MOsmallies

I typically throw 1/32 oz tube jig under a cork. I'm usually fishing it in water under 60 degrees and they seem to like the slower fall. I will throw a 1/16 oz sometimes as well. For crappie, throw whatever color you have most confidence in and if they won't eat it keep switching colors or styles of baits. When corking, I throwing a black and chartreuse tube quite a bit.

Jeremy Lawyer and John Hewkin

Great info... Lawyer is in 2nd after 2 days... Mark Tucker took the lead. Looks like they are going to be fishing for a 3rd day instead of golf. Love following this event!

Brought a couple buddies down to the lake for the weekend (Tan-Tar-A Area). Neither of these guys fish much so my goal was to just get them bit. We targeted Crappie, Bass, and Whites just throwing easy chuck and wind baits.... And we were successful catching all three. Crappie were caught shooting swim platforms on secondary points. Caught my biggest of the year.... A thick 13.5" Black! Bass were spread out. Best one came off the front corner of an isolated dock over deep water. Whites came on rocky mainlake banks with whatever wind we could find on them. Everyone caught a few fish so I was happy! Crappie - BG Baby Shad on a 1/16 oz Jakked Baits Blankenship Shooter Head.... That head is the DEAL for shooting docks! Bass - Underspin with Keithech and Red Eye Shad Whites - Red Eye Shad and Roostertail

I love popping a cork for crappie! Strictly use jigs. I prefer a 2" tube jig over any other bait but will use a BG Baby Shad as well. For this particular technique I prefer a pear shaped clip on cork. Plastic or Foam, but to me the key is no weight on the bobber. I want it laying on its side. On a lift bite or a subtle bite this type of cork will just flip over on the surface. The other reason for using a clip on float vs slip float is (1) you're usually fishing the jig 1-4 feet below the cork so it is still plenty castable and (2) I twitch the cork quite a bit so I want that jig to pop up and move towards me when I twitch. With a slip bobber, you are only pulling the line and jig up but the cork doesn't really move. So then you are just yo-yoing the jig up in down in the same spot. This is killer on LOZ in February-April... And it can be good in December and January too. You will be surprised how shallow those crappie get in that cold water! This technique caught my PB crappie (17") out of a subdivison pond about 15 years ago. I will use a slip bobber if I'm fishing minnows around docks, laydowns, or deeper than 5 feet.

Great rods... Wish I could justify buying them... Someone is going to get a great deal!

I believe parts of the Jacks Fork has them as well. I had one bull rush my bait the only time I fished the 11 Pt but never hooked up. I'd like to catch one too!

Wow! Impressive Walleye anywhere... Crazy impressive for LOZ. Congrats!

This is great info!

The water color was a little funky (grayish) in the Tan-Tar-A area last weekend but I'm not sure it was turning over. Didn't see any other signs. And the water temps were still 71-73 so I think it was too warm to turnover.

Yeah the action on the thing is unreal. Stands straight up and the tail almost starts curling up

Caught this football last weekend. I don’t think she was much more than 15-16” but was every bit of 3+ lbs. She bit a mag trick worm on a bluff end. That mag trick worm on a 5/16 oz shakey head catches a ton of quality fish from May through October. Lost 3 nice ones including a 5+ on the Whopper Plopper (Midway back in a big creek). Had them on for 5-10 sec before they pulled or jumped off. My bite to land ratio has always been awful with the 130 size. Going to try some #2 Owner Stinger 3X ST-56 Trebles and see if those will make a difference. Also caught a lot of solid fish on the new Tackle HD MF Shakey Head with their soon to be released HD Hellgrammite... This bait is gonna be sweeeeet so keep a look out for it in the coming months!!!

Awesome report as always!

Do some selective harvest with those 12" bass and crappie

How so? It looks pretty stock to me but you have a keen eye for this stuff