Well my wife out fished me again. Never mind that I took her to the right spots and gave her the right lure (grin) (plagiarized from a few of the IDA regulars). We caught somewhere over a dozen nice fish. We kept 4 for our neighbor who can’t understand how I can go that often and not have a freezer full of fish. The bite was slow and the key seemed to keep moving around in the area. Seemed like if you caught 1 fish off a log you couldn’t buy another bite. But if you left and came back later you could catch 1 more fish. We setup a milk route in a reasonably deep backwater slew and went round-and-round. The lure of choice was a pink and white mini-tube with a 1/64-oz jig head shoved inside, presented on a slip bobber. I was a nice break from the bass tournament rigors.
The big push of spring bass tournaments is almost over. One more this weekend and then a break for a few weeks. So far things have gone pretty well and have taken a check in the first 2 tournaments. It has been a series of adjustments and with low water levels year around experience has kept me in the game.
From what I’ve seen it looks like the majority of the bass spawn is over. We saw small males guarding nests with no quality fish in site. The lilacs are just started to bloom, which is one of Mother Nature’s signal that the spawn is over. A few weeks of the post-spawn blues and the summer bite should be in full swing.
Those are some big fish. What depth are the crappies biting at right now?
Nice Crappies
Nice fish! Yes, when the lilacs are blooming it also means the crappies are biting good which you just proved.
Are you giving the jigs under the bobber some movement or just letting them pretty much sit there? How deep is your jig set and how deep of water are you fishing? Sorry for all the questions but thats how we learn.
Thanks, Bill
you should come up to pepin, the old times claim they are catching crappies off of the east-west pier i havent tried it cuz ive been busy dog training but you should give it a try
All,
The fish came about 2′ down over 6-7′ of water with wood. We had to let the tube sit motionless for about 15 seconds and than give it a shake. The bite usually came right after the movement. I suspect they were drawn to the bait by it’s “easy” apperance and would take it when it looked like it might get away. FishermanPepin, back to the bass for me but thanks for the tip.
ya i dont care much for panfish either. the topwater bite was on today. i went down to the piers and the kids that were down there claimed they missed a bunch on poppers. i was kinda ya w/e maybe another week or. but out of curisoty i tied a zara puppy on. first cast. WHAM O! she missed it though. im like, o…..hmmmm….. i guess they ARE biting on topwater. so i make some more casts to where she hit and nothing. swiched to a tube and nothing. so i figurd let her sit for 10 min and try somethen else. well anyways i never ended up getting that one but i cought a few more fish worthy of a picture on my disposible camera. i had onefish on that straightened my hook out. i hate the steel hooks on them spooks so i put some mustads on and they were the ones that straigtened.
well anyways it looks like its gping to be crappy tomarrow and cool on thursday but ide try the topwater bite. more fun to catch one or to hogs on top than a bunch on somethen else… well sometimes…
gl on the water
Kris