Great information Tom…..going to try crappie hunting today. I’m going to try to use your tips.

Great fun with the kids. Same thing going on in pool 8 with the current water level. WINGDAMS!

Wow TCcat, what a great fishing day…a dream come true. And thanks for the pics…truely some slabs. NICE!

Another great report Jeff, enjoyed it…nice crappie picture and nice fish. Did you lose any bringing them into the boat or did you use the net?

Great post Jeff, I really had to laugh at the stuff that happened to you, cause it’s so true. Especially if you don’t go out very often, then you’re always forgetting something, or the bugs are all over you all day long, or the wind is a zillion miles per hour, etc. I loved your crappies though, good fish…I always think about using the net on them too but, the gamble is part of the game. By the way, crappies are starting to bite well in pool 8 too right now, had a good day on Friday. Jeff, if you read this, where exactly is pool 13? Good luck on your next crappie adventure!

Nice fish Jerry. I bet they put up a good fight too.

Weldon, I did have a few plastics and, if not for the hot dog, I would have had to do just that but, since I was fishing deep and the water was still dirty, I decided on the hot dog which worked very well…I’m sure there is scent to it that the fish liked and were attracted to. When the water is low and clearer on the main channel, I will go to plastics for bluegill at times, and if they are biting well, it works. But, you have to be sharp as they do not hang on very long at all…you got to get in a groove of setting the hook very quickly. Very fun fishing as well though.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Today I went out chasing the gills one last time before my yearly company comes in for a week of bass fishing. What I found today was truely interesting. I was finding the same situations that I had been finding = one keeper to 10 small ones when I found one spot that changed that around in a big way. I caught 15 big gills, all between one-half and 3 quarter pound beauties along with a few crappie and two smallies. Did this in an hours time and NO small fish. Why, I do not know unless bigger fish in some instances hang together and maybe chase small ones away or predators do that? Anyway, it was a super fun last panfish day before the casting begins. I loved it-super fun. Their is nothing like bluegill that you cannot horse out of the water and I’m very much looking forward to checking this spot out again in a week or so to see if this interesting trend applies again. You guys have fun fishing, Bob

Hi Mikehd,
Just a question if you see this….When you are using the orange jighead with a piece of crawler, do you get more consistently bigger bluegill or are you throwing back many small ones as I am with just a hook and worm? I’m asking just wondering if anyone knows if their is a way to attract more bigger gill consistently if there is such a thing. Thanks. Bob

Fantastic Bret,
I’m glad you’re catching them crappies and I was happy that you mentioned that the crappie haven’t yet hit the deep wood in numbers. That is where I make my living catching them and it’s been slow this year so far, it’s good to get that confirmed by the pro. One question if you don’t mind? What exactly do you mean by “humps”? Thanks for a great report & continued success.

Thanks for the story and photos 56ywister, it’s been a long time since I’ve had bluegills hit like that…it sounded great! Good job.

It sounds like & looks like you had a very good day. Good job!

Great stuff…if you ever see this question at this late date, what pool were you fishing on to be able to find that open water that early? Again, that was awesome!

Thanks…I really enjoyed the open-water crappie report from Kansas. Here in Wisconsin guys are already ice fishing. Anyway, great pictures…very nice, and good information as well. I know fishermen that swear by the color purple. Again, good post.

Nice catch…good looking crappies and thanks for the pictures and the details…enjoyed it!

Fishing my spots on pool 8, I catch some white crappie mixed in with the blacks but, it’s a small percentage and never a school. Interestingly, when I have hit a white they always are nice sized. Good post…it’s nice to be thinking about open-water crappie fishing.

Thanks Reged, it was a very good read.