What's Workin Now...

[EYEHUNTER10]

Do you recommend troling the jig bellow a boober like that? It worked so nice I never watched the boober at all in fact I didn't even have to stop drinking my coffew only to real them in of course! The reason I use the bobber several feet above the jig is to try to match the level the fish are at but have found it takes much trial and error, but yet cant seem to bring myself to lose the boober the mosted wicked tactic I've found so far though??? My bobbers snap off a lot

[EYEHUNTER10]

Ideally i'd like to use a slip knot as I move the fixed float so much it damages my line. I use the 2 tone weighted clip on boobers strophoam weighted round ones and only clip to the top clip so when they hit it rolls the boober over form orange to white in case you want to drop the arm back a little before the sweep set or to get a better hookset or detect the presence of weeds or snags, light bites etc. But this damages the 4 pound xl even faster. I'm sure you know exactly what i mean even though it feels kinda dumb to explain lol the problem with the sliding slip float is the knot pulls the jig all the way up to the bobber and I'll be danged if i'm gonna fure the line issue by clipping a weight on it above the jig. Sounds like heavier jig to me and a bobber invention before I can perfect this thing.

[CrappieJohn]

if you are trolling, get rid of that bobber and tight line it. Adjusting the boat's speed will put you where you need to be. Hauling a float on a line a trolling speed will mess up any line....even braids.

[Schnauzer]

Be sure to ask Corey about the winning margin, 2nd place, and the fate of having a 17.5" fish end up being heavier by the exact winning margin than an 18" one. All that info will be much more entertaining.

I am going to be "living" with this (and the ribbing that goes with it) for a long time.

It was a lot of fun though and a very exciting conclusion to the event... in all honesty.

[Corey Bechtold]

LOL Schnauzer There's nothing wrong with 2nd place! I can't wait till our opener. Hopefully we won't get Hutched!

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[Hotspotter]

EYEHUNTER10:

Shoot me an email.

jnelson at gis dot umn dot edu

Thanks,

Joel

[The Grebe]

We were out yesterday, from about midafternoon until about 6:30 p.m. and we had a nice day to fish and be on the water hunting the fish, but we did'nt get guano!

We tried one of our shallow impondments where we have done exceptionally well on Crappies in the past and we just could'nt find them?

We tried everything we knew how to try, in every place we figured had a chance of holding fish and got 2 smallmouth in the 2 1/2 pound class, that was it.

Backwaters, rock banks, emerging lillie pads, docks, boat channels, overhanging willows submerged wood areas, even tried the sand along the beach, just in case. Minnows, jigs, plastics, we could'nt get a sniff!

In such a shallow impoundment, there are alot of places they can go and if you are off by just a short distance

you won't catch anything....obviously we were off by that short distance!

The day was great regardless, nice weather for a change, got some work done in the morning and even got in nine holes of golf with my son, before we got the boat out.

Maybe the fish will bite next time and the day will be just as good!

[Corey Bechtold]

I made it out on Friday and was able to share my boat with Matt Johnson and BDR. We started pretty early and had some success on small stunted Sunfish. A variety of baits worked like Power tubes, Panfish stingers, and some new style Paddletails. The Crappies were scarce till the sun started to drop. Then like a switch the Crappies filed into the shallow channels and became active. We had a great time catching Crappies. I was using a 2" Berkley Power Minnow on a 1/16 oz jig head and a float. I was using a smaller jig head earlier but was having trouble hooking up. I think that the hook gap was too short which is why the bigger jig worked better. Matt tried quite a few baits till he found one that seemed to trigger the fish. I think it was a different color Power Minnow (Clear/Gold fleck?). BDR shuffled a bit and had some success with the newer style Paddletail type baits. I didn't find the fish to be too picky with color as I caught fish on all the colors I threw at them. The fish were coming in the shallows for one reason, "FOOD". We had a lot of fun till the switch was turned off after dark. It pays to be a little patient when it comes to Crappies. I feel that "Timing" plays an important role on Spring Crappies. I hope to get out and try some different lakes, baits, and presentations later this week. Till then,,

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Note from admin-

The collarless crappie jigs with slightly oversized - super sharp VMC hooks are now available at:

TackleCity.com - Click Here in 1/32nd & 1/16th oz sizes. ]

[The Grebe]

Corey...I think I will give the afore mentioned senario a try, tonight after work. We have never stayed until dark on the water we fished the other day, because is is stained and has low visibility.

Maybe the twilight period might produce, stained water or not? It's worth a shot.

[delmuts]

grebe. down here on the little lake i fish; the water is still clear, but the last 1/2 hour before dark the surface of the entire lake comes alive! fishing a small jig about a ft. below a float draws strikes from crappies and gils. the day time bite is hit or miss.

[BDR]

Made it out today shoefishing in the Metro. The BITE IS ON! Action was fast and furious. Many Crappies in very shallow and ready to eat.I used the new JR's plastics that Crappie Tom designed.

The males are turning very dark. I witnessed what appeard to be Crappies guarding nests. Thats when I left to let them do thier thing.

[Corey Bechtold]

Nice report Brian. Did the fish you were on tend to favor any particular colors?

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[BDR]

Color did not seem to matter. I tried the spectrum just too see. The only thing that seemed too matter was, not moving it too fast but keep it moving, and I had the best luck with the jig just 8"s under a float.

I was in 1-2 FOW so I tend too use light colors so I can sight fish.

[megger8]

The lakes that I've been fishing have all held true to one lure that I haven't heard mentioned by anyone yet. The little timberwolf jig is very small but deadly. White and bright yellow seem to be the hot colors as of late. Actually I have to go out and get some more cause they chewed the fuzz right off!

[Matt Johnson]

I spent about an hour or so today pitching one of the local lakes for pannies. I worked a shallow weedbed in about 6 feet of water and I tossed a variety of different plastics under a small float. The fish were tight to the weeds and sometimes when I thought I had a fish it was a snag, and when I thought I had a snag it was a fish. It was almost like the fish were holding onto the weeds

I managed to land a few crappies around 10 inches and a couple nice bluegills. The action wasn't fast and furious and I really had to slow my approach in order to get these fish to bite. I just slowly swam the jig and plastic through the weeds, pausing about every second allowing the fish to intercept if it chose to do so. A subtle twitch from the float was all I saw when the fish would strike.

Here are a few different presentations that worked for me today...

Blue/Chartruese Rat Grub with a 1/32oz Collarless Chartruese Jig

Brown/Mustard Rat Grub with a 1/32oz Pink Collarless Jig

Junebug Paddytail with a 1/32oz Collarless Scenic Tackle Chartruese Jig

Chartruese Speck Paddytail with a 1/32oz Collarless Scenic Tackle Glow Jig

Clear/Speck Assasin with a 1/32oz Collarless Scenic Tackle Pink Jig

Chartruese 1-inch Stubby with a 1/32oz Collarless Purple Jig

Hopefully the warm weather we're going to get will stir things up under the water and we'll see an increase in activity levels. 70 by mid-week, doesn't look too bad...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Corey Bechtold]

During the last weekend Fishing Opener I had a chance between Walleyes to chase some Crappies. I searched deep and shallow and while there were fish in both areas it seemed that the shallow fish were the most active. The fish were adjacent to deep water. There were some emerging lily pads that were concentrating the Crappies. While there were pads all over the area there was difinately something more attractive about this particular patch. This pad patch was no bigger than the size of a hula hoop. If the cast was too far to either side the fish were not willing to go out and get it. I threw all kinds of plastics at them and had my best luck with Berkley Power tubes and minnows of various color patterns. White was the first choice then they switched to a minnow colored plastic. Then later they prefered pink and white. I experimented with some Stub Grubs and was able to hook up with some fish as well. They seemed to like the white/chart Stub Grub over all the other colors I tried. The presentation consisted of popping or slow retrieving a float with frequent pauses. I was fishing 20" down in 2-3 feet of water. The water was very clear and it was key to keep from getting too close to the fish as not to spook them. Water temps were low 50's. All in all the fishing was good with nice sized Crappies as well. I also had the chance to take my brother in laws nephew out to experience some early Crappie action. Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Jack with a nice Crappie.

Me and a Slab.

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Johnson]

Corey,

Nice fish and great report!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[markkstanley]

Nice Corey. Had same experience on Minnetonka. About a truck sized batch of lilypads was holding a bunch of male crappies. Tried Stubs and Culprits but they wanted a jig/minnow. It was a gas trying to keep the crappies from getting tangled in the pads. Not quite the size you had but plenty of fun. Going to check the pads a little more often now. I expected to catch some of the green carp but never did.

[Matt Johnson]

BDR and I worked some shallow muddy areas today for gills. We found gills almost everywhere we went in the shallows but the majority of them were very skittish and were always on the move. The ones we found to be active and stationary were the ones holding to the new lillypads and dark muddy bottoms. Several fish came from only a foot of water and others came from the shade of the lillypads and surrounding water. Fish that were out in the open were mostly just cruisers and wanted nothing to do with what we tossed at them. The fish that actually took our baits were highly aggressive. Water temps have increased a bit since last weekend.

The Rat Grub in Pearl/Chartreuse on a 1/32oz collarless pink jig worked well. We fished these below a small float so we could keep the plastic in the strike zone from a distance...

A gill taken on the Rat Grub

BDR with a shallow water gill

We're supposed to see some heavy rain and storms tomorrow and through Sunday. I'd expect those same fish to be located out in the deeper weeds once this weather system rolls through. Might be a tight-lipped couple days coming up...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Matt Johnson]

I got out today on a different lake for about an hour and pitched for some pannies from shore. A lot of tight-lipped fish today. I watched several crappies swimming around in the shallows, but they wanted nothing to do with anything I dropped in front of them. The sunfish were also pretty negative, but I managed a few biters, nothing big though. I also watched a couple nice largemouth cruise by too. Rainy and windy the whole time I was there, and I bet those fish were aggressive yesterday before this weather system rolled through. The weeds have thrown a curve ball at us this year in some lakes, and the shallows on this particular lake should have been full of weeds, but I only saw scarce patches here and there. Water was also much clearer than it normally is this time of year too. An interesting year to say the least.

I had to down-size to a Custom Jigs and Spins Ratso in order for these fish to bite as well. I tossed Rat Grubs at them and they only pecked at it, no real takers. I also tossed 1-inch twister tails and tubes, but to no avail. The Ratso seemed to work well though...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Corey Bechtold]

Nice report Matt, too bad about the weather today I was hoping to get out and terrorize the fish. Maybe early in the week if the T-boomers stay away.

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[united jigsticker]

Matt,

Sittin' here with the 2 year old babysitting wishing we were fishing. The wife went to a wedding.

With the rain and wind, I don't want to take him on the water.

You find a sitter for the little guy and I'll come get ya' with the boat and we'll slay the slabs!!!

[Lost]

Thanks for the info Matt. So they're in the shallows finally? Gotta go find them. I just need to find time. Between moving and trying to get the boat fixed and ready for the water, it's hard to say when I'll wet the line.

[markkstanley]

Have done very well for shallow crappies on Minnetonka today and yesterday - just got back in fact. I posted some info on the Metro forum but short version water temps in low 60s females coming in to spawn and feeding like crazy. Only out for about two hours and lots of fish. North of 50 in a batch of lilypads. Yesterday spent more time out chasing deeper crappies and while numbers were good size was lacking. Too windy for that today so stayed in a protected bay.

[united jigsticker]

15 FOW set @ 12 feet was the ticket today on WBL for 10-12" Crappies.

Windblown side, right on the breakline.

Minnows were a must and white on white was the color.

Surface temps 58-61