# West branch crappie



## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

Just wanted to thank iceholedestroyer for putting me right on the fish!


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## walleye willey (May 29, 2014)

johnboy111711 said:


> Just wanted to thank iceholedestroyer for putting me right on the fish!


Did you land the Musky on the Crappie rod/reel ? if so must have been WILD !


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## mchewyw (Mar 31, 2015)

Nice haul and bonus ski! Were they still deep?


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

mchewyw said:


> Nice haul and bonus ski! Were they still deep?


Man, i wish I could give details, but It wasn't my spot and I didn't find the fish. I did have someone say they were catching them from 17-25 feet. I was shallower than that but I was not in the willows.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

walleye willey said:


> Did you land the Musky on the Crappie rod/reel ? if so must have been WILD !


Yes, that was my dad. and yes, he landed it on a size 6 gold hook and 10lb test. With the right equipment and if you dont get excited it's not hard.


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

Looks like a great day with your dad! Good work guys. Nice when a fellow OGFer can help out too. What its all about there!


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Wow! You're fortunate to have good friends! I got a "friend" who lives near the lake and finding morels! He won't give me squat!


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

(Just bustin chops, "friend" Doug!)


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

oops, Double post.


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## EZB (Jan 29, 2007)

Can you put your boat in at campground dock if your not a registered camper


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Yes, no problem. The ramp/area is called "Jay Lake", a rather large bay opening into the main lake. Super nice, large parking lot by ramp.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

c. j. stone said:


> Wow! You're fortunate to have good friends! I got a "friend" who lives near the lake and finding morels! He won't give me squat!


 usually he just takes my spots. And he didnt give me a spot, just passed on information on depth. He wouldnt give up his secret location, so i had to find them on my own. Send iceholedestroyer a pm. I think he is doing guided trips now. Or atleast will put you on the fish


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

johnboy111711 said:


> Just wanted to thank iceholedestroyer for putting me right on the fish!


Something is wrong with the crappie in the third pic.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

set-the-drag said:


> Something is wrong with the crappie in the third pic.


 we stepped on it and squished it real long and thin


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Aahhhhhh! I gotcha makes total sense now jeez I'm such a dummy


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

johnboy111711 said:


> usually he just takes my spots. And he didnt give me a spot, just passed on information on depth. He wouldnt give up his secret location, so i had to find them on my own. Send iceholedestroyer a pm. I think he is doing guided trips now. Or atleast will put you on the fish


Here he's easy to spot though! Big guy on a little boat cant miss him lol


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

Got to keep moving. That was my one crappie trip till october


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

Pulling the plug right when its about to be on fire? Got a few good weeks coming up


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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

EZB said:


> Can you put your boat in at campground dock if your not a registered camper


Last time I was there, the campground ramp was closed because the campground itself is closed. This was a week and a half ago.

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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Maybe opening up as part of "Stage One"?


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## IceHoleDestroyer (Nov 19, 2019)

set-the-drag said:


> Pulling the plug right when its about to be on fire? Got a few good weeks coming up


He’s one of those bass guys, he doesn’t live the crappie lifestyle much


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## Popspastime (Apr 1, 2014)

Ramp was closed last weekend, is it open now?


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

Captain Markus hooked u up! He is good on every lake


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

How was your overall size of fish bud?


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## SteerBuxxCoffee (Apr 11, 2020)

The ramp in Jay Lake is definitely open. We were there the past two weekends and many boats were putting in at that ramp.


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

set-the-drag said:


> Pulling the plug right when its about to be on fire? Got a few good weeks coming up


As you can see, when people like icehole consistently catch a species of fish, it must be pretty. easy. Crappie are for the freezer and that trip was enough for me for the next few months. There are plenty of people that would show up and either take a limit of fish everyday till they are done or sore mouth them all, but I would rather just go for bass.



brad crappie said:


> How was your overall size of fish bud?


It was pretty good. We caught them as small as 4 or 5in and up to 14/15in. probably caught 50 or 60 and kept 22. kept a few of the big ones at the beginning so I had enough to clean (im sorry!) after, we filled out what we wanted with 9.5 to 11in fish. 90% or more were keeper fish.


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## IceHoleDestroyer (Nov 19, 2019)

johnboy111711 said:


> As you can see, when people like icehole consistently catch a species of fish, it must be pretty. easy. Crappie are for the freezer and that trip was enough for me for the next few months. There are plenty of people that would show up and either take a limit of fish everyday till they are done or sore mouth them all, but I would rather just go for bass.
> 
> It was pretty good. We caught them as small as 4 or 5in and up to 14/15in. probably caught 50 or 60 and kept 22. kept a few of the big ones at the beginning so I had enough to clean (im sorry!) after, we filled out what we wanted with 9.5 to 11in fish. 90% or more were keeper fish.


Hey now, walleyes are on tap this weekend, bass knuckles and I will be out for crappies at some point though within the next week to lay the hammer down


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

IceHoleDestroyer said:


> Hey now, walleyes are on tap this weekend, bass knuckles and I will be out for crappies at some point though within the next week to lay the hammer down
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


!
keep adding to the lost of easy fish to catch! next you will say you are going for bluegill!


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## IceHoleDestroyer (Nov 19, 2019)

johnboy111711 said:


> !
> keep adding to the lost of easy fish to catch! next you will say you are going for bluegill!


I’ve seen you fish gills before


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## johnboy111711 (Apr 7, 2004)

IceHoleDestroyer said:


> I’ve seen you fish gills before
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The only times i have fished for gills in the past 20 years in order-
1. To put you on fish because you were sad you werent catching anything
2. To have fish for a family fish fry
3.accidental by-catch!
4.icefishing
Love you Erica!


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## IceHoleDestroyer (Nov 19, 2019)

johnboy111711 said:


> The only times i have fished for gills in the past 20 years in order-
> 1. To put you on fish because you were sad you werent catching anything
> 2. To have fish for a family fish fry
> 3.accidental by-catch!
> ...


I was just thinking ice fishing. We’ve all targeted gills through the ice


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## set-the-drag (Jan 13, 2013)

I'm doing a troll bite today hopefully get a mix bag I'm missing the eye tug. Speaking of gills I think I'm going to hit my bros pond after work next week and get some pigs to cook up


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

Landed a bunch of bass today on 4lb ultra light...Lil 5’6” Fenwick with a 1000 Trion and 1/64oz jig. Bobby Garland natural Shad. Biggest landed was about 3-4lbs. Had one monster on that jumped and took me into the pads. Broke off. Only caught like half dozen crappie. One perch. Definitely a fun filled hour of sunshine before work today. Hopefully I can get back out somewhere Saturday. The walleye night bite has started too, did well last night after midnight. Hooked 7 and landed 4 nice eaters, all in less than 5FOW. Floating Rapala in brown trout fished with 8lb mono. Straight reel at a medium pace. These fish are chasing bait so get out and fish fast.


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## IceHoleDestroyer (Nov 19, 2019)

allwayzfishin said:


> View attachment 357085
> Landed a bunch of bass today on 4lb ultra light...Lil 5’6” Fenwick with a 1000 Trion and 1/64oz jig. Bobby Garland natural Shad. Biggest landed was about 3-4lbs. Had one monster on that jumped and took me into the pads. Broke off. Only caught like half dozen crappie. One perch. Definitely a fun filled hour of sunshine before work today. Hopefully I can get back out somewhere Saturday. The walleye night bite has started too, did well last night after midnight. Hooked 7 and landed 4 nice eaters, all in less than 5FOW. Floating Rapala in brown trout fished with 8lb mono. Straight reel at a medium pace. These fish are chasing bait so get out and fish fast.


Hitting your eyes on erie?


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## allwayzfishin (Apr 30, 2008)

IceHoleDestroyer said:


> Hitting your eyes on erie?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yes sir! My usual spots.


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## btownbb270 (Apr 10, 2014)

Went to WB yesterday. What a beautiful day to be out! Water temp was 57 on west end. Seemed to be marking a ton of fish in the channel. Tried for 3 hours in 17-22 fow with no luck. Switched to casting shallows before dark and landed 3 bass. I can’t figure these crappie out!


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## Osmerus (Dec 5, 2012)

Crappie can be a tricky fish. Lots of guys do figure them out but if your not a regular fisherman on that givin body of water there is a learning curve. I either troll for them in the warmer months with shad raps or i jig and drift for them using small tungsten jigs with a fat head in the colder months.. Sometimes i add a float to my setup when drifting. Gen. gota add some more weight higher up on the line when using those small jig heads. Thin diameter leader also helps.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Osmerus said:


> Crappie can be a tricky fish. Lots of guys do figure them out but if your not a regular fisherman on that givin body of water there is a learning curve. I either troll for them in the warmer months with shad raps or i jig and drift for them using small tungsten jigs with a fat head in the colder months.. Sometimes i add a float to my setup when drifting. Gen. gota add some more weight higher up on the line when using those small jig heads. Thin diameter leader also helps.


Post spawn, I've had good luck(welll, maybe 50/50!) slow trolling two curly tails("Ohio spider/searcher" rig) thru open water, particularly Mosquito(deeper) stumps but other smaller waters as well. I usually use 1/8 or 3/8 heads(works best in unstained water-if they can see it, they'll feed up). At a slow etm setting(just enough to get roughly halfway down/the tails working, you can find them in scattered schools. When you narrow down a school, anchor and work them hard with one of the curlies. Roadrunners w/plastics work great also.


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## IceHoleDestroyer (Nov 19, 2019)

allwayzfishin said:


> Yes sir! My usual spots.


Hell yeah! Nice work. I’ll be after it either tomorrow or Saturday


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