Crappies heating up

[south_metro_fish]

I thought I had it good when I could go out any night and catch crappies. But the last few times I have been out it has been extraordinary, they seem to be in a pretty upbeat mood lately and you don't have to work as hard to get them. They also seem to be getting a little more lively lately, giving a better fight. I went out from about 7 till about 9:45 and a had pretty constant bite the whole time. The last few times the fish have been marking very thick and constant too. I got to bring out my friend and his 2 little boys last night and none of them had ever been ice fishing. With all the action the kids were staying busy and ready to come out again. Anyone else notice a pick up in the crappie action?

[justinlkgb]

Awesome, I have not had a good bite since early Jan. Where abouts in depth are you fishing?

[OnAFly]

Last night was a pretty prime time to be out. The pressure started at over 30.0 and by morning was at 29.6. This is a pretty significant drop. I'll be out on White Bear on Friday with the girlfriend. Hopefully the bite holds up then too.

[south_metro_fish]

I have been staying around a 30 foot hole.

[mrfish1991]

i was out until about 7 last night on a local lake and i really had to work for them. only got three fishing in about 20 feet of water

[south_metro_fish]

We did mostly C&R but between the 4 of us I am guessing we pulled up close to 50 fish in a couple of hours. Every one has been talking about staying or moving shallow and I have been sticking around 30 feet. I guess some of it is all in the spot and the lake you are on but from my observations they are in a much better mood then they were for a wile there.

[honkerhunter64]

I'm with ya. This week has been the best week I've had all year. Fishing in about 28 fow with the most active fish coming in about 5 feet below the ice.

[Cold_blood]

we've been hammering them and today the guys drilled 50+ holes and all i had to do was hole hop to find fish but the bobber set up i had was deadly tonite

[hunter101]

and what are the exact coordanates of your fishing spot???

[honkerhunter64]

Its easy to find. Just line up the broken off pine tree and the cabin with the red wind sock, and you'll be right on top of 'em!

[south_metro_fish]

After reading some peoples reports of last night when that low went through makes me wish I had made it out again last night. But oh well, I will just have to get out on Saturday on the front of the next low. The bite time lines up pretty good for an evening bite on Saturday too.

I have been catching them 5 feet under the ice too. A lot of the larger ones have been caught there. I am also having very good luck about halfway down.

[PerchJerker]

The last time or two I was out the fish definately seemed more active, although the bite shut off early on us both evenings.

[south_metro_fish]

The bite shutting off early could have something to do with the lunar table. There has been one really good bite each day lately and it is earlier then it has been in past weeks and seems to bottom out around 9-9:30. That could explain some of it. Tomorrow the biggest bite looks like it is getting pushed back to around 9:30 so that should probably change when the bite drops off and allow for some longer crappie fishing after it gets dark.

[gogophers]

Funny- didn't know the fish could read those things.

[south_metro_fish]

LOL, I am sure they cant read but I am sure they can feel or sense gravitational forces of the moon that affect the tides and feeding habits of a lot of animals.

I wouldn't be so admit about the lunar cycle if I had not had multiple experiences with it being right on, and others having the same experience. There is scientific proof that it affects the feeding habits of many different types of animals. I am not saying that they will follow it all the time because there are other factors that affect the bite but it seems to be a large factor sometimes. I was researching the lunar forecast once on the internet and found an article about some scallops that they put in a tank in Chicago. They said that they would open and close their shells to there old pattern of the tides and the moon when first brought to Chicago, but eventually being farther away from their original habitat started following what the tides and lunar cycle would be in Chicago's geological location. I get out when I can but if possible I try to plan around the cycles, it never hurts to have factors in your favor.

[Flakeoutdoorsguy]

i have been hammering them lately! The size seems to be getting better also!

[metro fisherman]

I killed the perch and crappies on a small shelf in about 22 fow dropping into the main basin. Couldnt keep em off my jig, no matter what i dropped down. Going to take the gf out this weekend to get her feet wet, in fishing and water depending on the temp.

[GrumpyOldCrappie]

This past Wed. we hit a nice crappie hole and caught 40 in 2 hours between 4 of us. This was a mid to late afternoon bite.

The next two days I went alone to the same spots and had to work hard to get only 3 or 4 each day.

The day we nailed 'em we were in 34 feet using ant jigs and glows.

They seem to like the ants better.

I'm gonna try tonight to see if the night bite is on.

I'll post again tomorrow with an update...

[south_metro_fish]

Any one have any luck this weekend? I had too many things that prevented me from getting out this weekend but I am for sure getting out tonight.

[OnAFly]

I was out on Friday night and the gf and I caught plenty of fish, only 4 were good sized though. They got very aggressive for a sort time and then went back to being a little more finicky. I'll be out again tonight too. I'm hoping this cool down we are supposed to have will freeze up some of the water on the ice. There was quite a bit on Friday.

[south_metro_fish]

So was it a free car wash on Friday and this weekend? I don't like driving through lots of water on the ice ether. I am hoping with this system moving in it will be some good fishing. Sounds like it might be a wet one tonight though.

[south_metro_fish]

I made it out finally last night and had pretty good luck. I made it out by 6:30 and got set up before it got dark. There was hardly any action until about half an hour after dark. They were hanging on the bottom early on and were mostly small. I could see a real turn off around 9 like the fish and game forecast predicted and a turn around a wile after words with the best bite right before we left at around 11:00 like the forecast said. They slowly got bigger as the night went on and slowly moved up. Most were caught about half way down at 15 feet. Only caught about 3 right under the ice, and they were the largest, unlike the last few time where a lot of the fish were caught right under the ice. Still ended up catching plenty of fish but it was not as fierce as the last few time I have gone out, I thought being on the front of this low it would be good for sure. The jigs caught a few fish but my dropper was just perfect to get them interested and took most the action again. I like to fish my dropper at about the 15 foot mark and fish my jigs 10 to 5 feet or less from the top. The dropper never seems to get much on the very top like jigs do. Jigs and droppers worked well on the bottom but that was where most the smaller fish were. I am thinking about heading out tonight if the GF lets me out again, maybe well this storm is moving through they will get a little more fierce.

[OnAFly]

I got out last night as well, jut for a couple of hours between 5 and 7. Caught a grand total of 10 crappies with only one over 9 inches. Caught plenty of sunnies, though. Some were really nice ones too. They seemed much more aggressive than usual while the crappies seemed much less aggressive. Either way, it was a fun 2 hour of C&R. I think the open water bug is starting to hit me.