Well this was a great last week on the water! We had some good consistent weather which really helps with finding these pan fish in their typical areas. Now I ended up fishing a few different lakes this week and each one surprisingly were very similar to where these pan fish are setting up. Let’s start with water temps, this week I found anywhere from 52 degrees early in the week all the way up to 59 degrees on Sunday. From what I have seen the consistent weather definitely kept the crappies in their typical holding areas. Now typical for this time of year these fish are generally in the muddy bottoms and warmest water you can find. Also if you can find fresh weeds coming up its a perfect habitat mix for these early season slabs.
As far as the bite goes it was great pretty much of the entire week! When the fishing gets like it is now I don’t use a ton of live bait because plastics seem to work great if not better depending on the day. I found a lot of these schools of both sunniness and crappies very schooled up together. On the calmer evenings you actually could see them busting on the surface eating. Pretty much every technique worked this week, I pulled jigs, slip bobber, and even casted some small jigs around. Now as far as jig size I varied a lot depending on my technique and the wind. I try to always go with the smallest jig I can to get a nice “fall rate” when fishing these plastics. I ranged anywhere from 1/64oz- 1/16oz. Now as far as color goes it didn’t have a ton of effect on these fish. It seemed like whatever you would throw into the areas you knew they were schooled up they ate. I would say the top three colors were white tube, silver flake tube and pink shad.
Overall this fishing is about to get very good here in the coming weeks. One of the best things with spring is these fish can be very predictable and easy to pattern. With Minnesota fishing opener this coming week a lot of folks (myself being one) will be hooked on the game fish like walleye, pike and bass but don’t forget if the fishing is tough these pan fish are ready to eat along with being fun to catch. It’s good to see a lot of people out fishing with this amazing weather we have had and the situation of our nation. Hope everyone is doing well and I cannot thank you enough for reading my reports. Hope everyone has a great fishing opener and can catch that fish of a lifetime. As far as guide trips go I will start allowing bookings once I’m able to and comply with the states standards. I have a current waiting list once things do open up, contact me if you will like to be added to this list and I can contact you with available dates once things are going again. Stay safe everyone and tight lines!