[jeremycallahan]

Check it out, caught my first ever crappie today. Was fishing on the north west side of the lake next to the submerged timber. There were two piles and i was anchored between them. I caught two on live minnows and two trout and one crappie on a montera marvel (just like a pistol pete). I had the canoe out, dont know water temp but it was cold, so was I, wind was blowing all day.

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[pescado loco]

Nice! Yum!

 

[kirbydog]

Nice fish-BH gives up alot of crappie in the spring and with the water up there should be an excellent spawn.  When you say you were anchored on the NW end between 2 brushpiles I think I know exactly where you were!!! Ed

 

[1eyered]

Uh Hum.. "BING!" --> (lightbulb!) ;D

Great Catch! IMHO those rank with with some of the top dawgs of dinner plate worthy fish. I bet you had a blast!

 

[TroutFishingBear]

nice crappie! They definitely taste good, but they are one of the few white meated fish I don't filet. I prefer to pandress them myself. Enjoy

 

[jeremycallahan]

How do you pan dress them? I noticed that i couldnt clean them the way i would clean a trout. So i looked on line and most every sight mentioned fileting them. I tried my best, got most of the meat and decent filets. Anyone have any recomendations on how to clean these fish.

ALso, it was a blast, they were scrappy fighters, i look forward to the next outing.

 

[epic]

Use an electric knife. Start in right behind the gill, and follow the backbone towards the tail. Don't cut the side all the way off, stop right before the tail fin. Flip the fillet over, and start at the tail end and run your knife along the skin to the other end. Do the same to the other side, cut out the rib bones, and you should have some nice fillets.

 

[jeremycallahan]

Cool, thanks Epic. Thats how i cleaned them yesterday but didnt have an electric knife, just a regular filet knife. It was my first time fileting a fish like this, i did ok, but there is room for improvement.

 

[EyeGuy]

Way to go Jeremy!

You are in for some GOOD eating! ;D

 

[1eyered]

Cool, thanks Epic.  Thats how i cleaned them yesterday but didnt have an electric knife, just a regular filet knife.  It was my first time fileting a fish like this, i did ok, but there is room for improvement.

I've been filleting fish for a while now and every now and then, I'll still have one turn up like an experiment gone terribly wrong.

 

[Methiolate Man]

Way to go on the crappie. They sure are a cool fish. Remember to keep only what you eat. One guy alone clean out an entire cove if they are biting. Last time I was there I must have caught 15 crappie in a half hour. Were there alot of boats on the lake? I hope to go on Sunday afternoon for some bass.

 

[jeremycallahan]

Yeah there were tons of people there on friday. I got there about 9am and there were already bout 5 boats in the water and at least 3 trucks behind me with hand launched pontoons. I just minded my own buisness and went to the north end. I think most people were going after walley down by the dam and inlet. I saw lots of boats drifting down the small creek bed in the middle. Lots of boats came and went throughout the day.

 

[Methiolate Man]

Well, I'm going to try out Brush Hollow after this front, I hope some bass are still active enough to catch. I will message later and let you guys know if I have caught anything. :

 

[Oats]

Great looking crappie! Thats one fish I can't seem to figure out. Does anyone one know when the crappie prime time is?

 

[Zman]

See the John Martin post over on fishing reports...from the ranger...

 

[fishheadd]

HELP WHERE IS BRUSH HOLLOW, NEVER HEARD OF IT, WILL BE WAITING THANKS

 

[epic]

Its on 115 in the town of Penrose, if traveling from Colorado SPrings its before you hit highway 50. If coming from Pueblo or Canon City get off of 50 at the Penrose exit and go towards Colorado Springs. There is a big sign that says Brush Hollow Reservoir you cant miss it. (well you can but you shouldnt miss it)

 

[Methiolate Man]

Well Jeremy, I went again last with a friend and we must have cuaght 50 fish over a 6 hour trip. Caught mostly crappie and bass. I caught 14 inch shad that hit a tiny jig, when I get the photo developed I will post it. My friend tried those pistol petes and they didn't work as well as the jig under the bobber. The largest crappie was almost a pound, it was very healthy. The wind was blowing, so we were the only ones on the lake with a boat :-X. The fish were a little slower now that the front came through. They really wanted a slower jigging approach rather than a fast retrieve, which you get from a pistol pete or a spinner. GOOD LUCK GUYS.

 

[jeremycallahan]

Nice to hear it methiolate man. What sort of jigs and colors did you have under the bobbers? Ive got some small tube jigs and some small curly tail jigs in tons of different colors. I was thinking of going down there again for some more action. Were you fishing the north end again?

 

[Methiolate Man]

Both tube and curly tails work on the smallest lead jig head you can find, no bright colors. All the colors that work for me are black/white, brown, and white/cinnamon. Yup same side, they were right in the brush, tight. Find one, chances are there alot more there.