Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If you want access to members only forums on HSO, you will gain access only when you Sign-in or Sign-Up .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member. ?

Spring Crappie Patterns


th64

Recommended Posts

Shallow, deep, in-between? What time of day is best? Right after ice out I like to fish the warmest part of the day, problem with that in the metro is you might find a couple of boats parked on your spot. In the summer If I go before dawn I get the lake to myself and the 1st light bite is great-is that time of day good this time of year? Had 2 great portage only lakes, one froze out and another is no longer legally accessible so I am also looking for a good portage lake-Any ideas?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They spawn at about 64 degrees we are about 20 from that. Look for warm water in the afternoon I guess-just wondering if any other patterns are going on. With most fish most times of the year you have at least a couple of good patters happening at the same time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This time of year I always look for north shore/NE shores and fish in the evening/afternoon. I'm a fly guy, my setup is a dry fly/small popper on the top for a strike indicator, and I'll have a small nymph about a foot or 3 under it, depending on depth.

I've only managed to do some trout fishin so far this year, haven't had an opp to go scout some of my early panfish spots so I have no idea how they're behavin now smile

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fished a small lake last night in northern MN from 4:30 to dark. The ice just came off on or around last Friday. It was carry-in only, so we didn't have the luxury of good electronics, precise trolling motor, etc. With just the vexilar in the row boat, we located only a couple (literally, like two) fish in the deep hole (35 to 40 ft) about 25' down, but it proved impossible to get them to bite. Scanned the dark, shallow northern shoreline areas, a beaver lodge, old weed beds, sand bottom areas, couldn't find anything except a couple small bass. We decided to camp on "the spot" that is usually good for crappies at late ice, which is off a shoreline point where the bottom transitions from a steep drop to a shallow flat.

Primetime came, and nothing was happening. Then we noticed a couple spots over in and outside of a shallow, flat-ish bay where the surface was sort of rippling from either tiny minnows or bugs. We commented how it was a good sign that bait was in the area, but that it's always disappointing when you try to chase down the bait and cast in/around them with no success. When one bait pod showed up somewhat close to us, we noticed there were some larger swirls mixed in. So I snuck over with the trolling motor and started casting into it. Bass. Bass. CRAPPIE! Soon after, the bait pods were showing up everywhere on the surface. For about a half hour (sunset to dark) we pounded crappies all along the entrance to that small bay. The boat was in as little as 6' at times, as deep as 15', but mostly right around 10'. Nothing in particular for bottom substrate or structure like wood or weeds. But that region was just loaded up with crappies.

For the first 3.5 hours of the evening, it was like fishing the dead sea. Then for a half hour, you'd swear you could walk across the lake stepping on crappie heads. Where were they before sunset?

Fan-casting bright, 1/64 oz. jig with white/glow twister was our successful presentation, but we didn't experiment much.

What's interesting is during late ice, you can't catch the crappies through the whole region that we got them last night. Just one particular spot. And we fish it in the summer occasionally too, but only at sunrise, and you don't catch those crappies. We've also tried to find them during the supposed spawning time with no success.

So there's the story from a couple blind squirrels that stumbled into a pile of nuts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone have any thoughts on where the fish (in my story) were before sunset? We thoroughly scanned/fished that bay and each adjacent shoreline. Were they just extremely negative (wouldn't bite anything) and avoided the boat so we couldn't even see/graph them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now ↓↓↓ or ask your question and then register. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.