3lb Crappie out of knowhere

[ThomasMcAllister]

So this baffles me. This spring i was fishing in a large bass pond (about 15 acres) and i caught a 3 lb crappie. I have never seen or caught any other crappies in this pond. Ive been fishing there for about 3 years. Does anyone have any idea as to where this fish is in the pond ( i fish from shore so i am unaware of any structure far out, although i dont know hown large. But i do know there is a drop off some ways out.) this also brings me to another point. I have caught a 10lb (about 3 years ago) bass in there a 5lb bass and many fish in all weights below that. they have all been in the same spot. this spot was a small brush pile in a deepish spot in the pond. That brush pile was depleted though, by many snags and dragging in the brush. I rarely catch fish over 14 inches. I assume there is something towrds the middle of the pond that attracts the big fish, but i am not sure. does anyone have any other ideas? thanks. 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bartleyville+Rd,+Burgettstown,+PA+15021/@40.3667043,-80.484536,235m/data

Edited October 4, 2016 by ThomasMcAllister

[Turtle135]

do you have a map of the pond? aerial view from Google Earth or Google Maps?

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard, Thomas!

[ThomasMcAllister]

24 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

do you have a map of the pond? aerial view from Google Earth or Google Maps?

I added a link to an aerial view

[Turtle135]

I am adding that image to this thread so others can see the pond in question

[ThomasMcAllister]

25 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

do you have a map of the pond? aerial view from Google Earth or Google Maps?

 

Just now, Turtle135 said:

I am adding that image to this thread so others can see the pond in question

thank you

Just now, ThomasMcAllister said:

I added a link to an aerial view

 

[Turtle135]

That is a tough one to judge from afar. It looks like that pond is actually 5 to 6 acres based off the measurements I am seeing on Google Earth. The shape of the pond does not give a lot of clues about what is going on under the surface of the water. Based on the topography of the surrounding land there is a creek channel running down the length of that pond but much of it might be out of reach on a cast from shore.

What I would do is spend some time with a jig taking depth readings. Cast your jig into 5 feet of water and count how long it takes for it to reach bottom. Then start bombing casts out into the pond from various spots and count how long it takes for the jig to reach bottom. That should help you get an understanding of what the bottom contour is like.

[ThomasMcAllister]

13 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

That is a tough one to judge from afar. It looks like that pond is actually 5 to 6 acres based off the measurements I am seeing on Google Earth. The shape of the pond does not give a lot of clues about what is going on under the surface of the water. Based on the topography of the surrounding land there is a creek channel running down the length of that pond but much of it might be out of reach on a cast from shore.

What I would do is spend some time with a jig taking depth readings. Cast your jig into 5 feet of water and count how long it takes for it to reach bottom. Then start bombing casts out into the pond from various spots and count how long it takes for the jig to reach bottom. That should help you get an understanding of what the bottom contour is like.

Thank you. Do you have any idea on how that crappie got there? My theory is that someone may have released it here, but that seems very unlikely.

22 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

That is a tough one to judge from afar. It looks like that pond is actually 5 to 6 acres based off the measurements I am seeing on Google Earth. The shape of the pond does not give a lot of clues about what is going on under the surface of the water. Based on the topography of the surrounding land there is a creek channel running down the length of that pond but much of it might be out of reach on a cast from shore.

What I would do is spend some time with a jig taking depth readings. Cast your jig into 5 feet of water and count how long it takes for it to reach bottom. Then start bombing casts out into the pond from various spots and count how long it takes for the jig to reach bottom. That should help you get an understanding of what the bottom contour is like.

if this helps at all, half of this pond is man made. its a flood control dam. 

 

[Turtle135]

1 hour ago, ThomasMcAllister said:

Thank you. Do you have any idea on how that crappie got there? My theory is that someone may have released it here, but that seems very unlikely.

 

My guess, somebody did release that crappie there. I could see DNR stocking that body of water with bass and bluegills but I doubt they would stock that body of water with crappie.

[ThomasMcAllister]

8 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

My guess, somebody did release that crappie there. I could see DNR stocking that body of water with bass and bluegills but I doubt they would stock that body of water with crappie.

yeah there is bass bluegills and carp. Also a very large populations of snapping turtles. that picture is very old, but there are also two beaver dams now

 

[riverbasser]

pretty disappointed. I wanted to see a pic of the 3lb crappie!

[ThomasMcAllister]

1 minute ago, riverbasser said:

pretty disappointed. I wanted to see a pic of the 3lb crappie!

sorry i dont have a picture 

 

[shimmy]

I am guessing there is no picture of the 10 lber either...

[Turtle135]

2 hours ago, ThomasMcAllister said:

if this helps at all, half of this pond is man made. its a flood control dam.

 

do you think there is an old submerged pond there (from before they built the dam)? that might provide for some fish holding bottom contour

[ThomasMcAllister]

20 minutes ago, shimmy said:

I am guessing there is no picture of the 10 lber either...

nope. sorry. i dont have pictures of anything. when im outdoors i leave technology at home. it ruins nature for me.

2 minutes ago, Turtle135 said:

do you think there is an old submerged pond there (from before they built the dam)? that might provide for some fish holding bottom contour

could be possible. i will look into that. thank you for the help

 

[Ratherbfishing]

I don't understand your question.  Is it that you released it and want to find it and catch it AGAIN?  If so, at what time of the year did you catch it last time?  A three pound crappie is a mighty big fish.  I don't know a LOT about crappie but usually very large examples of most fish tend to be loners and hang around street corners smoking cigarettes.

[ThomasMcAllister]

16 hours ago, Ratherbfishing said:

I don't understand your question.  Is it that you released it and want to find it and catch it AGAIN?  If so, at what time of the year did you catch it last time?  A three pound crappie is a mighty big fish.  I don't know a LOT about crappie but usually very large examples of most fish tend to be loners and hang around street corners smoking cigarettes.

Sort of. I caught it in spring. its not necessarily that i want to catch it again, but im wandering where all the big fish like that crappie could be hiding. i have been fishing here for a couple of years, and ive never seen anh crappie and very rarely do i catch a bass over 14 in. But i know there are big fish in there, so i was wandering where this fish could possibly be. I know underwater structures play a large rule in where bass will spend most of there time. 

[Ratherbfishing]

6 hours ago, ThomasMcAllister said:

Sort of. I caught it in spring. its not necessarily that i want to catch it again, but im wandering where all the big fish like that crappie could be hiding. i have been fishing here for a couple of years, and ive never seen anh crappie and very rarely do i catch a bass over 14 in. But i know there are big fish in there, so i was wandering where this fish could possibly be. I know underwater structures play a large rule in where bass will spend most of there time. 

I guess I'd try to retrace my steps-if not now, in the Spring.

[jr231]

Get you a kayak or inflatable boat. I admit that you look kind of silly to someone there with any type of boat.. standing on the bank .. pumping your boat up. But you can get some pretty decent ones for a modest price and you don't feel so silly when you catch a bass in a place you didn't have access to without it. 

[ThomasMcAllister]

11 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Get you a kayak or inflatable boat. I admit that you look kind of silly to someone there with any type of boat.. standing on the bank .. pumping your boat up. But you can get some pretty decent ones for a modest price and you don't feel so silly when you catch a bass in a place you didn't have access to without it. 

lol I actually have a little inflatable raft and I have tried fishing from it. There's only a handful of people that fish/know about this pond, so i only look silly in front of myself haha. The only problem was when I was out towards the middle the wind would blow me right back to shore after about 1-2 casts. I've been looking into kayaks though. 

[jr231]

Anchor ? 

[ThomasMcAllister]

16 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

Anchor ? 

im not sure how to attach an anchor to an inflatable boat

 

[jr231]

Lol it doesn't have to be much... I think I use a 10 or 15 lb anchor . I just tie mine to one of the handles. The wind will still push you around but you won't drift away. 

[ThomasMcAllister]

1 hour ago, Yeajray231 said:

Lol it doesn't have to be much... I think I use a 10 or 15 lb anchor . I just tie mine to one of the handles. The wind will still push you around but you won't drift away. 

oh sweet. where would i get one of these anchors 

 

Just now, ThomasMcAllister said:

oh sweet. where would i get one of these anchors 

 

Ill just use a 10 lb dumbbell. I assume itll grip the bottom pretty well

[jr231]

Yea that will probably work. The one I have i found in my past grandfathers shed, it looks like a mushroom. But I'm assuming you can buy one anywhere marine items are sold. I'd try Walmart.