Fish are away from shore now. Closer to shore (spin cast distance, or fly rod) by mid-March. IMO late March-April is best; my club uses pontoon boats then. USE A FLAG to warn bass boats who like to fly by at 40 mph or more.
Fish are away from shore now. Closer to shore (spin cast distance, or fly rod) by mid-March. IMO late March-April is best; my club uses pontoon boats then. USE A FLAG to warn bass boats who like to fly by at 40 mph or more.
Last edited by McFish; 01-21-2022 at 12:57 PM. Reason: spelling
Went again Thursday. The water was low vis but it seems that way every time I go. The water temp was 47 -49. Used my fish finder and never did see a school all day. The guide came by at one point and I asked him if he saw any schools, he said it was a tough morning so far. He was covering a lot of water with three clients. I pretty much stayed where I thought fish might eventually come by. I focused on staying around 13’ deep and fishing my indicator midge rig at 3 and 6 feet. Had another set up with a white balanced leech set at eight feet. I stripped the rig with slight pulls and pauses. I know my white balanced leech was the right color and size since the guide boat had a client throw over my line and while untangling the mess I saw his terminal set up. All in all it was a day of fits and starts but a beautiful winter day. I eventually did get 11 chunky crappie and got home in time to do some volunteer work in the evening.
We fished Sat and Sun afternoons getting double digit bags each day.
The schools are REAL small, only generally producing a large speck on the sounder and hard to see on side view. We like to drift when not too crowded, but anchor when traffic dictates. We toss white sparkle buggers or colors of the hour...fishes' choice. One rod gets a sinking line set up (type ll this w/e) and one get a bobber (indicator) set up so that boredom can be alleviated somewhat.
Most of your high scores are produced by users of "live scope" or such sonar allowing them to follow the extremely small schools. I'm sure you saw your guide (Ed?) and others wandering around and thru boats focusing on their "TV's" with the electric motors.
All fishing beats the couch and crappie are fun to figure out....even when there are just a few.
....lee s.
Last edited by lee s.; 02-07-2022 at 12:33 PM. Reason: ?
Some years ago when I worked at the bait shop in West Sacramento a Crappie Chaser told me that when they caught a fish, they would hook a bobber to it and turn it lose. It would go back to the school and they would follow the bobber.
I think it might be illegal?
Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)
567 Barber Street
Sebastian, Florida 32958
Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
Certified FFF Casting Instructor
Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
Cell: 530/753-5267
Web: www.billkiene.com
Contact me for any reason........
______________________________________
I installed Livescope on my boat a few months ago. Wouldn't want to fish without it. It's very popular with serious crappie fishermen and they are some of the best at using it. It is different tech than Hummingbird's 360. Livescope only shows you what the forward facing transducer is pointed at. The image is truly live and active fish will show up as a bright blob on your screen moving exactly as the fish does. You can even see the turbulence from an active fishes fins. I'm still learning it and there is a lot that goes into dialing it in.
And of course, just because you can see them doesn't mean you can catch them. There's been plenty of times when they follow a bait to the bottom and just stare at it or swim off. Frustrating.
Bookmarks