OpenWater

[CrappieJohn]

I finally got to scratch the itch that's been bothering me lately and went to the big river for a couple hours yesterday. Fished the waldo species and had a bit of luck..nothing outstanding..but it sure was better than looking down a hole. After a couple of months of hole staring, I get to feeling like a skin diver for roto-rooter and just have to do open water. What a fresh relief it was! If we don't get any more sub-zero stuff, I should be casting for the slabbies in about three weeks at my favorite little pocket of water that opens up real early on the lake I fish. I looked at my journal to see when the last time I was out in the boat, and it hasn't even been two months yet! Seems like about seven. The river may see me again in the next few weeks, yes, but that little lake is right on my way home from there and I check that shoreline every trip past it. As soon as there is a pocket a hundred feet wide and thirty feet out, I'll be there with the crappie rod and the jigs.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[RHW]

Hey Tom, that first pocket of open water at your favorite drink, you going to invite me again this year? We had a blast last year.
The old boy actually taught me a thing or three. The crappies there do love them plastics he preaches about.

[This message has been edited by RHW (edited 02-19-2004).]

[united jigsticker]

WHOA!

Don't forget about me! How many cases of Pepsi do ya' need Tom?

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[CrappieJohn]

Heyyyyyy.UJ! Bunches bucko. Its my go to solution! How are ya doin? Gee....did the squeeze let up long enough to make a post or are you doing this in the closet?lol Been fishing, dude? Jeff, that open water was like an elixar. Cured ( well almost) what was ailing me. There's still a bit of the affliction, so I guess I have to go down again soon. Man it was nice...no gloves, no closed jacket, NO HOLES! I was able to cast instead of tease the line into the water and the fish actually were able to be felt when hitting! Love It! good to see you on line.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[RHW]

Thought you were a diet Coke person. Oh yeah, lets not forget the Nut Goodies. Remember the time I almost sold you one for $8 down at West Newton, but felt sorry for you and gave it to you?

[CrappieJohn]

Fess up Ron...I want to know the real reason you were in that hole along shore there.I know it wasn't to sell me your nut goodie for 8 bucks. I thought that nut goodie was being nice to me for allowing you to bring bait.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[CrappieJohn]

Ron does not get to this forum often and for those of you who do not know him, I'll try and help. He loves to fish panfish...perhaps the best panfisherman I have ever met. He has some flaws though and not being one to mess with Mother Nature, I take them with a grain of salt. One of the shortcomings is that he is short-physically. When shore fishing with him in new territories where the weeds tend to grow tall we have to put a cow bell on him so we don't lose him. He has gotten turned around in situations such as this and nothing, I mean NOTHING, will bring him back to the car faster than getting on the cb's loudspeaker and breathing hard. Works every time. He takes candy with him (he prefers NutGoodies)not so much to eat as to tease me with them knowing that for the last three hours he's had them tucked into the warmest place he can think of. I'll leave the the opening to your imagination. Ah, yes, Ronald. Just a bag of tricks he is...all 105 pounds of him, Irish and all. Or so he says he is. I don't believe him cause I know he legally had "ski" removed from his last name. He is indeed a good friend and a good fisherman and if anyone would like a lesson in pannie plastics, he's the go to person to get it.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[CrappieJohn]

Gotta bring me my pepsi , Ron...pre-requisite!

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
[email protected]

[Jim W]

Diet Pepsi?lol

SOunds like you are of right mind Sir Crappie Tom!

Bring on the open water!! Or at least ...more of it!!!

Jim W

[united jigsticker]

Ron, it's all good here with ya' fella!
But I must admit, I need to get off the floor now and calm my sides after Tom's post!!! Funny stuff guy!

Between the "squeeze" and work, fishing has been a luxury that I can't find enough time to afford.

I am sure of some last ice ice fishing, but let me tell you, once the ice is out, we are a fishing machine.

I started recolecting a few early season trips from last year and started getting the open water itch.

I can't wait...Sounds like Tom isn't anymore.

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[RHW]

What we lack in fish, Tom and I more then make up for laughs when out fishing. However, never seem to lack for fish when we go. Oh I could tell you some stories about Tommie and some of the reactions we get from others, funny looks, etc.. We had a couple guys believing that we were out on a day pass from a mental institution. Lets set the record straight, I am 5'7", 165 pounds and I am Bohemian and BIG where it counts....
you know, a big heart. Oh yeah, Tom does a great Marilyn Monroe impression on the CB loud speaker. He certainly can fish, I will admit that.

[CrappieJohn]

Bo what? I'm certainly happy to see you clarify that "big" statement. We do seem to have a time , don't we?

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[RHW]

Enough fun, back to the topic of first open water. This has always been one of my tougher times. What to use, how small, large, depth, presentation, etc.. I can honestly say that first ice out is my most difficult time trying to figure them out. Are they still out deep and staging or are they coming in tight and shallow looking for forage. Tom is big into temps and I agree that will give you an idea about movement and bite. There is a difference between the backwaters of the Miss and Lake Zumbro at this time. Once when the ice started to recede, we would toss flick tails up onto the ice, drag it across to open water and let it drop slowly. BANG. It was like they were hanging tight to the over head ice but curious or attracked to that open water.
I have seen instances where in protected bays guys were still ice fishing on iffy ice and a hundred yards away, guys were open water fishing for crappies. It was a toss up between the two as to who caught em.
Comeon, share you opinion on ice out and first open water in our area. Want to pick your minds.

[united jigsticker]

Ice out fishing depends alot on the weather as most of us know.

However, time and location on a lake can dictate movement just as much as water temp can.

On certain lakes, I have seen Crappies over 30 feet of water yet on Memorial Weekend, while we have also been catching Crappies in 2 feet of water for weeks.

Certain nooks and crannys will draw in shallow early season Crappies, and it is my belief that STABLE WEATHER will draw Crappies into nooks, crannys, and protected areas even if the water temp is still rather chilly, more so then water temp itself.

But for mainlake shallow activity, that is when water temp has a more profound dictation on if the Crappies move in or not.

Right after ice out, I first look for big suspended schools much like I did in the fall after turn over. These fish can be easy to find, and with a similar approach that was used during winter, a limit of Crappies can be had fairly easily.

With a few days of stable weather, I will start to seek out some protected spots near old weedlines, and weedbeds, in 4-10 feet of water, but these fish, if present, will be extrememly spooky, so a cautious approach should be taken. On another note, when approaching these transitional areas, I am always watching the Vex as I move up the breakline, because you just never know where a pocket of fish may be staging.

As a guidline for lakes, 55 degrees seems to be a magic tmep for mainlake sustained shallow water Crappies, and temps as low as 42 degrees can see a good amount of shallow water nook and cranny fish.

I hope this makes at least some sense, because early open water can be a huge game of chess. Shallow, deep, or somewhere inbetween, as the saying goes.

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[CrappieJohn]

I am absolutely convinced that all the info and other garbola about crappies and where they are at first open water in too general. It is only these generalities which can be carried from lake to lake , river to river or river to lake, ect. As Ron stated, the Zumbro is a far cry from the Mississippi River backwaters. You can use this "core knowlege" to find fish...BUT don't expect things ever to be the same from one water to another as there far too many indivdual variables to deal with. Basically one has to learn each water intimately. For years I have been able to find some fish at first water on the Zumbro, only because I have fished the place half to death and simply understand very well what the movements entail and when....with a direct relationship to water temp. One of the key factors is that the open water can be as much as eight-even ten- degrees warmer when the sun is on it than water running out from under the ice. If you study the flow and where it goes, you can fish in warmer water where it goes downstream under the ice again and have far better luck than where it enters the pocket. On the Zumbro I have found big fish spawning well before the mediocre fish have even thought of the process...just another show that nature has a pecking order that favors the largest, strongest fish of the species. Like food, they get the priority spawning where smaller fish are less likely to "pollute" the gene pool. It is these fish that get to the open water first as well. I have never caught a dink in this early water. Ever.
On the flip-side of the comparison: the big river has untold thousands of places for craps to do their thing and the amount of close competition for spawning sites is relaxed. The spawning there is governed by water flow as much as anything, yet early open water and water temp are still necessary ingredients for success. When the water is running high, as it has for a couple years now, during that spawning period of crappies, finding fish may a problem at first water. Not be because the fish are not present in an area, but because the high water will make it hard to access them in the open water. There is a bridge that I have had Ron to on the river that will consistanly yield good fish in the spring. It is in a channel area and has current. One day there will be ice everywhere, the next you can shinny down the rocks and snow to fish. The day after that, the water may well be up enough to hamper an access safe fishing and if you can your float might be moving so fast with current that the fish haven't a snowball's chance of getting to your bait. Variables. Many of them. I have found that the best way to figure this time of year out is to concentrate on one area and fish it lots. Learn it. Let it teach you. The next year, learn another area, but when the constraints of time or weather get to you, go back to spot no.1 and catch some fish. Stay connected with these areas and you will be able to stay in fish. Ron knows that as soon as I can get the boat in the lake, I do. There may be a limited amount of fishing available due to lake ice yet, but I am in the boat and I get relentless in finding the fish. While most people are sitting with thumbs in nether regions, I am catching fish....because I have "learned" this water well and understand it's character. Trust me, it has taken years.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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[RHW]

Paying attention to detail from one year to the next concerning any body of water one fishes is the secret. Tom has that down pat.
No two bodies of water will be the same and one has to make a mental record of what was successful at any particular time of the year, then apply it. If there is a place one frequents, then he best start to study and learn the patterns each season has to offer. Even when one thinks he has it figured out, then mother nature throws you a curve ball. The unexpected must also be part of the equation. I dare say, no one can be proficient in all locations. The secret here is to do what Tom has done over the many years, study, study and apply to the exact places you intend to target.
I am still learning......

[CrappieJohn]

As RH has just stated, one must study and pay attention to details. Nothing will make much sense for a couple years so you have got to want to do this homework to make things work. Another key is to slow down your fishing. For years I fished from a canoe with an electric on it and a portable flasher. I carried thermometers in my tackle satchel on a line with eight feet spread between them to measure water temp at two depths simultaniously. I logged everything. Fishing from that unit forced me to cover very exact areas and I had no option but to fish very slowly. Some days wind made it so spooky out there that I could only fish a couple hundred yards of favored shoreline. This was a blessing! By not having free run to go wherever I wanted, I tried different things on one pass and something else on another. What I found made me very successful there and other places today. Too many people make a pass at an area, catch a fish or two, and decide that the fish just aren't hitting well there that day and move. Wrongo. Crappies are NOT incidental fish...like a northern that swoops in for some chow and hits your minnow. When you find A crappie, you have found SOME crappies. They are community fish and it is up to you to use the tools at your disposal to put them in the boat. Fish the area thoroughly and over and over again changing depths, lures, colors head weights,etc as you go. You can never fish these pups too slow, but you can hurry out of an area too quickly. Think about it.

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Plastics...making better fishermen without bait! Good Fishing Guys! CrappieTom
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