The Summer of Unexpected Crappie Continues!

I'm not sure how the universe works in its entirety on a religious or scientific level.  Gravity makes sense and I believe in miracles but I'm no expert.  With that being said, I'm scratching my head in regards to why I have caught so many crappie so far this summer.  I don't target crappie on purpose usually they tend to hang out in deeper water.  I don't eat crappie because I just don't like eating fish.  I don't try to catch them on purpose, but I don't dislike catching crappie especially the bigger ones.  I gave that disclaimer because my hot streak of crappie fishing continues.  

So there I was, fishing my favorite HOA pond and not catching anything.  It was the middle of the day which, to me, translates to slow fishing activity.  I was fishing around a drain pipe in the pond when I got a solid hit.  I must have been pretty excited because I set the hook with a force that would have made a gorilla jump.  The fish on the other end of the line didn't give head shakes like a bass or swim in circles like a bluegill.  Instead, it just swam parallel to the bank and stayed in the middle of the water column.  Signs started to point towards a crappie.

This fish didn't feel like a 5 inch dink.  The bend in my 5 weight told me that this was a fish that was a little above average and my heart and brain raced one another in terms of excitement and curiosity.  As the fight came to an end and the fish was approaching the bank, I finally got a glimpse of my catch.  It came in sideways and even in the murky water, my small glimpse showed the girth and coloration of a slab crappie. 

My first thought was to get my hands on the fish.  My second thought was to get a tape measurer because I was hopeful that the fish was around 12 inches.  My hope sprang from my belief that a 12 inch crappie is pretty good size as well as the fact that the biggest crappie I have caught recently had been 10 inches long.  The tale of the tape ended up being really close to 12 inches and almost a pound on my digital scale.  As you can see, this crappie ate an unhackled bugger and that is something that I will get into more in a future post.  

I left the pond with a smile on my face and another crappie story to add to my collection that has been growing as of late.  I recently heard Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty and Duck Commander fame, state that he believe that every duck he experienced was a gift from a higher power.  I too believe that every fish I catch is a gift.  While I don't target crappie, I still appreciate them.  If I'm being honest, I appreciate the bigger fish just a little bit more.  If I continue with my honesty, when a bigger fish is a surprise, the gift is appreciated even more!