When I was a kid my dad would take us to fish crappie in the Long Tom. He was a way better fisherman than I was back then *cough* and he knew like the exact days to go. It was kind of creepy
.
We would rig up a plain red and white bubble bobber over a 1/8 jig head using the generic red head-white tail rubber jigs and drift it for 10-15 feet before a strike, sometimes less. We would take home a couple pounds of crappie/bluegill mix. Sometimes we would use purple or yellow instead of red. Also I don't think I'll give away each bed I've found, they've been accumulating in my head through some very hard work over the years, but once you find a crappie/bluegill bed on the Long Tom,
do not forget where it is. They re-use them. Remember the general dates you catch eating-sized crappie/bluegill too, I keep a log of all catches in a pocket notebook, it is extremely useful in the long run.
I take down:
Water temperature (once weekly if I go more than once a week)
Water level (once weekly if I go more than once a week)
Clarity (once weekly if I go more than once a week)
Species
Number caught
Bait and method
Location, sometimes I take GPS coords of hot spots if I'm walking and fishing a river or lake
General notes if needed, such as "The dam was open" or "There is a new dock in the water" etc
Oregon isn't like Alabama where there's a lot of big bluegill all season, knowing when and where to fish each year is almost crucial for the non-salmonid species.
Arkansas, sorry XD
