Lake Springfield Sunday 7/21

[MSUFisherBear]

Just wanted to give a report of the morning/afternoon action on Lake Springfield Sunday. Sorry for the delay. Had lots of errands yesterday to run so didn't have time to sit down in front of the computer for a write up.

Fishing was definitely very good. I started the day fishing for bass. I ended up catching 10 total, with the first 6 coming very quickly. I was using a punch bait with a pegged weight. The bass were very active. Every one that I hooked up with had the hook in the top of their mouth. Largest was 14 inches, smallest was 10.

After having fun with the bass for a while, I decided it was time to switch up and look for fish for the freezer. I started fishing for crappie. The last time I was out, I found them on a channel break fishing with a small panfish swimbait. I started fishing in the same spot. Never caught one, but I did witness some type of fish driving shad into the flat on the other side and feeding on them. I switched over to try and catch a few, but never could get a bite. I couldn't see the fish to know for sure, but I have a feeling it was a school of small bass judging by the size of the shad that I could see breaking the surface.

I moved on from the channel break, still looking for crappie. I started fishing a small brush pile that looked to have recently washed in. I cast in and within 10 seconds of my jig hitting the water I had a fish on. I thought, based on how hard the fish fought, that it was a decent little bass. When I pulled the fish in, it was a big green sunfish (I didn't weigh it, but I would guess somewere between 14 oz and 1lb). I threw back in and caught a second. I worked the entire area and caught 13 of those total. Normally I don't keep the greenies, but I did this time just because of their sheer size. It actually made a pretty good pile of fish. Just a note on these, I caught most in about 8-10 foot of water. The warm weather has definitely drove them off the bank.

[Hunter91]

Nothing better than panfish for dinner! Congrats on a good trip and report.