Lance34

Live in Lowell too…. I’m booked just about every Saturday until July 1. If we can swing a Sunday after early church like maybe April 23rd. We can try then.

Man that thing added 20 years to me! lol! My better half wouldn’t go for that thing again

On my early morning walk the other day the Spring Peepers were going at it pretty good. If you’re reading this and don’t know what the heck a Spring Peeper is. It’s a frog that gets to chirping at the beginning of spring. I always know fishing is about to lite up when I start to hear them. Got out for a mid week trip Wednesday afternoon. Met up with my friend Brad Wiegmann to get some more videos, pictures, content, just fish and escape reality We fished a flat along the main river. Picked up a lot of our fish right along a ledge or first break. All down a gravel bank. Pre spawn pattern I like to focus on. The depth range was from 8-10 fow and about 4-6 feet down. They bit pretty good. Had 19 in just the few hours we fished. Lost several right on top. They were slamming rod tips down and running. It’s like they don’t have much leeway that shallow and rip the hook through their mouths. It was fun relaxing afternoon with a lot laughs. Laughter is got be some of the best medicine. Setup continues to be the same. 16ft BnM BGJP’s with 1/2 oz BnM C@C minnow rigs and 1/2oz rigs I tie up using Vanguard Tackle that you can order online at Pico’s Lures. They took straight meat this day. WT was 54. Water clarity was pea green and lake elevation was 1120.6. One thing about those fish being high up in the water column. They would pickup knowing I was there…. The Trolling motor…. You get 15 feet from them and they world immediately turn. Got to where I would turn my trolling motor prop off as they approached. Seemed to make them get closer. We got a big gully washer last night and still going today. Rivers are blown out. The areas I’ve been fishing are a mud pit now. Got to let it settle again. Seems to be a every other week deal. Getting old. Gonna have to fish a different area this weekend. We’ll see how it goes. It’s fishing and it’s Beaver Lake so you never know. Good Fishing and God Bless. Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

A little late getting this out…. Took a gentlemen out wanting to experience rigging… Got started mid morning on Friday…. That wind had a bite to it… Pretty chilly for most of the day…. Had to fish back up a feeder creek to get out of the wind…. Wasn’t my first choice but not much I could do about it…. Seen tons of fish roaming about 4-8 feet down in 14-15 fow…. They pretty much everywhere…. Relating along the channel and all along a rise…. A bunch of shad have showed up since my last time in there a week ago…. That made for a tough bite…. Short striking all day… No commitment… Several fish were barley hooked…. They come up look at it and then swim off.. . Knew I had to down size my minnows…. We finished just short of limit…. But was fine with it…. It was a quality over quantity day…. When I cleaned the fish…. It answered the question I already knew…. They were full…. Every fish had several 3 inch shad in their stomach…. They just weren’t hungry… WT was 48…. Lake elevation was 1121.4 and water color was pretty much that pea green tint…. Rigging BnM 16 BGJP’s with BnM 1/2oz minnow rigs and 1/2oz rigs I personally tie using Pico Lures Vanguard Terminal Tackle was my setup Going again Wednesday afternoon before the scummy weather moves in…. I’m over it…. Ready for consistency with the weather… Good fishing and God Bless Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

It’s nice that the employer I work for gives me Wednesday afternoons off and Friday’s basically off…. Just go in early for a couple hours…. Since the days are getting longer. I took advantage of the 70 degree day on Wednesday… Wednesday…. Got started about 2:30…. Was seeing most fish from 6-10 feet down in 14-15 fow…. Anything below that didn’t seem interested…. After the big surge of water that came down the river after last week’s big rain…. I was expecting seeing a ton of fish flushing in the creek arms…. It’s good fishing afterwards…. You just have to give them time to adjust…. It gets good because a lot of fish get out of the main river current and get thick up a creek arms…. Fishing started slow but once the wind calmed down I was able to control the boat and line up on fish…. They weren’t too spooky like previous trips…. Maybe the water color helped…. But still wanted it on them and slow I fished all the way to dark and was 2 fish shy of my limit…. Shorts ate me alive…. Most fish were still relating to the creek channel or a big long rise…. Just how the bottom of the lake shapes. Setup was slow vertical trolling BnM 16ft BGJPs with 1/2 BnM C&C minnow rigs and rigs I tie up using Pico Lures/Vanguard Tackle…. All my keeping size fish came off straight meat… Lake elevation was 1121.5, WT was 54 and water was stained…. Pretty perfect… Friday…. Got started about 11:30 and finished a main river mud flat off a channel swing in 10-11 fow and about 6-8 feet down…. These fish bit better…. I had 8 in no time…. I let that run settle for about a hour and moved shallow…. 7-8 feet seen a ton of fish pressed in the mud but getting them to participate wasn’t happening…. They wouldn’t come up…. So flipped the boat back around went back to my first run sealed the deal…. WT Friday was 43, water clarity was closer to that pea green tint…. Still my same minnow rigging setup…. Only difference is a tube jig. I’ve noticed yellow/white tube and chart 1/16oz jig head works well on sunny bright days in cold water…. They ate it up yesterday…. Lake level is up almost 3 feet after all the rain…. Fish won’t leave yet they’ll just adjust in the water column… Wanted to also add this too…. BnM poles and Bass Pro team up together for Bass Pros annual crappie madness sale…. I’ll be at the Rogers, Arkansas location all day on Saturday the 25th…. Speaking and answering questions at 11 and 2…. Be nice to meet some of y’all Looking at the 10 day…. It’s back up to 60 Sunday…. Whacky weather… Good fishing and God Bless Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

No sir I got it about 2 years ago. I sure don’t stare at and play video games with it all day…. Basically isolate depth quickly and run my contour lines…. If I I see one and then I’ll go at it…. But I’m tired of seeing everything about it…. From YouTube to social media.. It’s getting old…. It’s here to stay though…. Use as a tool. But I sure don’t stare at it all day. That takes away what you’re out there for

Could be folks don’t have the play money they use to have.

Caruthersville, MO…. It’s a big store called Grizzly Jig Company…. Like an expo, with seminars, venders, etc…. It’s everything you can think of for crappie fishing in their big warehouse store

Got out Friday about noon…. Took a gentlemen that wanted to see a spider rigging set up, LS and get to experience it all…. I told him at the start we got all the odds against us…. They gonna be finicky likely…. Blue bird skies, water temperature drop and gale force winds…. 35mph gust lol…. It’s likely gonna be be a late afternoon bite…. Gonna ride it out catch what we can in this wind and wait for it to settle…. Was hoping for it to settle about 3 but wasn’t more until after 4…. We finished about 5 with just a little shy of a limit…. Missed a lot bites with a lot pop offs… With that wind the way it was, finicky fish and with those rod tips bouncing…. You gotta stick a fish good and get on them…. Got what we could…. Fish related along a main feeder creek channel in 12 fow…. They pretty much stayed stuck to the bottom the whole day…. Set up was slow vertical trolling BnM 16ft BGJP’s, BnM 1/2oz C&C double minnow rigs and Vanguard Terminal Tackle 1/2oz rigs I tie up myself using Pico Lures 1/16oz chartreuse scope eye jig head, with a yellow/white tube… Kept my speed close as I could at .2-.3mph…. Water clarity was a little more stained, WT 39-40 and lake elevation was 1118.7… Be back at in a couple weeks… Off to Grizzly Jig Show for the week… Good fishing and God Bless Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

Had to reschedule a trip with a gentleman I had on Friday…. My daughter got her doctors appointment moved up and I needed to be at it… So went on a solo mission Saturday morning…. Dumped the boat in about 7am and got started fishing about 7:30… It started out fast…. By about 9:30 I had 13… My hand was so cold from reaching in the minnow bucket…. I was begging for them to slow up a little for my hand sake…. lol… Just not as bad as it did… From about 10 on to about 11:30 the bite pretty much went nonexistent…. I couldn’t get a fish to bite…. The wind got to ripping and it got cold during that time…. Was about ready to call it but kept at it and then all of a sudden at 11:45 they appeared…. It was on again. Their attitude changed quick…. Got my limit (15) and 6 more trying to put poles up…. If it wasn’t for the rain moving in I would’ve loved to stayed out there until it shut off again… Just too much fun… Lake elevation was 1118.7, lake clarity was pea green and WT was 44…. Set up was slow vertical trolling minnows with 16 BnM BGJP’s with C&C 1/2oz minnow rigs and 1/2oz home made rigs I tie up using Vanguard Tackle and Pico Lures… Depth of fish were 8-10 feet deep in 12-10 fow and relating along the creek channel… See what next weekend brings…. Good fishing and God Bless Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

That’s awesome! That’ll work! Glad y’all got into them!

Push start time back to about 9… Got down to about 22 degrees… Yeah that kind of takes the pleasure of fishing away for me… Got up to about mid 50’s with light wind out of the south… Took a gentlemen on a trip that has never experienced rigging before… He’s done trips with cranks, single pole brush, LS sniping etc… Started out really good… Had like 9 in no time… Lost a couple on top and had two pop off on the surface that the net caught the fish… We are doing something right lol… Lucky Their mood changed on us quick… They went to the bottom and would come up to eat about every 20 or so minutes and then pick up for 15-20 minutes… That became the cycle… Got him a limit, visited, enjoyed being outed and quit about 2… Setup was slow vertical trolling 16ft BnM BGJP’s, 1/2oz BnM C&C minnow rigs, 1/2oz Vanguard Tackle by Pico Lures with a 1/16 chartreuse scope eye jig head with either pink/white tube or yellow/white… WT was 45, water clarity was pea green, lake elevation was 1118.4… Most fish caught were relating along the creek channel in 10-11 fow and keeping baits about a foot off the bottom… Moving .2-.3 mph…. Slow, slow Back at it next week… Fingers crossed that stays low… Good Fishing and God Bless Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

Couldn’t ask for a better weather Saturday…. Light wind and almost 50 degrees launching at 7… Took a gentlemen out wanting to learn more on how to slow vertical troll… The bite was a lot more tougher than previous trip… They bit really finicky…. They come up look at it forever, run off scared or just quick strike it…. I don’t know if it was the full moon phase or just having mostly big minnows that you could’ve fillet…. I prefer 2 inch minnows or smaller…. Those just seem to be the most consistent bite for Beaver…. We shut it down a little before 1 with him taking home 15 or so crappie…. WT was 41…. Pea green water clarity…. Lake elevation 1118.5…. Caught them in 12-10 fow…. Raking the bottom or just a couple feet off…. Setup was 16ft BnM BGJP’s with 1/2oz Capps and Coleman double minnow rigs and 1/2oz home made rigs I tie up myself using Vanguard Tackle and Pico Lures 1/16 Scope eye chartreuse jig head with a yellow/white and pink/white tube…. They just being typical Beaver Lake crappie yesterday I guess…. Trying under stand theses fish here is like trying to understand a woman…. Back at it again next week…. Good fishing and God Bless Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

My wife gave me three hours to go fish before having to head down to Redfield, Arkansas to see her family... She said be back home by noon... Dumped the boat in the water a little after 7 and got set up minnow rigging by about 7:30, with a limit by 9:45. Started out steady until I moved over closer to the creek channel. That’s where it got fast and furious... Caught most of them in 12-10 fow racking the bottom with minnows, Pico’s chartreuse Scope eye jig head with pink/white and yellow/white tube... WT was 39-41 degrees... Water clarity pea green, Lake elevation was 1118.2... Method was slow vertical trolling 1/2oz minnow rigs at .2-.3 mph with 16ft BnM BGJP’s. Got off the water by 10:30 and dropped the fish off at a buddies house for his family and back to the house by noon! Hope all is well with y’all... Gonna get back to posting here more frequently... Good Fishing and God Bless.. Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service

This photo is from 2017

Never used him before but there’s a guy in between Avoca and Garfield called Saltwater Johnny’s Just search FB or Google contact info.

Fishon Guide Services... Jon Conklin He’s got a FB page with contact info

This week compared to last week was tough. Caught them quick last Saturday in 15 to 16 fow down close to bottom. This week I marked more fish in 12 to 10 fow on the bottom. They seemed to be grouped up early in the day but by mid day spread out and not many fish active. I would see one swimming on the bottom and get lined up on. It would swim up look and then turn around. The ones that did bite hit hard and fought aggressive. Got em but took all day... Talk about day to day mood swings. God bless and good fishing Lance Pics from last weekend’s trip and yesterday

@Ron Burgundy Yes.. Plan to do the one coming up at the end of the month.

Past three weekend trips have been a grind. Fished few weekends ago from sun up to sun down. Took all day to get there but boy were they some good ones. Fish still seem to be holding out in 13 to 15 fow of water. I’m not catching many shallow like in previous years... Also catching a ton of little ones this year than I ever have it seems. Last week it rained so took off to cleaner water and didn’t do very good at all. Fished in the snow and caught one crappie. Should of just took off. Got out Saturday about 10 and fished till dark. The water was brown. Look perfect to me. Mark fish from 17 to 12 fow. Most were in the 15 foot hanging around the bottom to about 12 feet deep when I started. I fished about 10 to 13 foot deep and was getting dinked. I probably caught well over 30 little ones. I started noticing as the day progressed and the sun got over head more, the bigger fish were moving up higher in the column by themselves. They are up there for only one reason. To eat... So I raised my lines up high in the column like 3 to 7 feet down over 15 fow. That’s all it took to get them. Experienced that a lot in previous years when the lake would get muddy or brown. They would come up crazy high. Sometimes your bait just has to be a foot under the surface. Knew to look for that but it’s a time of day deal and have some sun light. Hopefully the bite will get better and not be so much of a grind with some stable weather. God bless and good fishing Lance

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Took a good friend of mine Saturday 12-19-20. We launched around 8:00am and got setup rigging about 8:30. We started putting a pattern together in about 40 minutes and putting toads in the boat. The bite was the best about mid morning and got intermittent as it steadily moved closer to noon. I think we had one limit by 11:30. Once the sky cleared in the afternoon and the wind quit the bite came to a halt. Shorts kept us busy in the afternoon and only caught few keepers then. Stayed at it till about 3 and pulled up with 18. 12 to 16 fow, 12-13 feet down was the best bite for us. Some around brush some roaming . WT 41-43, Stained

@Champ188 Thanks a lot sir Went again yesterday about 9:30 to 12:30 they were group up thick and munching good. Smoked a limit rigging a 10-12 foot contour and about 8 feet down.

Yes that’s normal. Back in December of 2016 I kinda stubble on this. Caught fish in 9 fow or less that whole winter season. Stayed on that shallow water pattern until the big flood that April in 2017. Same thing for half the winter of 2017/2018 until floods came again. Ever since then I haven’t experienced it until this past weekend. It’s all about lake level. The last two winters you be in the bushes. Keep your fingers crossed the lake stays down. Been hoping for this again for a awhile. It’s a lot of fun. And the quality of fish will be eye opening. Still to this day my biggest beaver lake crappie came out 7 fow in 37 degree WT. You won’t see them on the graph or even LS. Just know that they are there.

Got out Saturday about 10 and fished till dark. I just love this time year. I like to sleep in and fish till dark. Started out in 15 fow rigging brush pile to brush pile. Wasn’t really having the success like the previous trips. Mostly catching little ones and wasn’t feeling that’s where I needed to be. So went back to what I’ve done previous times this time of year when the WT drops and moved into shallower water. Started in 12 to 10 fow range. Right on the ledge. My outside left poles side seemed to be still more in the 13 plus range while my right side poles where in the 10 foot range. Those 10 foot range picked off more my fish. If I had to do it again. Think I would fish 8-10. It’s been like since 2017/2018 winter season that this pattern works because ever since late winter of 2018 the water level has been higher and you wouldn’t have the clean water to rig. Meaning you would be more in the bushes. 2016/2017 and part of 2017/2018 winters I caught them crazy shallow. Like 5-7 feet. It’s a slower process and a challenge. Gotta move slow, try and be as quiet as you can. Benefits to have 16 to 20 foot poles for this pattern to not spook them. This is my favorite pattern to fish and been hoping the lake stays down or even gets lower. Those big females move there and just lay there with their bellies in the mud. You might not catch a limit but you’ll catch some toads. Ended with 11 good ones. WT 41-44.. Stained clarity God bless and good fishing Lance