# Putting it all together at mosquito today



## forrest r (Mar 14, 2020)

Did a lot of revamping of equipment this year targeting panfish. Bought a couple of ul setups for different applications. Used a diawa rod/reel combo today (5 1/2ft aird with a regal reel) I bought that combo to use when I'm fishing in a kayak. I tested different lines with this combo along with different lures/tackle and settled on leland trout magnets with 1/64th oz jigs.

Changed kayak's this year to a sit-in and sold the sit-on kayak. Some of the places I fish get kind of hairy (huge wakes). Fitted it with rod holders, a couple of different hold-downs & an anchor trolley. Did a couple test runs with it to dial it in and found the best lengh/size anchor line while I was at it.

After testing the rod/reel combo with the trout magnets in a couple different ponds I decided it was time to hit mosquito and shoot for some crappie. I use a 10ft kayak and it's easy to load on a jeep patriot. The jeep/kayak at a small lake doing testing (perch/bass/bluegill that day).









Hit the north end of mosquito and setup the rod with 2 trout magnets, a silver headed jig (1/64th oz) with a sowbug trout magnet (top) & a gold headed jig (1/64th oz) with a bison trout magnet 16" below that. I put a BB sized split shot 6" below the bison jig, was fishing the weed beds.

Only saw 1 bass, it hit quick and as soon as I put the rods tip up and held pressure. The bass jumped out of the water, did a spin and flipped me the fin.

Caught enough bluegill (12/14) to keep it interesting & ended up tossing them all back. They were either too small of excellent size but were full of eggs.

Caught 3 perch, tossed a fry back and kept the two 10" perch.









I hammered the crappie pretty hard and released twice+ as many as I kept. I only kept crappie that were 10" or larger. If they were larger than 10" and skinny I put them back also. I got there at 7:30AM and fished to 11:00AM and came in for a break eating a sandwich and drinking a bottle of water. Then I went back out till 1:00 PM, by then it slowed down and was getting pretty choppy so I called it a day. Ended up with 13 crappie and 2 perch.









7 crappie and 2 perch filled the bowl (8" wide/4" high).









I froze them and have the other 6 crappie fillet's in salt water for tomorrows dinner.

It was a good day today!!! The equipment that I bought worked as it should. Between the chop and picking weeds off the hooks I managed to land 50+ fish today with the majority of them being what I was targeting, crappie. Not bad for a kayay, a 5 1/2ft ul rod and a couple pieces of plastic for bait.


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## luredaddy (May 25, 2004)

forrest r said:


> Did a lot of revamping of equipment this year targeting panfish. Bought a couple of ul setups for different applications. Used a diawa rod/reel combo today (5 1/2ft aird with a regal reel) I bought that combo to use when I'm fishing in a kayak. I tested different lines with this combo along with different lures/tackle and settled on leland trout magnets with 1/64th oz jigs.
> 
> Changed kayak's this year to a sit-in and sold the sit-on kayak. Some of the places I fish get kind of hairy (huge wakes). Fitted it with rod holders, a couple of different hold-downs & an anchor trolley. Did a couple test runs with it to dial it in and found the best lengh/size anchor line while I was at it.
> 
> ...


You had a nice day !! Nice pics!


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## Fishinaddict (Sep 23, 2014)

Sounds like a well executed plan. Buy the right tackle, go to the right place at the right time=success. On the way in had you thrown some topwater plugs near the shallow weedbeds the bass would have shown. Was there recently and big bass were blowing up.


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## forrest r (Mar 14, 2020)

Thank you, very nice tip.

Just ul's for crappie, I was fishing shallow, 4ft or water. The lilly pads are just starting to break water. I was fishing 60'/70' away from the deeper edge of them. Working the edge of the lilly pads and the weed line beside them.

I really wanted to get some crappie in the freezer. Planned on working the same area later on in the year for bass and panfish.


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## mosquitopat (Apr 3, 2014)

I'm hoping the crappie will stay active 'till the end of June.


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## ranger487 (Apr 5, 2005)

GOOD DAY! and glad to see you released a bunch of fish back and only took what you need. I have done the same this year with crappie caught bunches and threw back just as many asI kept for the family.


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

Great post! Love the catch, clean, cook stories.


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## forrest r (Mar 14, 2020)

I switched from the sowbug to a 2nd bison trout magnet real fast. That bison trout magnet was flat out working the fish over. There was a south wind shooting down the lake and by 9:00am there was 5" to 6" waves. That made detecting hits while running 1/64th oz jigs bottom bouncing in weeds beds hard (hence the bb sized split shot 8" down on the bottom of the line/no hook to grab the bottom of the weeds). By 1:00pm it was starting to white cap. There were times I wasn't sure if there was a fish on or simply hooked in the weeds. The worst was the fish would get in the weeds and I'd be fighting the weed and the fish. Lost a lot of big ones that way. Holding the tip up with pressure and it acting like a snag. Just keep the pressure on (sometimes up to 2 minutes) until the fish released from the weeds.

Actually made a great day for fishing, working the jigs/the waves and structures.

I've always done catch and release with the small/skinny/undersized fish. Same goes for fish with eggs. I love eating bluegill backstraps!!! Down right tasty but I'll release any bluegill with eggs or any other fish.

Hopefully get some more crappie fishing in, it would be nice to have 5 or 6 pound of fillets in the freezer.

Anyway just wanted to post where I was catching fish and what I was using to catch them with.


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## dynamite_dave721 (Apr 10, 2014)

I just bought a fishing kayak a few weeks ago where is the best place for me to launch ive always either used marina or state park at causeway for my boat but thats tlot of paddling. I mostly bass fish


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## forrest r (Mar 14, 2020)

Head west across 88/the causeway and turn right (north) at the 1st intersection (hoagland?) There's a restaurant on the NE corner that sells bait also. Go a mile up that road until you see a crossroad sign. Turn right at the crossroad mahan-denman rd. It will be a stone drive that leads to a boat ramp(dirt ramp). It's right on the widllife refuge line.

On the south side the best place to put in is at the cemetery. Take 46 to west mian rd in cortland. turn west and a couple blocks down is the cemetery with big parking lot right up against the lake.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

dynamite_dave721 said:


> I just bought a fishing kayak a few weeks ago where is the best place for me to launch ive always either used marina or state park at causeway for my boat but thats tlot of paddling. I mostly bass fish


This is one of the best things about kayak fishing. Find area that's public,an dump her in...


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

forrest r said:


> Head west across 88/the causeway and turn right (north) at the 1st intersection (hoagland?) There's a restaurant on the NE corner that sells bait also. Go a mile up that road until you see a crossroad sign. Turn right at the crossroad mahan-denman rd. It will be a stone drive that leads to a boat ramp(dirt ramp). It's right on the widllife refuge line.
> 
> On the south side the best place to put in is at the cemetery. Take 46 to west mian rd in cortland. turn west and a couple blocks down is the cemetery with big parking lot right up against the lake.


That road leading to the roadbed on the refuge line, is it still a pothole crater road? Last year it was a mess. You also have a ramp at pikie bay. It’s a pay one but your truck is more secure than up farther at the refuge lot. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## forrest r (Mar 14, 2020)

Ya there's some potholes in it, not too bad. It's ideal for putting in small 10ft/14ft boats and kayaks. 6ft out off land and it's still 2ft of water or less.

Forgot to post pics of the cooked crappie, down right tasty!!!


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## cueman (May 28, 2019)

That does look tasty! I recently tried a mustard and flour recipe, that was really good on crappie.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

nice post, I miss my kayak


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## Wow (May 17, 2010)

Crappie magnets are a great alternative to live bait. --Tim


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## arlee13 (Jun 29, 2015)

Fished mosquito yesterday, we had a good day caught 10 keeper walleye. Started off fishing north of the causeway didn't catch any walleye. Did see a few people pulling in keepers on north side of causeway. We moved to southside of causeway and caught all 10 keepers. Seen one guy fishing buy himself and had 5 poles out trolling, we also counted 4 boats fishing in the no fishing area north of the causeway.


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## chaunc (Apr 11, 2004)

Crappie bite was a little tougher but I managed to put a limit in the boat yesterday. Ten foot with brush was good for me. Used a new bait from pour house custom jigs called milk money on a sixteenth ounce plain or white jighead.


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## jetdrivr (Sep 22, 2004)

arlee13 said:


> Fished mosquito yesterday, we had a good day caught 10 keeper walleye. Started off fishing north of the causeway didn't catch any walleye. Did see a few people pulling in keepers on north side of causeway. We moved to southside of causeway and caught all 10 keepers. Seen one guy fishing buy himself and had 5 poles out trolling, we also counted 4 boats fishing in the no fishing area north of the causeway.


Awesome! Glad to hear someone is getting them! Were you trolling as well, or something else, if you don't mind sharing? It always amazes me how many people blatantly disregard the regulations out there. I see it all the time!


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## arlee13 (Jun 29, 2015)

We were trolling using weapons/worm harnesses tipped with a nightcrawler. We were using different colors of worm harness but all had gold blades.


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## StarkFisherman (May 17, 2008)

Have you tried crappie magnets? I believe the same company makes them.


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## forrest r (Mar 14, 2020)

StarkFisherman said:


> Have you tried crappie magnets? I believe the same company makes them.


Yes, I've tried them.

Tested them head to head with the trout magnets, both bison color. Tested them with the trout magnet on top and then the bottom using a 2 jig setup. The trout magnets easily out fished/caught more fish then the crappie magnets.

I believe it has to do with the bigger body of the crappie magnet using a bigger jig. The bigger jig doesn't have the same flutter/slow sink time/presentation as the 1/64th oz jig the trout magnet uses.


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