Occoquan 2/3/13

[loupa5]

I'm getting cabin fever so I'm heading to Occoquan tomorrow and planning to arrive two hours before high tide (high tide 11:58am). Weather report is indicating a high near 40F, 30% chance of snow with winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Fishing for YP and Craps, if anyone's interested....

[Shady]

Cant make it, but would be interested in hearing how you do.

[CB kayak 02]

Cant make it, but would be interested in hearing how you do.

Same Good luck!

[Rockchaser]

Hopefully the water has calmed down. Friday it was still raging pretty good. Good luck and be safe.

[AbuMasgouf]

Hopefully the water has calmed down. Friday it was still raging pretty good. Good luck and be safe.

Yeah I was out there on Thursday afternoon for about 2 hours... the current was so fast there were about 10 inch swells around all the beams and columns... Not to mention the winds were really strong! I landed 8 crappie and kept 6 of them.... I tell you without smelly jelly I most likely would have been skunked! The water was so fast and cloudy, it had to be the smell that helped them find my lure!

loupa5, good luck bro! Let us know how it went

[echo5oscar]

Hey Mustafa,
What scent of smelly jelly are you using?

[loupa5]

It was a bust, skunked! I felt like a Umpa Lumpa kayaking in a chocolate river. The current was fine, actually calm but visibility was very poor. I fished under 95 bridge, docks and up river toward the discharge. I've always done well up river by the power lines. I was marking fish but they were spread out. I've never used smelly jelly, I'll have to try it...next time.

IMG_0011.jpg

[M_Duong60]

Thats a shame maybe next time...Not sure if smelly jelly makes a difference but with low visibility it probably does wonders.

[AbuMasgouf]

Hey Mustafa,
What scent of smelly jelly are you using?

Bass Feast (which is crawfish and garlic) and OMG is it smelly! LOL

Sorry to hear that loupa5...

honestly, I can't say 100% that smelly jelly makes the difference. What I can say is when I was there on Thursday the visibility/clarity was really bad and the current was really fast, I kept re-applying smelly jelly every 3 casts or so and fish bit with the fresh application more than the other times... I would have had more luck but the biggest hurdle was trying to keep the lure at around five feet while the current was moving...

So, it's not scientific but I'm convinced

[M_Duong60]

Mustafa it seems like you have mastered crappie fishing, I mean 8 fish in 2 hours wow. Did you jig or put on the slip float? I myself am itching to get some more crappie because they are just so tasty. By the way how do you cook them my brothers said they are getting bored of breaded filets.

[AbuMasgouf]

Mustafa it seems like you have mastered crappie fishing, I mean 8 fish in 2 hours wow. Did you jig or put on the slip float?

I seriously am no where near that! After the experience last time with low tide, that's just when I decided to go. I planned it so that I'm there in the middle of the tide going out. Lessons learned from Joe I didn't get a chance to get a new slip float so I just jigged but made sure to peg my line with a slip knot to try to hover around 5 feet. I think a slip float would have been ideal with the fast current because it may have helped keep it at the right depth instead of trying to managed it while the current was flowing.

I myself am itching to get some more crappie because they are just so tasty. By the way how do you cook them my brothers said they are getting bored of breaded filets.

They are tasty! I just finished writing up the recipes I tried with them. I'll post it on the main forum.

[M_Duong60]

I am wondering if this has ever happened to you so basically I was crappie fishing as usual and typically I my self don't like to reel it in but rather let it drift in the current which gets me bites. However sometimes I see the fish pull the bobber UNDER water for a good 3-4 seconds only to come up empty when I set the hook and always makes me feel goofy.

[AbuMasgouf]

I am wondering if this has ever happened to you so basically I was crappie fishing as usual and typically I my self don't like to reel it in but rather let it drift in the current which gets me bites. However sometimes I see the fish pull the bobber UNDER water for a good 3-4 seconds only to come up empty when I set the hook and always makes me feel goofy.

From my short experience, as soon as I would see the bobber dip I pause for an inhale and set the hook (I pull up rather than the side with crappie because of the soft tissue around their mouth). For when I don't use a bobber (which has been almost all the catches) the second I feel a "thunk" I set the hook. I usually don't wait for more than a quick inhale. It seems that they usually will put the whole lure in their mouth and try it out. If they realize it's not food, they would spit it out immediately. Perhaps this is where smelly jelly helps, since it is actually food and has a taste... but I defer to others who are more experienced to share their thoughts...

[M_Duong60]

Yeah that might be it. I tried to set it sideways because of the restricted space but might use my smaller rod more rather than the long one. Not set in stone yet but might try to coax my parents to take me out to Occoquan this Saturday. Depending on the tides I might go early and try to fish for flatheads and crappie for a day but might just settle for for an hour or so like you did.