Hot weather means hot fishing for crappie
When the calendar turns to July, many Jordan Lake crappie anglers store their fishing rods away, choosing to wait until the fall to get after slabs again. But those anglers are missing out according to Capt. Travis Bradshaw of Pigpen Guide Service. (919-669-6989).
“The hot weather doesn’t really impact their feeding habits as much as people think,” said Bradshaw. “They might eat a little less, and they might eat less often. But they’re still going to eat throughout the day whenever they get hungry enough.”
Start early, stay a while
He said it’s often true that the earlier you get on the water, the better your chances of limiting out this time of year. But he also said if you get out later than planned, or even if you were first on the lake, you shouldn’t leave at lunchtime just because the sun is high in the sky.
“This time of year, you’ll see the fish get into lulls more often, but they’ll come out of those lulls, even in the heat of the day, and feed for a bit,” he said.
Patience is key for Bradshaw in July, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to waste time when the action shuts down.
“A lot of anglers will sit in one spot for hours, especially if they catch a fish or two right away. And if the fish are in a long lull, they just assume it’s like that all over the lake. But that’s not true,” he said.
Using his electronics, Bradshaw locates balls of bait, as well as brush piles and ledges.
“I don’t try to find crappie on my depthfinder. Instead, I look for bait balls. Because even if you find crappie, that doesn’t mean they are feeding. But if you find the bait, you can bet that once the crappie get hungry, they’ll show up where the bait balls are,” he said.
And when it comes to bait, Bradshaw said you’ll never see him on the water without live minnows.
“You just can’t beat the real thing. And in the summer heat, I want to fish with the smallest minnows I can find,” he said. “And if my bait minnows die for some reason and that’s all I’ve got to fish with, I won’t hesitate to put a dead minnow on a hook.”
Stay shallow
While many anglers look for crappie in deep holes this month, Bradshaw said he mainly sticks to shallower water in smaller coves off the main lake.
By shallower water, he doesn’t mean he’s fishing right next to the bank.
“I look for brush piles, ledges and bait balls that are in water that’s between 8 and 14 feet deep,” he said.
“You can catch them in deep water right now, and around bridge pilings on the main lake. But this time of year, that’s going to put you in the middle of traffic with all the pleasure boaters, water skiiers, personal water craft, and bass tournament anglers,” he said. “And you just don’t need to do that in order to catch crappie this month.”
Once he has a number of target locations marked on his depthfinder, Bradshaw moves in between those targets as the bite dictates.
“I’ll set up around a ball of bait or a brush pile, put rods out all around my boat, set them all in rod holders, then I’ll see what happens. I don’t like to sit dead still very much,” he said. “I usually troll very slowly around my target areas.”
And if the bite’s not happening, or if he catches a few and then the bite slows down,” he’ll troll to his next target area. And once at that next area, he’ll troll around that target at around 0.5 mph.
“You’ve always got to be willing to make adjustments. On some days, you’ll just wreck the fish all day long. But on other days, it’s more of a grind,” he said.
When things slow down or are especially tough, Bradshaw said one small change can make a big difference.
Make adjustments
“If I’m trolling in an area and not catching any, or catching very few, sometimes all it takes is to troll in the opposite direction. That can often get things kick started in a big way,” he said. “If you’re not catching any, but you know bait is there, you know structure is there, and you know fish should be there, don’t just pull up your trolling motor and leave. At the very least, you want to turn your boat around and troll in the opposite direction of what you’ve been trolling. You’ll be surprised how often that will change your luck.”
Another change he’ll often make when the bite isn’t as hot as he’d like, involves his trolling speed.
“I’ll almost always start off trolling at 0.5 mph, and if things just aren’t working out, I’ll speed up slightly, say to 0.6, then 0.7, and even a little higher if that’s what it takes before I start getting consistent bites,” he said. “But other times, I’ll slow down slightly and see how that works out.”
Bradshaw said anglers don’t have a perfect formula to work with.
“You just have to experiment a little bit more on some days this month than you do in say the spring or the fall. But the fish are still here and they’re still going to eat at some point.”
The best tip Bradshaw has this month isn’t really a trick at all. It’s the oldest tip in the book when it comes to fishing: a healthy dose of patience.
“I don’t like wasting time, but I also recognize that the hotter it gets, the more patience you need to have. So even though I’m not going to sit in an unproductive spot for too long, I’m also going to give it some extra time than I would at other times of the year,” he said. “Some days, you just have to give them a chance to get in a feeding mood. And some days, you have to be happy with catching only a few from one school before moving on to another school. But if you pick at them enough here and there, before you know it, you’ve got enough for a fish fry.”
Jordan Lake facts
Officially named B. Everett Jordan Lake but commonly referred to as simply Jordan Lake, this 13,940-acre reservoir sits 216 feet above sea level, and was formed in the early to mid 1970s, reaching its full flood stage in 1982.
Original plans were to name it New Hope Lake, but it was renamed in honor of Senator B. Everett Jordan, a North Carolina resident who served in the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created the lake by damming and flooding the Haw River and New Hope River between 1973 and 1983.
During construction of the lake, numerous railroad stations owned by the Durham and South Carolina Railroad, as well as numerous roads and farms were flooded.
Aside from providing fishing and other recreational opportunities, Jordan Lake also serves as a major water supply for central North Carolina, as well as for flood control.
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