slab slinger

Check out PUSHING cranks. Google it. It's a crappie tournament technique used by many pros. I dabbled with it last year but didn't really commit to spending much to e figuring it out. They push 8 rods off the front of the boat on T bar rod holder set up. Run 3 cross line swivel or 3 way off main line. On bottom eye of swivel they have a drop line with 1-3 oz sinker weight depends on how fast you push. The other eye tie a 3-4 ft leader and attach your fav crank bait. This allows them to Run cranks in about any depth of water. I was sending flicker shad to the bottom in 40 FOW. It's not for me though. Y'all might check it out and see if it interests you.

Great report. Looks like you and your family had a blast. That female is a slab. Nice fish. Males are starting to darken up and that egg pic looks ready to drop. It's just around the corner. Should be on fire end of next week with the weather forecast. Nice job crappie hunter.

Fished around Taylor This morning man it was tough or so I thought till the fly fishermen moved in. Man it's amazing how they catch the whites. That dude was 9 for 9 casts before I threw up my hands and just gave him the hole. I Ended up with 11, my bud had 9, my dad had 6. It was an early bite for the spinning gear. Fly gear didn't seem to matter. Seen some fish shoaling early. All males we had.

I have had many chances to fish with old salty sticks over the years that thought me names of areas that are not on any of my maps. I've never seen the "Tater Hole" on any maps but if you ask a lake Iocal they can take you right to it. Wish they would keep the old time names going on the new maps. I would love to see your 1975 topo map. I bet it's neat to it compare with the now.

Heading up river from Aldrich there's a flat on left (north side) first then flat on left (south) past old bridge pillars. The channel is real narrow and swings side to side. There's also stumps so he careful. You'll come to a small island stay right then You'll see cedar bluff on the right. Waters good there till you come to the split stay right and then swing left all the way around the horse shoe than you'll see Orleans bridge. From there to Taylor you have your normal river obstructions to keep watch for. You can limp to Taylor with good look out but you'll be pushing your luck above Taylor with a prop. Net would be fine above Taylor on. You'll never make it to 215 with your rig I would stay below Taylor. Sorry...This might be confusing but it's the best I can describe it.

HWY 13 is the farthest I have caught whites. 111th bridge is farthest I have caught a limit. Few people seldom fish above 215. If you do its all private land and expect to be confronted by unhappy landowners. I float bridge to bridge above Taylor.

Looks like you had a great day hammer. Hope to run into you again on Stockton this year.

You will have a great trip the second week of May. There will still be spawning fish shallow but there will be alot of post spawn crappie suspended in the coves as well. You should be able to take your pick between beating the banks for males or long line the big females that are suspended. Either way you'll catch fish. I would focus on big sac arm in May but that's just my opinion. I'm going after crappie this Friday if the wind will let me. I'll post report. Might end up in the river looking for whites if its gonna howl.

Congrats. Nice fish bud.

Wow....what a crappie. Congrats.

Wait a couple weeks and you won't need any advice other than how to keep a knife sharp....haha....The whites are not up in huge numbers yet but it's gonna happen if it stays warm. Anywhere between 215 HWY and Orleans will be good fishing and about any small lure will work during the peak spawning. Hang in there it's going to get good.

Nice job Jason sounds like you had a good weekend down south.

Nice Dan...cool little vid as well.

Started out this morning at Taylor Bridge and headed up river to the power lines. It was a slow day over all but what nice weather minus the wind. Nailed a nice sow right away at the bridge but never found another. Headed up an found a few more fish but nothing crazy. Only managed 5 nice sized whites 1 drum and a hand full of dinks. Never found any numbers another one year one there day. Fished 8am-noon. Fish were caught on sliders and road runners. Didn't see anyone with many fish. Talked to a boater that came up from Orleans. He said slow as well down there. The sows eggs looked close to ready to me. Took a pic so you could make your own judgment. Think it'll be good after next week's weather. Good luck men. Hope you do better than I did today.

Just got a pass from the wife to fish in the morning. Headed to Taylor with a friend. We'll be the 2 ugly outta shape guys in a canoe. If you see me Holland and say hello. Will post trip good or bad when I return home. Did anyone go battle the wind today???

I would love to have a wild asparagus patch. I have looked for them but never found one.

Good luck to you. Wish I could make it out but can't skip out on family plans. I'll be looking foward to your report.

I went over the little sac today on FR 111 bridge and the river looked great. I did stop there and throw a few times with no luck. It was up a little with good green color not muddy at all up there. Good flow and good color just no fish up that far yet. After we tried for a bit we had to go work on our hunting property. Didn't get over to Taylor like I wanted to so no report there. It should be good fishing this weekend with the up comming weather all we need is the water temps to climb and it'll be on. Did stumble across a few morels today. If interested check the mushroom page. Good luck guys.

Sent out looking today because of hear say that some were up in dade county and to my surprise it was actually true. We struck out in the timber but did manage to find a few around an old home place. It is a full sun area with 2 damaged elm trees. We didn't score a heavy haul but I was happy to find my source wasn't sending me on a goose chase with the cold weather we've been having. The shrooms were not in the best shape. Some were starting to dry and some brused and a couple just crumbled when touched. Only found 2 nice firm fresh ones. We all know the best is yet to come with the forecast predicted for the next 5 days they should be up good by next weekend I hope. This little find really gave me the shroom feaver early this year.

Whites have been hit and miss in the little sac so far for me. It's still a little early yet but the warm rain today will help out some. The temps are looking not so good for my planned putting friday but this weekend is looking great. If we get a solid week of warm nights and 65 to 70 During the day it would do wonders for the crappie and whites. There's fish in the river but just not mass numbers yet. Heard the walleye bite has been good this week though in the river. Good luck. I'll post my trip friday.

These are the Stockton patterns i have followed for years. They are not the only way to find or catch crappie but they seem to work year after year for me. WINTER CRAPPIE: These fish are hard for me to pin down. I haven't spent a whole lot of time putting a detailed pattern together on winter crappie but the ones I know that are sucessfull focus on shad balls with active feeding fish marked under the bait. Bait will usually be in deep water 40 to 60 feet of water. Find the shad and the fish will be there. Use either a tandem jig set up or jigging spoon dropped through the school of bait. The fish will usually be staged under the Bait. PRE SPAWN: Look for fish hanging out on channel ledges and swings in deeper water. You will find fish on deeper brush piles as well. These fish will not be over active but will bite with slow presentation and patients. Around the first week of April the crappie will start to stack up staging in spawning coves. These fish are usually suspended in open water and are prime targets for spider rigging and long line trolling cranks or jigs. But you can also slip float the fish if you have there location pinned down well enough. You may find some fish shallower in evenings after the water warms all day. SPAWN: The time everyone waits for to crappie fish. When the fish are on the bank look for areas that have gravel or rock banks for spawning beds. During this time the Males are spawning and guarding nests. These fish are extremely agressive and will bite about anything that is close to the nest. You can get alot more spawn action if you follow it down the lake toward the dam. Spawning will start first in the upper stretches of the lake first and will usually move down the lake every two weeks or so. The whole lake doesnt spawn at once. Males will be shallow and females will be staged out off bank in a little deeper water. I use mainly jigs due to fast action and not having to mess with live bait is a plus. You can cast and retreave or use a jig and float. POST SPAWN: This is my favorite time to crappie fish. The spawn rush of boats is over and you can really enjoy your time on the water. Plus the fish bite well after the spawn. The fish will still be in the same spawning coves just suspend in open water. You will catch some really nice crappie post spawn trolling cranks. The bigger bait will produce some real slabs plus a bonus eye on occasion. I really rely on my electronics for this time of year. Finding concentrations of suspended crappie and either spider rigging or trolling through the fish. SUMMER: Sorry...I usually switch to Truman lake during the summer. Great hot weather crappie bite on that lake. FALL: This is a mother great time to crappie fish on Stockton. The fish will be scattered in deep water and shallow water as well. I usually make the transition to bow hunting during this time but do manage to fish a couple times for crappie. I target the shallower fish in the upper lake/river areas. Pitching jigs toward any visible cover and letting it swing back to the boat. Again this is not the only ways to catch crappie. This is simply the patterns and approach I use and will continue to follow. Hope this helps with your question. Good luck to all.

In a couple of weeks about any gravel banked cove will produce spawning crappie. If your having trouble finding them on the bank just back out a little till you find them. They will be in the area.

Thanks for report....Congrats....Sounds like a you had a great day. Its fun watching that float go down no matter how old you are....Haha....Your right about the crappie bite picking up in the next few weeks. Like everyone else I'm ready for crappie, morels, and turkey season.

I understand the law as four fish per angler per day with no more than eight in possession at any time per angler. My house of 4 could have our 8 walleye possession limit per person given each bag is labled with consv. Info number of fish etc. That would mean we could legally have 32 walleye in the freezer but couldn't keep anymore walleye till we consumed some of our possession limits. I assure you this is never the case at my house, I have 3 fish eating machines including myself. Plus I give my elderly neighbor and both grandparents fish as requested. Fresh is best in my book. We usually eat them before they ever make it to the freezer.

Jason....I'm just speaking of Whites in the river not spawning yet. I can't say about the whites that spawn in the lake it's self. Yes white bass spawn in the lake on wind swept points. I'm hear to tell ya that the whites that run up river to spawn are NOT close to spawning yet. Anyone that has fished little sac white runs for a while will agree with me it's still early yet. Second week of April the sows will be up river, the spawn will be full swing, and the banks will be lined with people catching fish. But that's also crappie time so choose between the 2. Again not trying to call you out or anything like that. I'm just talking about whites in the river.