We went to our favourite little crappie lake today for Canadian Thanksgiving after eating too much last night. TrophyHunter was on the water and we chatted briefly. It was a beautiful day...about 20 C (roughly 70 F), with just a whisper of wind that was occasionally nothing. I had the family out with me for what may be the last good chance for the whole family to get on the water this fall.
The fishing was a bit slow. As the wife was untangling a crappie from around the anchor rope for our 8 year old, our 6 year old quietly brought one to the surface. Unfortunately that one got off, but I did see it. I caught a few, we tried a couple locations and techniques...anchored again. I had my rod sort of in my lap helping the 4 year old (he had put a plastic worm on a jig like it was a crawler - about 4 times onto the hook...I was straightening it out in case some of the pike or walleye in the lake decided they liked pink)...when I picked up my rod to jig, there was weight. It didn't fight much, but it turned out to be a 14" crappie.
A little while later, my wife mentioned that Teresa had something. I reeled in to help out, but only wound up giving my wife the net for the 23" pike that was caught.
A little reminder...pike have sharp teeth
I had just reached in to try to get out the barbless hook, it thrashed, I dropped it, and in the process, wound up with a couple marks on my index finger.
Anyway, a few minutes after returning the pike (we did consider keeping it, but released it in the end), I got the same call. This time, Teresa had a 13.5 inch crappie.
She tried to hold this one, but it got the better of her. She didn't try to hold the pike at all. BTW, including today, she has caught 3 crappie - 2 qualified for Manitoba Master Angler awards. At this rate, she may get her specialist badge before me.
All in all, it was a nice day. Unfortunately, my wife and 4 year old were skunked. We would have left a lot earlier, but my wife wanted to catch something. We were in the same boat and at times using the same lure with a piece of crawler, so I can't explain it. Perhaps the fishing gods looked upon her gloating last weekend after catching the largest sauger....
Weather was terrific...we had enough snacks in the boat to keep everyone happy...too bad the fish weren't a bit more eager to take our baits, but it was a wonderful afternoon.
