slab slinger

Sounds like quality time with your son. Great numbers on bass and the eyes make the trip even sweeter.

Sorry guys...Haven't kept up on fourm the last few days. Been outta town visiting family. You are right on the money about the cats web424. They'll be the best bite for a month or so for the meat getters. My posts and info is just my areas not saying it's lake wide and only way to get them. Just my experience and what works for me. Agressor...The crappie have been difficult this yr. They hit post spawn earlier this yr than normal and then scattered all over then almost disappeared. Was able to put together a few limit trips but over all I had to work for them most trips. The summer pattern should set in soon and I can't wait to see them stacked on the wood. SRJ...I try to post good info that may help someone and not waist time or brain cells reading it. That's what I thought the form was for. Enjoy most posts on the form but bite my toung on alot of them. Looking forward to your next post.

I don't like the taste of Bass myself and relaese all caught but this thread make me want to find someone that likes to eat them and start giving them away. Come on guys it's his fish and his choice to keep or release it. When i see bass guys fishing the crappie spawn and keeping big slab females to eat i don't throw a fit or act like he's breaking the law. Ask yourself how many walleye you've put the knife too caught while bass fishing. It's our legal right as licensed fishermen to keep or release any legal fish. Ease up guys it's not against the law.

Sorry guys neglected to post over holiday weekend, personal reasons. Crappie were tough today and have been the last few trips for me. Found fish scattered in deep water middle of bigger coves. Trolled cranks and got a few to bite. I haven't mentioned long lining jigs on the form but thats whats been working for me when crank bite slows and has for years. I'm not going to get into detail on how i long line but it's not to hard to figure out. Bites have been on marrabo jigs 1/8 and 1/4 oz tipped with minnow. Sometimes Road Runners work well but you have to watch for them not to be twisting circles. Better to stick with jigs w/o spinners. His time of yr is tough to stay on a stable pattern fish are still staging in open water and some are heading to wood and will begin the summer pattern. Staging fish are what i had best sucess with. They are a little more agressive and easier to catch than the fish barried up in a brush pile. I did see fish starting to cling to piles in 18-25 fow. Their wasn't any fish on 3 of the piles i check last week but were some today. Didn't have much luck getting them to bite but they're their. Little tip for some fishing piles. Mark the pile on your graph and look for fish suspended above the pile. Those are your active crappie and will bite. The fish in the pile are hard to catch. If i mark several fish above a pile i will fish it till no bites. Then go to the next one and so on. If no marks above the pile i don't bother fishing it but will come back if clouds roll in and check again. Cloudy days crappie scatter out around the pile, sunny day clear skies will drive the crappie into the pile. The last few trips i haven't been able to zero in on a real consistent pattern but when they get into summer pattern and hold I'll post how i fish this pattern and what works for me. Toady we only managed 13 keeper crappie, 6 whites, and a pair of 15" eyes. Fished mid lake big sac arm. Didn't bother with pic kinda discouraged with how the day went. Did bass for an hour or so. Caught several fish but only 4 keeps biggest was 18". Caught all bass on Tex rigged zero worm Dirt color. I don't eat bass but like to catch them. Lot better eatin fish out there my opinion.

Great report. Glad to hear about the eyes. Good job bub!

Good report...It's almost time for the cats to be full swing at Stockton. If your wanting a mess of cats try the bridges with rip-rap. They will nest in the crevices and holes in between rocks. Fish worms, leaches, liver, minnows, or cut bait 2ft under a float. You'll know pretty quick if there's any fish around or not. Chunk rock and lay downs with hard bottom is also good. If you wanna tear them up, pray for a hard rain and then fish the backs of creeks where waters running into the lake with cucurrent. Fish same baits on bottom. Turkey, Maze, Sons, and Turnback Creeks are all great for this. Also have good access for bank fishing during rising water conditions. Good Luck!

Thanks, mjk86...I'll check them out. Add them to my list for next yr. I'm prob like all other fishermen that have their boby weight in plastics. I'm on my quest to narrow my baits down to 6 baits in 3 colors each that i have extream confidence in and stick with them. I'm half way there but still experimenting with baits to find the last 3 best baits for me. Tired of hauling around a huge bag of baits all the time.

Cole fish the flats across the lake from Coffman at night. Killer cat fishin over there.

That was only my second trip using the strollers. I like the bait and the action but i think its a better spawn bait for cast and retreave. Another OAF member turned me onto them i like the bait but it's almost time to vertical jig now. Turned onto them late but still caught fish on them the last 2 weeks. Will be going back to spear tails, and tube baits when they get back on the wood. I ran the stroller on a road runner head.

Yes my bud was. Thats all he threw and caught alot of fish. I used a T-rigged senko and caught alot of fish also.

Oh...Forgot the Water Temp it was 69 deg.

Haha. Yes he was happy to get some meat! He's gonna invite me and fam over for the fry. So it's really a sweet deal on my end. Prob have to bring another bag of fillets to add my bunch can put away the fish. Haha Yes...It great to see the smile on there face catching fish. Bet he buys a boat soon. Was really asking about them today. I think he's hooked like us now. Haha.

Don't know but caught some last week mid lake still had eggs in them. Look for them on flats and creek mouths surfacing in summer. Thats a solid summer pattern on whites. Topwaters early late in day and troll mid day or jig spoons. Good luck

Wow...Slabzilla! Pretty sure the current state record was a pond fish also. Either way what a monster crappie.

Huh. Last week they did. She said all the dead ones in the bait tank was from the barometric pressure change. Was several doz dead in the tank. Try Don's Bait off VV on way to High Point.

Put in at Mutton this morning around 7am. Took a bud that wanted to go bassin. Figured i could get him on some fish. Started out mid lake coves and caught alot of fish just no keeps. Went to main lake cuts and points and again lots of shorts. Only managed 1 keeper bass in 3.5hrs. Im not a bass guy anymore and it showed. Haha. Didn't really have a pattern to start with so just winged it and fished. He was happy getting all the bites and figuring out what they feel like. Got some bend in his new rods too. A brand new bass fisherman and a now crappie guy just having fun getting bit. Started crappie fishing around 11am and did ok. After an hour of figuring them out finally got a pattern together. Fished in 15FOW with Bobby G Stroller and 8thoz head. I had pumpkin/chart and he had blue thunder and caught fish on both. Jig bite kinda dried up around 1pm so trolled flicks in 25FOW Ended up with 20 keeps all together. All but 2 were egg carrying females. Walleye...had 2 keeper eyes one 21" and the other 17". Big one was on a football jig while bass fishing. The other was on a crankbait trolling. Sorry didn't take any pics. Sent the fish home with my buddy.

Cats onthe rocks with a bobber is a blast. Gonna have to take the boy down and let him have at it. Oh, you want true shinners they got then at Lakeys Bait. Med. Size $2 doz.

nsx...Sounds like a great trip over all. Nice jod figuring them out and finding them in deep water. Nice post good info PackerSooner...Congrats on the limit! Nice job. Good info Headed up Friday myself. You boys got me anxious to go!

Trantham's bait in Springfield was the only bait shop i know of between spfd and Stockton. They are closed now so i don't know anywhere else that does. I would buy a pound from him for 18 bucks. A pound of crappie minnows was around 22 to 24 doz. They usually only sell by the doz so they make more profit. They all buy by the pound and sell by the doz. But i like to have minnows when the bite gets tough.

Sounds like a good day. Like hearing info on the walleye. I don't fish them enough hard to break away from the crappie. Thanks for the info Mike I'll br trying them Friday!

The slow death rig is just the name of a special hook made by mustad to troll with a piece of a crawler. It's bent to make the crawler spin when trolled. Im with the other 2 gentlemen, i like the slow death on a bottom bouncer over the traditional crawler rigs. Have had good sucess with them on Stockton walleye. Haven't used the red hooks but interrsted. Found the bronze on clearence and loaded up but will try the red now just from curiosity.

Good read Jim. Already knew most of this from researching spawn yrs ago but i like this read because it has all the info you need in one short sweet read. Alot of good info for anyone that wants to know about the crappie spawn. Good post!

Nice crappie. Sounds like the same pattern and depth i fished today maybe its lake wide? I pulled off and went deeper thinking i would do better. Worng should have stuck with what i was doing. I know not to leave bitting fish but did it anyway to try the deep fish and managed only a few. Felt like a rookie today and pulled rookie moves but still had fun. Haven't fished in 3 weeks and it showed. Haha. Still had fun with dad.

Put in at Mutton Creek at 9:30am and ran to birch area. Marked alot of suspended fish in 30fow so tried to get them to bite with little luck. Moved up into 15fow and found some active fish. Couldn't quiet zero in on them so switched to trolling flicks in 25fow. That was pretty slow so switched back to shallow fish. Got trip cut short by the boss she wanted me home. Fished 4 hrs and caught 9 keeper crappie and 1 white. Dad had 11 keeper crappie and 3 WB. Bite was slow for me and fish seemed to be everywhere from bank to 30fow just couldn't figure them out today. Did get one 14" slabber trolling. Water Temp was 64 at 9am 68 at 1pm. Vis was 4' in the area i fished but could see bottom in 6fow easy at Mutton ramp. Shallow fish caught on 8th oz head smoke purple flake swimmin minnows. Trolled purple tiger flicks. I only caught 2 keeps trolling but my dad had 6 keeps trolling. All fish females with eggs. They were bloody and lose in sacks. Looked ready to spawn anytime. Did catch some small bucks in a cut in 4fow but no keepers. Had a tough time figuring them out today. Hope ya'll can...

I thought this was a fishing fourm not a place to complain!!! Thats what face book is for!!!