Crappie Report

Cold weather fishing isn't much fun unless they are biting. One good bet in the cold is crappie fishing.

My dad has been in the last few weeks, and while not catching great numbers, he did great some very good size fish. Quality over quantity, I guess.

He's new to it though. Most are out at Cavalier. But you can always learn. Get those depth finders going and find some structure in mid depth water. I've put some links over on the right side of the page to give you some crappie tips. Get out and see if you can get some slabs.

Let me know if you do.

17 Caught Friday

Jimmy Pickle and Glen Robinson went out Friday for a while and caught 17 including this 6 pounder.............

Crappie Fishing

Ron is asking for some tips on the crappie.

I've been doing a little crappie fishing. What we catch are BIG fish, but I don't catch many. I am too used to visible structure fishing with jigs. Any ideas - anybody?

Ron

Well Ron, I haven't been down enough lately to help you, but maybe somebody who reads here can.

Anybody doing any crappie fishing? If so, send me some feed back at the email listed to the right of the page and I'll share it with everyone.

We lost a tough one in the playoffs last night 28-21.

The only consolation is that maybe now I will have some free time to spend at the Lake.

Fishin Report and Something New

Jimmy Pickle and his brother Greg Moore went out on the Lake yesterday for a bout 3 hours and caught 20 bass. They were using the Grizzard shad color Series 5 crankbaits in the deeper water off points and shell beds.

Also I've started a Fan page for the Lake on Facebook. Click the links over on the right side of the page to check it out.

Here are some pictures of Jimmy and Greg's catch yesterday.

Fishing is Still Good

For everybody but me. I haven't been to the Lake except to cut grass in the last couple of months.

But Jimmy Pickle has been a few times and is planning on being there today. I'll try to give a report tomorrow.

Jimmy and partner Glen Robinson went last week and caught 21 nice ones in a afternoon trip.

They had the most luck with Red Eye Shads in the Sexy Shad color.

As the weather has cooled the bass are really moving. They are in the pre winter feeding now. They should be looking to hit anything.

My football team is still in the playoffs. So until that sorts itself out I won't get much Lake time in. When it's over, things should pick up on here with more updates.

Please send me any fishing news or pictures you may have.

Here is a cell phone picture of Glen with a 7 pounder.............. not real long but fat as a pig.

Sorry For the Lack of Updates

I can't seem to make it down. Between work and coaching football, I just don't have the time. You may have also noticed the reports from Jimmy Pickle have also been lacking.

Well, there is a good reason for that. Jimmy is a new, first time daddy.

He and his wife Stephanie had a baby girl last week. Her name is Maggie Elaine.

So if anybody has any reports, send them to me.

Fishing Report

I haven't been able to get down to the Lake in awhile, but Jimmy Pickle and my brother-in-law Craig have been down 4 or 5 times lately, including Fri and Sat afternoon.

They had been continuing the deep water pattern in the mid day hours with good results. The buzz baits on the edges very early and late day have also been good.

After the rains of the last week the fresh water is dominating the Lake. It has also cooled the water temp. off. The fish can move shallower with the cooler water. They had more luck with the buzzbaits than with the deep water pattern.

I hope to be down this weekend. We are holding my little boy's 2nd birthday party at the Lake.

Maybe I can sneak out and go fishing a little.

Be sure and send me anything at all that pertains to the Lake that might be of interest. I would love to get some other fishing reports and any photos of the Lake anyone would like to share.

Not From The Lake.... But

My daddy, Sonny, and I went out with another Sonny in the La. marsh this past Monday. We left out of Bay St. Louis with Shore Thing Charters. While we didn't catch much table fare, we did catch the two pictured below. We also caught a bunch of stingrays, hard heads and croakers.

But hey, at least we caught something.


My Bull Red (wearing my Lake Cavalier Fishing Assc. Cap, although you may not can see it)


Daddy's Black Drum

Lunker Pics

Here are a couple of Lunkers caught last week at the Lake.

Coach Mack Robinson with his 7 pounder caught on a series 5 crankbait


Jimmy Pickle with his 8.2 pounder caught on a football head jig

A Belated Fishing Report

I was lucky enough to be able to get down to the Lake last weekend and spend a few days. However, between the kids and entertaining family and friends, I wasn't able to go fishing.

Except for a few minutes one morning. Those few minutes produced a 15 pounder.

Let me explain.

My little boy wanted to go "pishing" so I took him down to the pier with a little ultra lite rod with a Zebco 11 ultra lite reel rigged up with 4 pound line to try and catch a bream or two for him to reel in. On the second cast I thought I got hung up on something. The "something" then took off and started burning up the drag. My little girl came up about that time and asked what it was. I told her it was a fish, a big fish, and that I doubted I would ever get it reeled in.

Now, I've caught tuna and amberjacks before and this was the same kinda fight in duration.

Amazingly the line, knot and lure held. 30 minutes later , we netted him. A 15 pound grass crap that hit a Road Runner lure and some how got himself foul hooked.

After that ordeal we had had enough "pishing".

Allen Kaye and George Bryant with the "Big Pish"


Jimmy Pickle went out Tuesday with a retired high school coach from here. They had a slow morning, although Coach caught a 7 pounder ( I'm trying to get a pic of it up on here) on one of his first few casts.

Jimmy's pattern of late was not working well that morning, so that afternoon they started changing up regularly until they had caught 27 by the end of the day. Jimmy reported that that were scattered more than they have been, although late that afternoon they did find a school off of a point. The one thing in common, no matter the bait, was work it slow.

The daylight bite was decent this past weekend using buzzbaits on the edges, according to my brother-in-law. He caught 6 one morning and 9 the next. He was back at the house by 9 am though. Once the sun is above the trees, you are gonna have to work to find them.

Got a report that the crappie are biting, if you are lucky enough to find them.

Jimmy was going to go back out today, so I'll get another report sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.

Need Some Reports

As you can tell by the lack of posts here, I haven't been to the Lake much lately. Between work and a trip to the beach, I've not been out fishing in a few weeks.

So if anybody has any reports, send them to me, please.

I hope to be down for the 4th.

Does anybody know if we are going to do a Boat Parade this year?

Drop Offs

As it gets hotter the bass will get more stationary. They will be most active very early and late, when it's cooler.

Just like you and I don't care for moving around a lot in the summer heat, the bass find a cool spot to hang out. They don't chase a lot of bait at that time. They like to have it come to them. So they find a cool spot to ambush bait out of.

Drop offs are a good place. Try to find flat shallow water that deepens quickly. Think of it like a swimming pool that goes from 3 feet to 8 feet very quickly.

Mr. Bigmouth will hang out there and let the smaller bait fish looking for cover to come to him.

Jigs and plastic worms are a good way to cover this type terrain, as they bump along ,staying in contact with the bottom.

Jimmy Pickle has been jigging drop offs the last two days and has caught not only good numbers of bass but an unbelievable average of about 4-5 pounds.

Also, another theory we have is mussel shell beds. Jimmy thinks there are big shell beds in certain places. He had been feeling something on the bottom and believes now that it is shell beds. He catches fish over these spots that are not where most people would try to fish. It is seemingly open water. So our theory is for some reason bass like those shell beds. I have always heard of speckled trout fishermen in the marshes looking for oyster beds to fish over. Same theory, I guess.

So, lay down the rod awhile and cruise around with your depth finder and electronics. Get to know the bottom of the lake as well as the surface.

It should help you catch more fish.

The Bream Were On, The Bass? Not So Much

Although I wasn't able to get in much fishing over the weekend, my In-Laws decreased the cricket population by about 900. 9 tubes used over 3 days. Thank God they didn't keep what they caught. We'd still be cleaning fish.

The bass bite is settling into the post spawn - summer pattern. With the high pressure and heat, the best bet is before 8am and from about 6:30 pm until dark. Between those times, look deep. My brother-in-law went Fri. Sat, and Sun. morning. He caught a few, but he had to work for them.

I wrote about fly fishing last week. I get to the Lake Fri. afternoon and, lo and behold, 2 guys were fly fishing off our pier.





I'm still practicing with the fly rod. I still have a long way to go.

Sat. morning was kind of cool, around 62 degrees. It made a nice fog on the Lake.

Buzzbaits, Plastic Worms & A Flathead

I was at the boat house yesterday morning by 5:20 am. The rain started pretty good about 5:30. Since I was up, I started organizing my tackle box, which was long over due to be done.

The rain let up about 6, and it became a perfect morning. Calm and about 70 degrees. The fish were active too.

I started off throwing buzzbaits around the edges. Let me give you some advice if you are fishing buzzbaits......... Keep a rod rigged up with a plastic worm close by. As you know, if you are fishing a buzzbait, you are going to miss a few. If you miss, put down the buzz and grab the plastic worm rig. Throw the worm right on top of the miss. More times than not you will get a bite.

I used this pattern with a lot of sucess. I even caught a 6 pound Flat Head Catfish. I don't know if the catfish hit the buzz or not, but I had a miss and threw the worm back on top of it. As soon as it hit the water the big cat grabbed it and the fight was on. I got excited thinking it was a bass.
A BIG bass. However, after a bit it wasn't coming up and I knew it was either a catfish or grass carp. I'm not complaining, it was a fun fight.

Ran into Albert Saik as I was heading in. Albert, and his fishing partner Lindsey, were pulling in one bream after another.

All in all it was a great morning to be out on the Lake fishing. I was glad to see a lot of boats out doing it.

After my post on Fly Fishing for a State Record, I got out my Dad's fly rod yesterday afternoon and practiced casting it off our bank.

I've got a long way to go. I won't be scaring any records anytime soon with my casting ability.

At least I didn't hook myself in the back of the head.

State Records, Fly Fishermen Take Heed

I took a look at the Mississippi State fishing records and have some thoughts. While I think the Largemouth, Crappie, and Bream records caught on regular tackle are safe, I think any fly fishermen on the lake have a chance at a couple of records.

I have caught bigger bluegill and redear on regular tackle out at the lake than the current fly fishing records. It stands to reason a fly fisherman can break those records.

Also the White crappie record is open in the fly division. That means if some one has caught a White Crappie on a fly, they haven't weighed it in. There are lots of articles on fly fishing for Crappie. Google it and try it out, you just may make the record books.

Also if the Bass keep getting bigger, like they have been over the last couple of years, who knows, a 12 pounder on a fly wouldn't be impossible.



Here are the Mississippi State Records for fish that we have at the Lake.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regular rod and reel

Largemouth Bass ---- 18.15 lbs

White Crappie ---- 5lbs - 3 ozs

Black Crappie ---- 4lbs - 4 ozs

Bluegill ----- 3.45 lbs

Redear ----- 3.33 lbs

Yellow Bass ---- 1.46 lbs ( caught at Lake Cavalier)

Grass Carp ----- 53.2 lbs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fly Rod

Largemouth Bass ----- 11- 62 lbs

White Crappie ----- Open

Black Crappie------ 3.02 lbs

Blue Gill ----------1.37 lbs

Redear ------------1.o6 lbs

Yellow Bass-------- Open

Grass Carp --------- 20.37 lbs

All Species State Records can be found here

Going Deep

I talked a little earlier about our deep water pattern and put up a post about post- spawn bass.

Using a deep running Strike king series 5 in the Grizzard Shad color , or, a 1/2 oz jig with a Zoom Creepy Crawly trailer in about 12 -14 feet of water, we have had some luck. We have also had some luck with plastic worms, they just haven't caught as many as the other 2 baits.

Wednesday afternoon this pattern produced several good fish, including the 7 and 6 pounders shown below. Fishing the banks is good , but sometimes fishing out of the other side of the boat is better.

Jimmy Pickle with a couple of lunkers caught Wednesday, on a deep water pattern....

Fishing Rodeo Recap

First, I want to thank all who came out and fished in the rodeo. We hope to have more rodeos in the future, along with making this year's rodeo an annual event.

Thanks also to Debbie and Albert Saik for their help in organizing the rodeo. Any thing I needed I could call on them.

Thanks to Chris Bates at Big Buck Sports in Ridgeland for his help and for donating the scales. Big Buck has really upgraded their fishing department, and can special order anything you need. They also have live bait such as crickets and worms. Big Buck is close by the lake, so please try them out for your fishing and hunting needs. Be sure and thank Chris for his help in making the rodeo better if you see him.

Thanks to Richard Painter and the Fishing Association again for putting up the prizes. Be sure and join the Fishing Association if you haven't already.

Thanks also to Jimmy Pickle for driving down early from Carthage to help with the scales.

Here are the results.....................................................................................................................................

Men's Bass

1st Scott Bates 13lbs -10 ozs

2nd J.D. Fly 10lbs - 13 ozs

3rd Albert Saik 10 lbs - 5 ozs

Lady's Bass

1st Debbie Saik 12 lbs

2nd Lynn Forsythe 3 lbs - 12 ozs

3rd Angel Wilkerson 2 lbs - 8 ozs

Open Bream

1st Sonny Wilcox 4 lbs - 10 ozs

2nd Albert Saik 4 lbs - 6 ozs

3rd Debbie Saik 4lbs - 4 ozs

12 and Under

Sam Bates


Big Bass

Scott Bates 4lbs - 11 ozs

Big Bream

Albert Saik 9 ozs

Big Crappie

J.D. Fly 1lb - 3 ozs

I will be getting the Lunker winner's prizes to them as soon as possible.

Scott and Chris Bates hold up their pair of 4 pounders



Sam Bates, 12 and under winner, bringing in his fish to the scales



Prize winners Albert Saik, Debbie Saik, and Sonny Wilcox after the rodeo

Hope You Join Us Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Fishing Rodeo sponsored by the Fishing Association. We have some good prizes and some other things thanks to the help of Chris Bates and Big Buck Sports.

We are hoping and praying for good weather.

I'm heading out shortly to the Lake to start getting things ready. If you have any questions my cell is 601-672-9728.

Please be there to fish and have some fun.

Weekend Fishing Report

I got to go out for about an hour and a half Saturday morning. The wind was up pretty good even at 6am. I caught 4 , including 3 "throw backers" all around 4 pounds. I was using a black Swim senko. When ever I'm not having much luck, I go to this bait. It will almost always get results. This bait can be fished 3 different ways. You can dead stick it like a worm, slowly swim it, or reel it fast and it becomes a buzz bait. They were hitting it Saturday while I was swimming it. To get it to stay down a little more, I tied on a 1/8 oz jig head and then rigged the bait. The only drawback to these is that they tear up pretty easily, and they are expensive. I only had 3 so when I lost my last one, that did me in. I've got to stock back up with them. It's a great "when they ain't biting bait".

My brother -in-law Craig and I also went out around midnight and set out some catfish jugs for about an hour. No luck jugging, but we still had a good time.

Craig went out at day light Sunday morning and had a perfect day. The Lake was like glass and he could really spot the bass schooling. He had two double bladed buzz baits. One black and one white. He would throw it over the school and buzz it back through the school. They seemed to like the black better, but the fish tore the blades of both his baits. That's called killing it.

Like me, he was done when his baits were wrecked. He said if he had more buzz baits he would have caught one every cast. He still brought in a boat load about 9 am.

The Fishing Rodeo is shaping up well. I've had some feedback from people who plan to enter. I hope all that can will try to enter. It will be fun and it's good for the Lake. Let me know if you plan on being there.

Remember, the scales open at 7am thru 11:30 for the Men's and Lady's Bass, Under12, and The Open Bream divisions.

But the scales will stay open until 4 for the Lunker Division. Lunker fish need to be alive. You can enter as many fish into the Lunker Division as you like.

So, if you can't get there in the morning, you will still be able to compete in the Lunker Division.

I did have these questions by email.

Do grand children count? Of course.

When can I start fishing? Anytime the morning of May 16. The earliest you can weigh in is 7 am.

Where will the scales be? Near the boat ramp at the Clubhouse.

I want to say a special thank you to Albert and Debbie Saik. They have been great help in organizing this rodeo. They care deeply about the Lake, and it shows through their willingest to work hard in making it better.

Also thanks to Richard Painter and the Fishing Association for donating the prizes. Glad Richard is feeling better.

Please come out Saturday and have some fun with us.

Contact me if I can be of any help.

Fishing Rodeo Date Set For May 16

Mark your calenders for May 16. The Lake Cavalier Fishing Association will be sponsoring a Fishing Rodeo on this date. You should be receiving info on it by email or regular mail. Please make plans to attend.

Lake Cavalier Fishing Rodeo

May 16, 2009

Come join us for a day of fun and fishing at the Lake

Open to all ages
No entry fee

The Lake Cavalier Fishing Association is sponsoring a fishing rodeo Saturday May 16,2009. It is open to all Lake property owners and their immediate families. There is no entry fee.

We will have 4 divisions. A Men's bass division, a Lady's bass division, an under 12 division, and a bream division open to all.

We will also have a Big Bass prize, a Big Bream Prize, and a Big Crappie Prize.

In the Men's, Lady's bass division each contestant will be allowed to weigh in up to 5 fish. Most total weight will win the division. Each contestant will only be allowed one weight total, so pick your 5 biggest bass to weigh.

In the Open bream division, each contestant can weigh in up to 10 bream. Most total weight will win the division. Each contestant will only be allowed one weight total.

In the under 12 division, each child may weigh in up to 10 bream or 10 Crappie, or any combination of the two for a total of 10 fish. Total weight will win. Each contestant will only be allowed one weight total.

Prizes will be given for 1st thru 3rd place for the Men's Bass, Lady's Bass, Open Bream and under 12 divisions.

We will also have a Lunker Division.

A prize will be given for the biggest bass, biggest bream, and biggest crappie. These may be weighed in at any time and you can weigh in as many times as you like until the scales close.

Scales will open from 7 am - 11:30 am for the Men's, Lady's, Open Bream, and Under 12 divisions.

Scales will be open for the Lunker Division from 7 am until 4 pm.

Any one waiting in line when the scales are scheduled to close will be allowed to weigh in.

Prizes will be as follows........

Men's Bass Division

1st $150 value prize
2nd $50 value prize
3rd $25 value prize

Lady's Bass Division

1st $150 value prize
2nd $50 value prize
3rd $25 value prize

Open Bream Division.....

1st $150 value prize
2nd $50 value prize
3rd $25 value prize

Under 12 Division

1st Trophy
2nd Trophy
3rd Trophy

Lunker Division (Live Fish)

Big Bass $150 value prize
Big Bream $50 value prize
Big Crappie $50 value prize

The scales will be located near the boat ramp at the Clubhouse

Please make your plans to come out fishing and enjoy the fun!!!!

Note: All disputes will be settled by the Rodeo committee.
All decisions of the Rodeo Committee are final.

The Fishing Association asks that you keep all bass under 17 inches.


If you have any questions, email me at the address at the top of the page.