Spring Is Here And So Are The Crappies

By bill_cadwell 0

Finding the warmest water and some structure will put crappies in your boat.

After fishing some of the normal spots and no luck I decided to start searching for the warmest water I could find. Most of the water was 55.5 – 57.6 degrees on my locator. I then found some water with a 58.4 degrees along with some wood in 8 feet of water. Sure enough there were some crappies in that area.

The technique that I caught the crappies on was the plain o’l hook sinker and slip float [bobber] with some very lively crappie minnows from HOF. That set up rigged on a St. Croix ultra light rod made the fish catching alot of fun. The warm weather and a relaxed way of fishing made for a great day on the water.

Thanks, Bill

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bill_cadwell

IDO Reporter, Walleye Searchers of Minnesota Member

0 Comments

  1. Hi Bill,
    Thanks for your Spring is Here post. Crappies in the spring stir up many fond memmories. Trees budding out and catching spring crappies herald in a new fishing season.
    God Bless.
    Don

  3. Oh baby!! Thanks for the report Bill. I’m glad you are getting some fishing in because I’m not. I’ve been working in the yard, and yesterday we opened our trailer out at the lake. I did get my golf car delivered yesterday as well.

    It sure is warm down here. Our Lilac bush is sure a sproutin. It’s almost like clock work that the best bluegill fishing at the lake is the first and second week of June, but if this weather holds for very long at all, we’ll be way early this year.

    Keep fishing and reporting, because I sure like reading about the reports.

  4. Thanks guys. Yes Herb I do wet a line. I’m mostly on pool 4 and we already have alot of people reporting there so I don’t report much. To catch the big eyes like James and Dustin do it requires hours/all day of casting and I don’t fish that way very often. I love to troll three ways and also long line crankbaits for eyes. I’ll even troll jigs which is how I caught my first wall hanger fish. Yep thats right-troll jigs. In fact that fish was caught in 1 1/2 to 2 ft. of water running a 40hp motor at 1:30 in the afternoon with bluebird skys. The baitfish were there so the fish didn’t care. I keep busy with the tournament forum and the Rochester Area Lakes forum and answering/finding answers to questions, posting information and the staff stuff. This year I plan on reporting more with Lake Zumbro and even some shore fishing reports in the Rochester area. Spring is here and its time to go fishing. Those who don’t have their boats out yet and are waiting for the walleye opener are missing out on ALOT of FUN. The Mississipi River is open for walleyes and most lakes are open for panfish. A great way to start off the season and fishing with a St. Croix ultra light rod makes those fish feel much bigger.

    Thanks, Bill

  5. Bill,

    I am new to this website, but I have been reading the posts over the past month…great info!! Just wanted to see what kind of condition Zumbro is in…How are the boat launches? Is it no wake? Debris? I am picking up my new boat tomorrow and need a place to break in the motor (and start catching some crappies).

    Thanks.

  6. Welcome Jeff. Great to have you with us. Please feel free to share and post all you want. Below is a link to the Rochester Area Lakes Forum. There is alot of wood floating on the water with most being sticks so you need to watch carefully for it. I put in at the Ponderosa Campground ramp which is free and owned by the DNR. I ran the river several times up and back to Fishermans Inn with no problems. Just had to keep my eyes open. I also am trying to get my 10 hours in on the 9.9 hp motor on my jon boat. Bought it late fall last year so only got 3 hours in for driving around on it last year. Unless you bought an E-tec motor you will be driving fairly slow the first 2 hours anyway on the motor. The bass boats that came out yesterday were running full speed and didn’t see any problems. Just have to watch out for wood which is normal on a river this time of year. What kind of boat did you get? Have fun.
    Thanks, Bill

    Rochester Area Lakes Forum

  7. Thanks again for the Info, Bill. I will probably give the Ponderosa ramp a try on Tuesday. I am getting a Crestliner 1850 Sportfish with 140HP Johnson…can’t wait! With luck, I’ll have my own pictures to post someday…

  9. …also finding some crappies moving into the shallow backwaters around Wabasha…and a minnow under a slip
    bobber provided the best (and only) results…can usually
    count on an agressive large mouth bass bite to coincide
    using your same tech…but no bass to be found…is this due to water temp?

  14. Thanks Bill. I was out slaying them on White Bear Lake also on Sunday, at least till the rain passed thru and it cleared up. Purple flu flus and orange fat boys with minnows or waxies were working for us. Ill try to get some pics up.

  15. Welcome fishead. Great to have you with us. Please feel free to share and post all you want. Look forward to some pics. Were you using a bobber or casting?
    Thanks, Bill

  16. I was using a slip float with the jig 2 feet down over 7 feet of water. The water temp was 48 degrees on a northeast bay. Thanks for asking

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