crappies

Hey Wissota guys, when will we be fishing crappies out of the boat over there?

Good question Don!

I can’t wait to get the boat out and find those slabs again.

If we are guessing, I will say the 2nd week of April.

Sully

April 17th last year

State Park area the time is now!!!

Big lake depends on the rain and wind First time in along time I’m hopeing for more wind

Chippman

Ok, the lake’s been open for a bit now, who has the first open water slab report of the year

Not me the 30mph winds on my days off have kept me from trying to get out there.

The crappie bite is just getting started.

I didn’t make it out till around 9:00 today and was told I was a little late. I was just expecting another scouting trip, but the water temp has made a nice rise.

I found 37 to 42 degrees to be the norm.

I hit one shallow bay that was 47 and I can’t believe I never find crappies in there this time of year.

I’m going to make an early run in the morning and hopefully strike crappie gold.

Sully

Well finally got the boat set up with new lowrance and minnkota and got out didn’t make it out till about four marking alot of fish stacked on the break around Camp Kenwood but had R.J. my five yr old along so didn’t want to set in the wind fished the cribs along kenwood just pick up one crappie and a rocky but sure had fun playing with the new LMS-334color unit what a improvement from my old one quite a few boats out perfect day. Chippman

Hey guys, any recent reports on the water temp? I had heard of temps on the river getting close to mid 50s. Might try and get out this week some time to test out the crappie action.

Ok, so I saw John’s report of 55-56 from this weekend. Probably should work extra hard to get out there this week and next.

I found 47 to 58 degrees last night…now I just need to find a school of crappies.

Sully

heard they have been pounding them hard at the Hwy K bridge on the yellow, drove by there the other day and there was about ten boats and 20 cars, a sure sign that what I heard was true….

There have been so many boats in that tight area, I haven’t even tried. One boat will move out and another is ready to take it’s spot. I don’t enjoy fishing like that.

My quest for finding my own fish continues.

Sully

Thanks for info, I had considered heading over there first to try the K bridge but I will just skip it. I am thinking I will try something else first. If they are sitting in that deep water they should also be in some other deep water staging areas, or at least that is my thought. Of course, it not just that easy but still fun to try find them.

-tim

I avoid the Hwy K bridge for just that reason. If I can find fish around cribs or other submerged cover, that’s my preferred way of fishing them. I really enjoy vertical jigging around cover versus sitting and watching a float (and being crowded).

— John

agreed, it is no fun playing bumper boats with so much water to fish. I have done quite well in front of the state park boat landing in springs past, my boat is water ready as of today but I have been having fun shore fishing for gils, a little sunshine and warm weather wouldnt hurt the bite right now. I do need to get out and pre- fish the opener because my bro and his kid are high maitanence. If I dont have them on fish now or sooner I will hear it. Hope to see you guys at the GTG

Well did get out yesterday after work for a few hours. The west side (windward) of the big lake was 54 and the east side was 52. In the yellow river branch I pretty much found 55-57 water. I think it still a little early for any spawning fish. I moved around a lot for just a few hours. Found a few schools of crappie but there wasn’t much size to them 9-10″. All in 15-20 FOW, about 8-10 FD. I know the bigger ones are around somewhere I just couldn’t get on top of them last night. The 15-20 fish I caught bit really light both on the bobber and the jigging pole. I only had one fish take the bobber down, otherwise just had to watch for the bobber tipping over or moving abnormally.

I did a little scouting trip today and didn’t find the crappies. I think it’s a little cold yet for them to be coming up to spawn. I found 38 to 40 degrees.

Shouldn’t be too long yet.

Sully

Those crappies will be staging in around 20′ of water give or take near the areas they spwan in, warming weather will put the big girls on the feed and I attack with slip bobbers and minnows, play around with the depth on channel edges and you will catch fish…..

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Hey Wissota guys, when will we be fishing crappies out of the boat over there?

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I’ll be fishing them again today. Found a bunch of crappies yesterday but released them all. Was looking for cats and only caught one fiddler. Found a few more sleepers in the deep water but the water temp has to increase from around 45 up to 55 and they’ll go ballistic. Did catch one bronzeback deep too.

Tom, thanks for the report. What depth were the crappies at?

Sully

I was out yesterday – mostly racing around the lake and river to get through my Optimax break in period. My temp gauge read 48 to 50. I wonder how accurate that is. ??
The wife and I stopped occasionally to spot-check for crappie action but it was pretty dead. Wednesday is forecast to be a nice day before rainy weather comes in so I’m taking the afternoon off and going fishing…
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John

John, depending on where you were your gauge may have been very accurate.

2K’s and I were poking around the Chippewa River section yesterday and found up to 53 degree in same backwater.

That is a lot different than the 38 to 40 I reported on Saturday, which was in the Yellow River section.

It’s crazy to think we still have ice on the little lake and on the southern portion of the big lake AND I was getting a reading of 53 yesterday. That is quite the difference.

Sully

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Tom, thanks for the report. What depth were the crappies at?

Sully

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Found them all at the 4 to 5 foot depth and in good sized schools.