Well I had a few hours to kill yesterday so I drove out to an area that I haven’t hit much yet this year (save for one time during early ice that was a wash). I got out to the desired area, drilled some holes and also utilized a few holes that must have been drilled the day before. I marked very few fish, one that I assume was a toothy perch on a jigging rapala, and the occasional shad ball roaming around. With all the bait fish activity and knowing that this water was highly oxygenated, I thought there was just no way the fish weren’t stacked up somewhere in the area. Afterall, I caught some quality crappies around the same time period last year. After a last ditch effort move was made near some heavy submerged cover I knew about, the game changed. After dropping the LX-3 in the hole, I thought I must be looking at either a school of shad, or was marking a limb of a submerged tree. The screen was absolutely lit up from about 18 feet through 25 feet over 39 ft of water. I dropped a spoon tipped with a minnow head to the top of the marks, and was instantly pleased with the result. Multiple fish came flying up to greet my offering, and the one that made it first was a little dink speck about 6″. It was all I needed to know though. For one of the first times this year, I pulled the shack over and sat on that hole for about an hour and a half. The result was one of the best crappie days I’ve had since late December on pool 8. The action was non-stop, the bite was of an aggressive nature, and some quality fish arose from the school to make things even more enjoyable. I had to do a lot of sorting to get the 9 fish I kept between 10-11-1/2″, but it seemed like there was always a bend in the rod, making for a very fun short outing. I even added a couple of keepers to the pile using a number 3 jigging rapala. After the first couple of fish, I realized that meat simply was not necessary. When fishing aggressive schooling fish in deep water, efficiency is the key. At any time the school can evaporate on you, as it eventually did for me. Keeping the bait in the water at all times maximizes your catch. I would have followed the fish but it was time to call it a day anyway. It was nice to have some fresh fish for dinner. 
