Justin P. and I proved that you don’t need ice to catch slab crappies on the short rods today. We spent a few hours of the afternoon, into the dark targeting crappies and whatever else would bite on pool 8. I couldn’t get a ride so I took my bike, 6 ice rods, lx-3 and aqua-vu along with a bucket and tackle and headed for lacrosse, about 7 miles from my house to the destination. it was a long treck but well worth it. We caught all fish in around 10 feet of water and they were hanging near structure 
trust me, you wouldn’t guess the structure we were fishing. but they were all over at different depths on the structure which made them easy to catch because they would eat it no matter where you put your bait on the structure. I quit using the flasher at one point because the screen was so loaded i couldn’t see my bait in between! So we had a great time jigging small jigs and justin used a sweedish pimple. Everything was tipped with a waxworm for the day. We didn’t catch any REAL hogs, but the average fish was 10″ long with at least 5 that would have pushed over 11. Sadly, a couple of the big ones that we had didn’t make their way to the bucket. One was released as it was the first fish and we didn’t know what was coming, another broke off, and we had a couple lost while trying to land them. The biggest one that made it to the bucket was 11-1/4″. It was a great time and way to spend the afternoon, minus the rain we recieved early on. I kept 17 crappies that will make a great lunch or supper one of these days when I find some time. We’re dying for ice here in La Crosse, but there are plenty of ways to get your fix with a little creativity and motivation! get out there and dust off your ice rods and flashers!
-Cade
we’re heading back tomorrow after school, we’ll let you know how we did 
Won’t be long now and you’ll be able to get out and find the slabs. 