I snagged on last time. A few minutes later the rod in the rod holder began to bounce, this time around I had found a small crappie.

I took a quick picture of the crappie, because I wasn't real sure that I'd be able to catch another one. I also took a picture of my depth finder. Here you could see that I was in 8 feet of water, but if you look at the picture above the fish finder reads 13 feet. The structure was actually so thick that it wasn't penetrating down to the bottom. You also note that the water temperature was 39 degrees, not too bad for the last week of December. This crappie didn't quite hit the 9" (or the 8") mark so I let it go. I continued to fish this spot for the next hour and a half. I moved out into 26 feet of water and picked up two more crappie, one of which was 9.25". I had a floating fish basket with me so I decided to keep it and see if I could get enough for dinner. After two hours I had 2 fish in the basket and had released 4 smaller fish. I knew of a couple other places that held decent crappie this time of year, but they were another half mile away. With two fish in the basket I decided to make the long haul into the wind. By the time that I got to the next spot I was burning up, I had to take off my gloves and hat for a few minutes. I paddled past the fallen tree and dropped my anchor up wind. I then floated back with the wind and waves until I noticed a school of fish. I wasn't on  top of the structure yet, but I figured I would give this spot a few minutes.

Within 5 minutes I had lost two fish and landed one crappie at 10". The fish finder soon cleared and the school of fish moved off. The wind was too bad to chase them in so I decided to let out more anchor rope and drift in position over top the fallen tree. I picked up a few quick fish, but the bite shut down again. To be honest I was lost, I didn't know if the fish were spread out because of the quick increase in temperature or weather they just weren't biting well. The only thing I knew to do was to keep trying spots until I found a school of them. I pulled anchor and paddled back over to the marina and started working the areas that I had caught fish out of last weekend. Once again I caught a couple quick fish, but the bite shut down. At this point I had 4 keeper crappie, I needed more to make it worth my time. I had one last spot in mind, a steep ledge and hole near a shallow flat. I'm not sure why crappie hold in this spot, but in the past we have always caught quality fish there. I paddled up to the ledge and noticed a ton of fish on my fish finder. I dropped my anchor and drifted back over top of the school and started working my jig. Before I could catch my first fish the school had moved on. At this point I had two options, paddle a half mile back to the tree near the dam and wait for fish to show up at the tree or paddle 100 yards back to the boat ramp and call it quits.

With two hours of daylight left I anchored in 15 feet of water and started working the fallen tree. It didn't take long to find the fish. I quickly picked up a half dozen crappie, one of which went 10.5". I figured it was going to be the big fish of the trip so I snapped a couple pictures. I was right, it was the big fish of the trip.

 

With daylight fading I managed to pick up another dozen crappie, bringing my basket total to 9 and my daily total of 22 crappie. I made the half mile paddle back to the boat ramp and began to load my gear up. I quickly noticed how sore my arms were. I got home and programmed my route into my Navionics App. I had paddled over 2.6 miles against the wind both ways of course....just kidding, but I did cover some water. In the middle of summer I wouldn't have noticed a thing, but now that its cold I'm getting out of padding shape.

I didn't find the quality of fish that I had last weekend, but it was a successful trip none the less. I didn't find any bonus fish either; no bluegill, bass, or perch which was quite surprising. I think next time around I'm going to buy a few dozen minnows and see if I can end the year on a high note.