Raystwon Update 3/30
Spent most of the afternoon on Raystown yesterday in search of crappie. The average water temp was 46degrees with what looked to be a 3+ foot thermocline forming. The water was not really that high, probably somwhere near average pool. The water was stained.
When we pulled into Shy Beaver launch at 11:30 there were probably 30 cars/trailers. Many guys attempting to fish visable timber and other structures. The fish, even the panfish seem to still be down fairly deep. I was checking out water depths up to 25 feet for active fish with little to no success. We did cover a lot of water with a run and gun style approach using electronics to eliminate unproductive water.
While we did witness a couple of boats catching crappie here and there, not many great numbers (at least what I saw) and all of the fish we saw caught on the timber by the shore were on the small side. Interestingly enough, toward dark we witnessed a couple of boats with downriggers actually catch stripers in front of us. The big fish were holding/feeding in 25 to 40FOW and there were some clouds of baitfish appearent. Since we had no downriggers or other necessary equiptment with us. . .we finished up and packed up.
The trip resulted in one caught fish. A really cold but appearently active 13-15 inch bucketmouth who looked a bit on the skinny side. I had another follower on light tackle but missed.
While it was nice to be out on the water, the wind and the absence of active fish made the trip a little less than exciting. Today I am going where I am much more confident that I will catch fish. At least I better as my 11yr old son will be along for the ride and if he gets cold and windy for nothing. . .he will not be happy and will be pretty vocal about the fact!
I will post an update soon.
Good Fishing
Brent