Mcbride had me guessing

Started out looking shallow on fri at 1:00, occasional small bluegills and bass. Next went to the deep side looking for suspended & stageing Crappies. The usual crappie marks were sporadic at best. A lot of boaters were giving thumbs down. I only had 2 bluegills & a decent crappie at 5:00, I then went shallow again where I thought they would come in & connected with 2 hrs of action. Ended up with 29 nice 9+ crappies. Gills

Love it!

Took the boat out yesterday for a shakedown cruise at MacBride. Happy to report that everything seems to be working, the only thing untested being the lights.

Started out at the main ramp, water temp 54°. Headed for the North arm and found a flat along the North edge with good cover (cattails & wood), water a few degrees warmer. Sat on this spot slip-bobbering minnows and picked up about 5 small bass and a channel cat, but where are the crappies?

Headed back around under the power lines and fished some deep brush, no crappies. Moved around to the South arm and fished some mid-depth (8-12′) cover, no crappies. Moved under the causeway and found some 63° water with rip-rap and wood, no crappies. I trolled, I casted, I jigged; no crappies, no crappies, no crappies.

I ended the day with no less than two dozen tiny bass measuring from 8-12 inches, a lonely channel cat, and a sunburn that a lobster would be jealous of. Water clarity is excellent, probably 6′ or so. You can see scores of small gills and bass moving in the shallow wood, but darned if I could find them crappies!

sounds like you worked hard enough to catch a bunch of crappies. i’m not going to tell my class mate who is meeting me at mcbride i think tuesday that you couldn’t get those crappies to bite. right now it looks like the only good day to fish. will check out the weather channel tonight for sure. i will let you know if we have the same luck. if your there maybe we could at least share a ice cold pending on the time we get there, maybe we should try coralville first and hit mcbride around 4pm. no matter what, its still better than punchin that time clock. thanks for your input. hope i have some good news tuesday nite.

I think the good fishing is just around the corner with the water temp being 59 degrees Fri afternoon. Gills

Fishing (and the weather, I might add) was excellent Friday evening. I started out about 7:00 slip-bobbering at 6′ depth over 13 fow. The lower the sun got, the more I had to raise the bait to stay in the fish. I ended up with less than a foot between the float and the bait, and having to drag that to get anything to bite.

The good bite is only a few (fairweather) days around the corner.

ok, any McBride fisher men, women, need your help, Been on the lake twice now and no luck chasing the crappie bit. Fished shallow fished deep and nadda, nothing. Have marked schools of fish from 6 to 12 deep and still nadda, nothing, Any body willing to share location, presentation, choice of bait.
Thanks in advance for any advice
Wahly

I haven’t been able to get out in this area for a couple of weeks now. Last time I was out, surface temp was 55° and the fish were starting to get active on sunny afternoons into evening along the channel borders in the North arm.

The lilacs are blooming, which usually means the spawn is either near of here. If that’s the case, they’ll be on shallow wood. Near the power lines there’s a ton of downed trees on the West bank. In the North arm, pretty much every bay has had trees sunk in 3-5′.

I talked to a guy last night that was on McBride 5/5 (20 nice Crappie) and 5/8 (yesterday). He came in with a nice mess yesterday. He said they was in shallow yeesterday.

I’m camping at Kent Park Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Figure on giving McBride a good try Tuesday.

JIM

Thanks Gianni and Jim, I’m going out this week a couple of times equipped with my slip bobber and minows. I’ll give the north shore and west shore under the power lines my best shot.

Wahly;,, My suggestion the next time you go to Mc Bride, try leaving your minnows at home and use tube or small hair jigs. REASON: They’ll be going so fast that baiting up will be a waste of time. A week ago wed I brought to the boat over 200 Crappies & gills down at Three Mile Lake All on small hair jigs. Gills

Anyone up for a Saturday adventure this week?

Gills?

Gills, looks like I need to go fishing with you and take lessons. Have you been on McBride with no minnys and done well? I was totally surprised last time out I did use tube and hair jigs(with minnows)and still didnt get into the crappies but did get 4 walleyes witch 2 of them went 16 inchs(there really are walleyes in McBride) gonna try Fri. and Sat. again, I still would like a mess of crappies for the frying pan.
Wahly

Wahly, I’m gonna be down there Saturday, so maybe we could team up a little bit. I’ll be in a blue and white bayliner bass boat. Stop by (or if you tell me what you’re in I’ll keep an eye out), and I’ll be happy to exchange info on whatever I’ve found.

It’s been two weeks since I’ve wet a line, though, so I don’t know how long it will take to find ’em. I’ll probably start out on the North arm. Maybe I’ll stop and get batteries for one of the FRS radios, you got one?

This afternoon I was planing on doing a little cycling but it’s kind of cool so maybe I’ll slip down to the lake and check it out, will report my findings later. Maybe I’ll see ya down there Wahly Gills

Gills and Gianni, I’ll be out Fri. afternoon and launch from the north shore and will be fishing from the power lines and to the north in a 18 ft blue and tan sylvan boat. hope to see you on the water. Gianni also will be going out early afternoon on Sat. and would like to hook up with ya,but I don’t have a frs so be looking for me and I’ll be looking for you.
Wahly