What was your best crappie fishing trip?
The next one………… I guess my best crappie fishing experience, so far, was many decades ago, on Lake Texoma, near Denison, Texas. I was layed-off from a local construction job, so I decided to put some fish in the freezer, just in case we really needed them to eat. I didn’t have a proper boat then, but I had a military surplus, inflatable life raft. It was the type that was carried by PBY Catalina aircraft in WW-II (my dad was a Crew Chief on one in the Pacific which is how I got it….). It was sunny when I started out, and I had found a hotspot for crappie about 300 yards from shore, so I dropped anchor there. I was catching crappie so good that I failed to notice the rapidly darkening skies, increased wind, and lightning in the distance. If you’ve never seen how fast a thunderstorm can strike in Texas, trust me. It is unbelievable. I finally noticed the dropped temperature, darkening skies, and the fact that I was the only idiot in sight, on, or off the water. The crappie began to bite faster, and I figured it was already too late, so I might as well keep fishing. I had been in the Navy myself, so riding out a storm in a raft did not particularly bother me (read YOUNG, STUPID, and BULLETPROOF). The rain began to come down in buckets, and the lightning bolts were having target practice with the trees. The thunder was deafening, but the crappie continued to bite like there was no tomorrow, so I kept pulling them in. The limits in Texas were very liberal back then, and I probably had over 50 fish, all caught within 2 hours, by this time. Soon, a Coast Guard Lake Patrol boat came out and ‘rescued’ me by ordering me off the water. I tried to explain that I could not row against the 40 MPH winds, hoping they would just let me ride it out, and keep fishing. But, alas, they rigged a tow rope and pulled me in to their dock, and gave me, and my deflated raft a ride back to the car. I left them a dozen or so crappie for their trouble. I have never experienced that level of crappie fishing since, but I am still hopeful. That was living at it’s most intense!!!!! Happy fishing..
