Springfield Report 3/13

[Bassmaster21]

Went out the other day with a buddy and we caught 4 bass. Nothing else. Caught em on spinner bait and crank baits. I was hoping to catch some crappie so we dropped minnows to no success. Don't really know where to look for the crappie. Going back today to fish the river on the other side of the dam. Any suggestions?

[fishbait3]

THe crappie i hear about r by the boat house and the rock bluff thats in that area or down at the iron/RR bridge.

[Bassmaster21]

We fished by the boat house and didnt catch any. Ill have to try some of those other spots thanks.

[Daveinozark]

try wiggle warts and smaller spinnerbaits in white or yellow.

for some reason, they go after the bass lures. I confirmed that with the guy using the float tube out there all the time, making vids. He catches them regularly when bass fishing

[Bassmaster21]

Thanks for the tip. What color? I have a few wiggle warts... tennesee shad, purple tiger, and brown crawdad(looks like the purple tiger but brownish)

[Daveinozark]

i go with the one that has orange in it, not sure which that is. a yellow 3/8 spinnerbait got my biggest LM last year, it was 18-20inches. haven't been out much yet this year

[Bassmaster21]

Yeah i fish this lake almost every weekend and about three times a week during the summer. I use a lot of white spinner baits and all kinds of crank baits. I caught my fair share of 19-20inch bass last summer all with yellow and white lures. I have never caught a crappie out of there though and would like to start trying to figure out how to pull those in.

[Daveinozark]

i think it's more a matter of finding them instead of what lure to use. I've only found them by the lakehouse when bass fishing last summer.

[MSUFisherBear]

The only thing I have seen or heard of crappie being caught on is cranbaits and spinnerbaits. It's strange to not see a more booming population at that lake though. From the time that I have been fishing it (which is since I have started attending classes at MSU in '09) I've really noticed how large of a shad population that there is. The bass really do well as well as the channel cats. It's just strange not to see a bigger crappie population with that much forage in the lake.

I have wondered for a long time about the current in the lake. I read an article (by whom I can't rightly remember) that the lake's entire water supply changes 5-6 times in one month. I know crappie don't necessarily like high flow, and I wonder if this has something to do with it. Possibly not enough ideal habitat? Just a thought, as I may be way off base with this. The only thing I really ever have known about catching crappie is that where there is one there tends to be more.

[MSUFisherBear]

By the way, does anyone know if the MDC stocks the lake for them? I've not heard of a stocking, and I figured it wasn't a top priority, but Ive been pretty curious about that for a while.