Goodness gracious how about this rain folks?! We are over here doing backflips and summersaults as we watch the lake levels rise in a very quick manner. This new oxygen and cooler temps ought to keep the crappie bite strong for at least a few more weeks, which is great news for a crappie guide.
The fishing lately has been consistent, as the water temperature continues to hold around 80 degrees on the main lake. The fish are on brush piles in good numbers, holding much shallower than they traditionally do at this time of year. I'm starting my days in fairly shallow water and moving deeper as the sun gets up. I'm still fishing aggressively, not giving any brush pile more than five minutes if we don't get bit. The keepers seem to be biting quickly, leaving no good reason to be patient at the moment. I imagine this will change as the summer season sets in to place.
The one thing that has become very apparent the last few weeks is that the keepers are biting much more lightly than the undersized fish, making hi-vis line a necessity. Also, most of our keepers are within a foot of the bottom, making boat control very important if you don't want to be tying jigs all day long.
I mentioned earlier that I'm starting shallow in the mornings and moving deeper as the day develops. Although there are exceptions to every rule, my schedule looks like this:
6:00am-8:00am= 8-12ft
9:00am-11:00am= 12-15ft
After lunch= hit anything you can find between 12-20ft.
***If you are fishing north of Don's Port Marina, fish 8-14ft all day long. The water is much more stained in this area, allowing for less light penetration, which keeps the fish holding at a shallower depth.***
In my opinion, there is still no need to buy minnows yet. All boats are still fishing 2.25" baits and are consistently bringing back 25-40 keepers on our half day trips. Most full day trips with 2-3 anglers are coming back with limits, or very close to a limit. I will say that with the lower wind conditions and warmer water temps, lighter jigs heads are really becoming a must. The slower fall is really paying off big, as long as everyone is closely watching their line.
Although I am a believer that any jig, affixed to any line, reeled in by any reel, attached to any rod will catch fish this time of year if presented correctly, this is what we're using to put filets on our customer's tables:
Rod and Reel: 7ft Crappie Maxx with Pflueger President reels. Also, Shakespeare Ultra Lite rods with Abu Garcia Cardinal reels
Line: 6lb Hi-Vis Wally Marshall monofilament
Tackle: We've changed gears a little bit and are now dropping Mr Blue Lightning and White Hot Thump Buddies on unpainted
1/16 oz jig heads with #4 sickle hooks, all provided by www.constantpursuitoutfitters.com. I am really liking the color
blue right now.
Technique: Dropping the jig to the bottom, slowly raising it up 12-18", holding it dead still for a 3-5 second count, then lowering
the jig back to the bottom in a painfully slow manner. The fish are prone to strike when holding the jig dead still, or
when lowering it back down to the bottom. I can't stress enough how important it is to go slow and watch the line
under the rod tip. As mentioned above, the keepers are hitting much lighter than the short fish. If the conditions are
right, I will have my customers pitch the jig over and into the pile.
