John's Journal...


DOUBLE DIPPING SPOONS

Where to Fish in the Summer

Click to enlargeEDITOR'S NOTE: You can have your cake and eat it too. Charlie Ingram, a bass fisherman on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama, on the Georgia/Alabama border, practices catch and release when he fishes for bass. But he also takes home a mess of crappie for the skillet on almost every outing. Ingram has developed a technique for bass fishing that allows him to catch big bass and large crappie at the same time. The bass go in his back livewell, and he shows them to his buddies at the marina before he releases them. He puts Click to enlargethe crappie he catches in his front livewell and never opens it until he arrives at home. Then he takes the speckled sides out to fillet. While fishing a jigging spoon at almost any time of the year, Ingram catches crappie weighing 3/4-pound to 2-pounds each. Also when fishing a jigging spoon in these same places, Ingram takes bass weighing 2- to 10-pounds each.

Regardless of the time of the year, bass and crappie consistently will hold on underwater brush on the edges of river and creek channels. Even during the spawning season, these fish will concentrate on this type of cover on Click to enlargebottom breaks before they move to shallow-water spawning areas. Then they'll come away from the shallow water after the spawn and return to the river and creek channels. During the hot summer months and the cold winter months, crappie and bass will hold on the bottom-break cover where they find their preferred water temperature and schools of baitfish. If at any time of the year you locate stumps on the edge of an underwater creek or river channel or brush, you'll have a productive place to catch bass and crappie all year utilizing this double-dipping tactic.

Click to enlargeAccording to Charlie Ingram, "Bass and crappie often hold in the same places throughout the year. Some years ago I noticed I often would feel light hits on worms, jigs and crankbaits when I fished deep-water cover for bass. Although I felt sure these hits came from crappie, I never really fished for them. However, when I started fishing the jigging spoon, I realized I could catch not only bass but also crappie, catfish, white bass, hybrid-striped bass and even bluegill in the same spots with this same fishing method."

TOMORROW: HOW TO FIND COVER

 


Check back each day this week for more about DOUBLE DIPPING SPOONS

Day 1: Where to Fish in the Summer
Day 2: How to Find Cover
Day 3: How to Fish the Jigging Spoon in Deep Structure
Day 4: How to Use a Satellite
Day 5: What About Pesky Bass

 

 

Entry 302, Day 1