Storm Front Crappies 9/06/07

After looking at the weather forecast before leaving for work this morning the thought was I could time it perfect to hit the water for some crappie action in the front of the predicted storm. With the wife’s ok the boat followed me into work and was on the water at 4:20pm. I made a run straight to a favorite shore line just off the main channel that is stacked with wood in some deep water. It was pay dirt for playing with some average sized crappies.

Swedish Pimple tipped with a minnow head and Mini Merts with a minnow were producing one crappie after another in the 7-8 inch range, but the gold #10 hook and a minnow under a bobber produced the nicer fish. No pigs by any means but some nice 10-12 inch crappies took the offering making for fast and constant action. The first wood pile I fished was in 14fow and just out of any current. One crappie after another was caught but still nothing of any size. I kept working my way out towards timber in current and found some larger sized fish.

I wish I could say there was some secret trick, but that would be stretching the truth. The only trick was to get the minnow close to the wood without getting snagged up, and the magic depth was 6 feet below the bobber in 14fow. The pan fish bite is on fire right now around the La Crosse area. Get the kids, wife, dog and yourself out there and enjoy a good bite. With the forecast calling for cooler weather the bite is only going to get better.

For you guys still chasing channel cats, they are still on the prowl also. I released all the crappies but one which was used as cut bait while drifting my way back to the landing. Just before dark all the cats were caught in 25fow between the cans marking the channel edge.

If you are looking for White Bass, they are busting the tops of wing dams with good flow over the top chasing shad, just look for the birds picking up the left overs.

Bret