Day 2 of our trip. It rained most of the morning, but we got out again between 11-4. We caught around 80 keeper bream and channel cats today . We easily caught that many that we released. There were 6 of us that fished in 2 boats . We found the fish in a deeper part of the Ocklawaha river than we fished yesterday . They were just outside the pad line and we fished some downed trees out deep to catch some of them.

We caught 95% of them on dead shrimp, of all things.

And 3 of the family went to a secret spot that is a run off the St Johns , and caught 10 trout and croakers last night! ! That should tell you how little rain we’ve had lately- the salinity is high way up in the river.

Also got to spend quality time with my immediate family, and especially my g daughter Mackayla that fished with me today …

Just did the final count for all the fish we kept and it was 137.

Before someone says it was too many, they will all be eaten I assure you. We can’t eat out much, but we don’t have to ! 🤠

Went to a farm pond this morning that was loaded with Crappie, had fun with jigs.

@Bird - I’ll see your picture of one and raise you one more!

Went to the same lake i fished on Friday with a plan of cranking some more. Despite the freezing air temps, the water warmed up 2-4 degrees since Friday so I thought i might be in good shape for shallow cranking. Nada. The open water fish were all floating around though so I would find a fish that looked like it might be a bass and cast to them. I spent a little while doing that but all were crappie. Got a half dozen just by picking off the first one that hit at a spot (there were plenty around). Never did figure out where the bass are sitting but 2# crappie are everywhere.

28 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

@Bird - I’ll see your picture of one and raise you one more!

Went to the same lake i fished on Friday with a plan of cranking some more. Despite the freezing air temps, the water warmed up 2-4 degrees since Friday so I thought i might be in good shape for shallow cranking. Nada. The open water fish were all floating around though so I would find a fish that looked like it might be a bass and cast to them. I spent a little while doing that but all were crappie. Got a half dozen just by picking off the first one that hit at a spot (there were plenty around). Never did figure out where the bass are sitting but 2# crappie are everywhere.

Ha Ha good ones for sure.

White bass got ridiculous last night . Took my wife and a buddy and got several doubles and triples, and they were only fly fishing. All big ones too , no clue how many but it was a lot

30 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

White bass got ridiculous last night . Took my wife and a buddy and got several doubles and triples, and they were only fly fishing. All big ones too , no clue how many but it was a lot

Still one of the most underrated freshwater species to catch... fun!

@TnRiver46 - do you have pure white bass or a mix of whites and hybrids? The broken lines on some of them looks more like hybrids. Not sure if they are stocked in your area.

@casts_by_fly , Most white bass have broken lines but we do have some hybrids, not many tho

And by not many, I mean I’ve caught one in my life 😂

7# striper on BFS gear? Why not.

Surprise Ned Rig Channel. I really really wanted it to be a bass.😄

Bonus pike while jerk bait fishing for smallies.

@Dwight Hottle - is that main lake for the pike? I know they are in the bay and lagoons, but never considered they would be in the main lake.

@casts_by_fly in the bay but I have caught them in the main lake before

Last night was the first Tuesday night kayak tournament of the year. Weather was not great with winds howling 25+ from the south on a north/south facing lake. Made it impossible to do what I wanted to do and I didn't finish well, but on the way out to the lake, I stopped at a different lake to make a few cast from the bank. When I walked down I saw a big fish floating dead on the bank, turned out to be this nice walleye that had choked on a probably 8-9 inch crappie.

The gills had enough color, I thought about cleaning it, but it was already getting stiff, didn't want to risk it.

The only good part about the tournament was I put an absolute beatdown on some monster warmouth. I caught 3 of them over 8", this was the biggest that completely engulfed a free rigged 3.8" Bellow's Gill

Striper fishing has been slow recently but did manage another double on the rig

Bonus pike on the St Lawrence while fishing for smallies with a blade bait. She had just eaten some thing just below her gullet.

Fished the home lake yesterday, water temps were just above 60 degrees. Decided to work some off shore brush piles. Landed a nice 16.5" LMB, and they the Crappie started hitting.

This 12.5" Black Crappie was the largest. I probably caught ~50 in a few hours. Spot-locked right on top of the brush pile...used the new MEGA 360. Live bait is prohibited, so just tossing small plastics on 1/16oz. jig.

On 4/22/2026 at 4:50 AM, Dwight Hottle said:

@casts_by_fly in the bay but I have caught them in the main lake before

I catch them on the main lake of big water when I'm smallmouth fishing as well. Walleyes too, especially if it's cloudy or windy.

In October 2023 one time, I caught a smallmouth, walleye, and then a pike on 3 consecutive casts with a jerk bait. My friend called it "the true trifecta."

First husky of the year. 43.5" First of the year to dine at T-Billy's all you can eat crappie buffet as well. Tammy had one drop the crappie as she was reeling down to swing, and I had a mid 30's take two swipes at a crappie I was reeling in also.

We probably caught a hundred 6-9 inch crappie today. No eaters but the trees are stacked with perfect bait size males. 2026 Crappiepalooza is fixing to go down soon!!!

Very nice! It has begun.

6 hours ago, GreenPig said:

Very nice! It has begun.

Yeah they're warming up to the specks. I had three grab my crappie Saturday afternoon, but drop them before I could get to the rod. I'll be on fishcation from May 17 to June 3. It should be good. These past two years that I've gotten on this bite, the second half of May has been prime time.

There is not many fish that are more fun to catch than a hybrid. Add in the fact that it was on my BFS rod and it was all I could do to hang onto this rascal.

I'm BAAACK in the saddle again!!! 😁 I played hooky today and it paid off.

43" on a crankbait.

42.5, 41, 37, and 36 came to dine at the crappie buffet.

I also swung on another one but didn't get hooks, and had six other bites on crappie that dropped it before I could get to the rod.

My snow pants have enough muskie poop and slime and my blood on them to stand up by themselves. 😂 34 degree start today and only made it into the mid 40's.