01-02-2010 First fishing day of 2010, Killed the Crappie, 21 (5lb of fillets) a new Record!

I did not think a day at the lake could have been any better then our last trip (12-20-2009), I was wrong! I've filled a cooler with fish three times in my life, this made a forth. The weather was outstanding! The air was a crisp, fresh 65 degrees w/ no clouds or even the slightest breeze. I didn't even put my jacket or poncho till 4:30PM. We started chumming corn around 2:30PM but didn't do very well. Catfish just aren't our thing! Rick is the Catfish Hunter! I did catch an 1lb'er and we got another bite on a water-dog (I didn't have to wait another 25yrs, Yay!) but we didn't catch that one, either. BTW; Mr. Dog Jr. did survive that attack! We had placed the pole in a holder on the boat, so when it got hit, dad had to run all the way around the boat to set the hook. I was hoping a big cat would suck Mr. Dog in and run off with it but I guess they just like playing with the mud puppies! Dad gave up and went after crappie, he started slow but found the little buggers. After pulling up two 3/4lb crappie in 5min I gave up my hunt for cats and switched to crappie. It was the right move! Over the next three hours we caught twenty-one (21) 3/4lb to 1lb crappie and three big bluegill. It was like ice fishing, all 24 fish were caught in an area 18inches by 72inches. We had to keep the fish out of the docks, buoys and the boats out-drive. We managed to not loose one fish but one did fall back into the lake. Sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it? I hooked a smaller crappie in a little 18inch hole, dad grabbed the line and pulled the fish from the lake. To our surprise, the hook was bare! Dad looked at me with the puzzled expression, "Where did the crappie go!?" Dad glanced at the bare hook then down at the water and dashed for the net. Apparently, the crappie banged it's head on the underside of the dock, got knocked silly and pulled off the hook! When dad looked back into the water he saw the crappie just floating on the surface gulping water. Luckily, dad netted him before he woke up and escaped! By the time dad threw him in the fish-basket he was fully recovered and flipping out. The bite was steady for three hours, not insanely fast but fast enough to keep dad jumping. We used up 4 dozen minnows (dad had to run back to the store for the second 2 dozen). At one point (about 45mins) the crappie quit biting and started hitting and killing our minnows with their gills. Dirty little buggers! Normally after killing the minnow they'd circle back and we'd catch them but this time they just killed it and swam off! Fortunately, the bite picked back up for the last hour before the sun was completely down behind the mountains. The stars were out bright (and only a few UFO's)! We got off the water before 7:30PM and back home eating a Macho Beef Burrito by 9!

Fish Count: 21 Crappie, 3 Bluegill and 2 small catfish...Total 26