The fishing was a bit slower today. I did manage to catch these guys for dinner.
I also caught a few bass.
Steve
Wow, you call that slower?
I’m getting the munchies looking at those fish. What did you catch the crappies on?
Joe.
A simple bead head nymph, gold tungsten bead head, chartreuse marabou tail, chartreuse polar chenille body. I also caught a couple on Al’s Crappie Candy.
Steve
Fished the pond again today. I only caught 1 crappie, but got several bluegills and bass.
Steve
Steve, you’re tearing 'em up! Looks like a ton of fun…
Zac
It looks like you had a great time. Those are some nice fish indeed. I wish the fishing was the good here in Ohio right now, the weather just isn’t cooperating yet.
Jeremy
Wow, wish fishing was like that here in MN. But heck, nothing beats a littel casting practice on the river…
Question about the very first picture in this thread. ALL of the crappie have very red mouths. Any ideas on why? I wouldn’t guess it was from catching them, I thought it might be some type of spawning behavoir but it is way too early I’m guessing. Any thoughts on that. Everyone one of those fish has a stressed mouth area. I keep fish as a hobby so notice this stuff that others might not. Sorry for the diversion of your thread.
On the catching the fish, looks to be a grand time. Do you own the pond? I have always dreamed of building / owning a nice pond, balancing the ph properly, planting the correct types of plants, stocking with quality fish and enjoying.
Clay.
The crappie in that pond are indeed starting to spawn. I do not own the pond, it belongs to a friend who has graciously invited me to come and fish whenever I want to.
Steve
So do you think that the redness in the mouth area is related to spawning behavoir? On my part before, it was a totally “grab in the air” guess as to the redness. What state are you in or what was the water temps. I’m in Wis and it is too early here.
Rick
Looks like a good day fishing! I went today, but caught more trees than anything else.
Here is a possible explanation of the red mouth.
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/viral_hemorrhagic_septicemia.pdf
Keep in mind it doesn’t affect humans. It’s a fish-only thing.
Steve -
Lots of good eating going on in your neck of the woods !!
As to it being slow with only one crappie, I wonder if you had already caught all the others in the last two times you were on that pond ??
You’d better hope they do a bunch of spawning, to keep up with your catching.
John
Let’s hope it’s not VHS. However, I grew up in NE Oklahoma and did a lot of crappie fishing in the 1950’s. I remember catching farm pond crappie with red mouths back then. I think VHS arrived in the US from Europe since then. Plus a VHS infected fish would likely appear wasted and anorexic. So, whatever the reason, I don’t think it’s likely to be VHS.
I went fisihing saturday at a local pond and caught 2 crappie 10 hybryd bulegill and three
bass. But i don’t have a camera to take pictures yet caught everything on a goldie jr.
You’re probably right. Now that I think about it, it would have a hard time spreading to pond fish. It’s still odd though and I would like to know what that is. Audubon Society’s field guide doesn’t mention this type of coloring in crappie, but it may not be important enough for them to mention.
I’m not trying to be rude by hijacking the thread. Just curious.
Have the fish been on a stringer? Or were they caught with the red mouths?
Kirk
Kirk,
They were not on a stringer, they were in a fish basket. They were on ice for a while before the picture was taken.
Steve