As I was sitting on my bucket rearing on some nice slabs I got to thinking about open water.
Here in the Aitkin lakes area we still have 7 weeks left of ice fishing which is some of the best fishing for monster slabs & bulls that I have seen in 40 years of fishing,however the ice will be gone .Then what?
Early open water for slab crappies and gills.
This is a great time to get your gear already to go for the openers of pike& walleyes.
Let's identify what you are looking for in habitat for those slabs.
Some lakes have small shallow lakes attached that have silty or muddy bottoms,perfect.
It should have pencil reed stubble or wild rice stubble for the crappies to hang out in as cover.Maybe it has down falled trees in the waters edge,another good habitat to hold fish.
Next ,we want to see were the sun can hit that area for most of the day to warm the water in that area some.
To give you an example I fish this back lake called Whispering.
It has a deep hole where the fish will stay below the thermocline as the water is warmer there.
Then as the sun does it's thing just after the ice goes out for 3 days the slabs will move in at mid to late afternoon to feed on the tiny minnow fry that just hatched until the sun hits the trees.The water cools a degree or 2 and the fish sense this only to move back out to their holding area.
They move back and forth repeating the same pattern for 2 weeks give or take a day or two depending on how sunny it is.
Once the water gets warm enough say mid 40's to lower 50's they will stay in the shallows.
I think crappies spawn at around 58-64 water temp.The females will then move back out to deeper water and recover ,while the males stay in the shallows to stand gaurd & eventually lead the fry out to deep water.
During this time the males will turn jet black which is the sign of the post spawn.
You will see gills move in to feed on the crappie fry.
The lilly pads will be almost breaking the waters surface.
Once the pads are on the surface the gills will take over the crappies nests
and begin their spawning period.
Backing up to what to use 3 days after the ice goes out.
My choice is T.H.E. Jig or small plastics like the ones Loby makes.
If you think bout how cold the water is ,downsizing is still the ticket that pays off.
Once the pads break the waters surface ,upsizing will work .
The water temps will have warmed up enough to make the fish their normal super aggresive selves.
Keep in mind that every lake warms at it's own speed.
Bigger deep watered lakes take longer to warm up .Lakes with springs take longer to warm up.
Lakes surronded by bogs heat up faster.
So for example I have 5 lakes that I know to have a good spawn that all turn on at different times.So you can work 1 or 2 lakes for a few weeks than move to another & so on.
Those 4-5 weeks prior to openers for walleyes can be a blast with the right gear.
An ultra light rod with a stiff back & fast tip.Small diameter line for casting great distances covering mucho water will help in finding the school.
2 anchors to keep the boat from spinning in the wind.
Being quite is a big deal too. It might take me 2 hours to find them & once I do I'd hate to spook them off.
Here's some pics from last spring.
Notice in some of the pics there are no leave or buds on the trees.
O I should mention that be ready for all sorts of fish as the all want to eat.
So you will run into bass,pike,eyes,dogfish and anything else that wants to eat a minnow.
I am not done ice fishing,however open water will be here soon enough.
Good fishing everyone.
Drilling slabs 3 days after ice out.
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