Big Keene

put me on the PM list as well. As a former youngster who left gear behind never to see it again, id like to help make sure the little guy isnt disappointed!

if you dont mind me asking, how fast were you going, and what weight bouncers were you using?

awesome! that last pic sums it all up perfectly! smilin' with grandpa!!

i saw an owl 2 days earlier on that same road. its not a good pic, but you can tell what it is...kinda.

im guessing cooler for the ride home? i had some crappie fade to weird like that this spring.

slow day on 36 thursdayafternoon, only a handful of crappie and small bass. caught a 15" lmb, and for the 2nd time in 3 weeks, caught a 15" white crappie. my last one weighed 1.79lbs, and this one was heavier with eggs. i let her go after the pic because she is about to repopulate that lake! not the best pic, had it more on my mind to get her measured and back swimming.

fished 36 with the kiddos friday. fished kietechs, but also put some live minnows tight to some shoreline brush and caught a couple that way too. we brought back 8 9+" and threw back at least as many shorts. a handful of 12" bass plus my boy caught about a 16" LMB on his crappie rod that was pretty exciting.

keitech swing impacts 2.5"

we fished 35 today from about 12:30-4:30. really windy and the lake was high and stained. mainly fished the cove across from the boats.we managed to find 12 crappie, with 8 being 9"+, and 4 bass. some were way up shallow, and some were out in the middle. brighter jigs did better today.

15" 1.79lb lake 36, we caught about a dozen 6-7" and only one more that was about 10". also about a dozen small bass. 2 and 2.5" keitechs. darker colors worked better.

tried some bass fishing this past weekend, fished 36 Saturday morning and 35 Sunday evening. slow both days. got bit a little on a topwater frog on saturday, and caught a nice one(~17") on a jig and pig sunday, on 35 we were only catching anything on wacky worms, except one lone 12" that hit a Zara Spook. nothing big on 35, and the grass and weeds are getting thick. 35 seemed really high and stained Good Luck!

To be honest, i havent used live minnows in 2 yrs, keitechs dont die. i superglue them onto a no collar jig head, and catch a lot of fish on the same bait. i have found that they have the best action at slowest speeds, i think that makes all the difference, especially when the bite is slow. although we have been getting bit moving at pretty good speeds this year. so far we have caught crappie in good numbers out of 6, 34, 35, and 36, all with the same technique.

im blessed for sure! they are great kids, and they like fishin with their dad!...and now they're old enough(10&13) that they dont need as much help, and i can fish!! they have both been using my spinning reels for 5-6 yrs now, and they have it down pretty good.

took the kids crappie fishing at 35 this morning. bluebird skies and still wind. we kept with the troll/drift technique and it worked ok. fished 7-11or so and we caught 30. 11 keepers with one being 11". just a handful of bass. the weeds and grass are really starting to get thick. 2 and 2.5" keitechs were getting bit, color didnt seem to matter much. Good luck!

hmmm...i have some 6" keitechs that just might need to see some water up there. again..congrats, thats an awesome fish!!

what type of bait were you throwing? im taking the kids up on friday to go crappie hunting. i need to try for a muskie one of these times.

awesome fish!

we decided to give lake 6 a go this morning. high skies and a breeze that wouldnt make up its mind. mixed bag of short crappie and blugill with a few LMB as well. GF caught 2 nice bass, and i caught a 13" slab and another 9" keeper. seemed like they were up shallow today. did better casting jigs to the bank and slowly bringing them out. only caught a handful drifting/trolling today. keitech swing impacts/32nd oz jig.

Awesome fish!!!! this time of year, any 2" jig or curly tail grub should work. we've been using Keitech Swing Impacts, but they shouldnt be too picky now. play with colors till you find what they're looking for, also, tipping the jig with a crappie nibble doesnt hurt. just slow troll or wind drift, and hang on!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we headed back up to 35 at first light to try for crappie again. wind was light, but out of the NW instead of S like yesterday. we only caught 4 keepers, but we did get a lot of shorts and bass. we totaled 52, but it seemed like we had to cover more area to do it than yesterday. same thing as far as baits and tactics, 1/32oz jigs and light colored 2.5" keitech swing impact tipped with a crappie nibble. kept the motor on 1 or 2 and just trolled from the boats to the dam, down the dam, up the far side and then back.

it rained on us the entire drive back home, but no hail. just rain and lightning.

your hardcore, but not stupid. thats a good way to catch a case of death!

decided to sneak in some crappie fishing between the storms today, and man was that ever the right decision! fished 35 from 12:30 til about 5:15. the GF and i kept count, and im not BS'n, we caught 70. 1 sunfish. 13 LMB. 56 crappie. we brought home 14 that were 9" or bigger, so i have proof of that! GF took me to school with a 13" slab that is big crappie of the year for us....so far? everything came off of 2.5" keitech swing impacts on 1/32oz jigs. any color seeked to work. we ranged from white with silver flake, to green pumpkin with black flake. just had to be moving. anywhere from maybe 10-30 yrds off the bank. drifting with the wind was best, but it didnt matter much. hopefully this cold front doesnt stop em, cause they are ON! get out there, and good luck!!

on sunday, i took the kids up to 35 for a fun morning of fishing. the breeze was blowing a good bit, but that didnt stop us. in about 3-4 hrs time we totaled about 25-30 bass and crappie. mostly small, but had we wanted to keep crappie, we would have had enough 9"+ to justify cleaning. also had a black crappie that went almost 12". everything came off of 2.5" keitech swing impacts in various light colors on 1/32 oz jigs sooo...decided to play hooky with the GF on monday, and ran back up. more wind, more fish. we fished from about 9-1:30 and came home with 16 keepers(9"+ personal limit) crappie with 4 close to or over 11", at least that many shorts that we put back, and more LMB than we cared to count. again on keitechs, drifting with the wind at incredible speeds, going against the wind at 4 or 5 on a 50lb thrust trolling motor. we got bit both ways. just had to be moving.