It's time Springtime Slabs ! (Fishing Report)

[Kaptain Kaliko]

Hey fellow crappie anglers !

The latest news, as of today, April 6th, is this :

They're slammin' calicos at Toad Harbor, along with a few of the other smaller bays at Onieda Lake.
(Two-inch fathead minnows and white jigs.)

Slabs are showing up all over the place at Sandy Pond, and being taken on the same baits as Onieda.

So, if the crappie are already in pre-spawn mode at the "Big Popnd", you can bet that they'll showing up in most waters where they normally thrive.

Bring a thermometer, and look for the warmest pocket of water you can find, in 8 to 12 feet of water. Fish 6 to 10 feet under the surface, depending on the overall water depth.

Afternoons will probably be more productive, because the all-day sun exposure warms up the water temp.

A 2 1/2" fathead, tipping a plain, 1/8 to 1/16 oz. white or chartreuse jighead, worked under a slip float, should wallop 'em good !
Experiment with different depths (under your float) and watch for baitfish pods on the move.

Inner weedlines at 6 to 8 feet, and 20 to 30 yards away from shoreline, will
hold pre-staging crappies -- these fish are getting ready to sequester safe spawning areas -- they're in a pre-staging mode, and an earlier-than-usual
spawn is what we're likely going to see this year.

Twitch your jigs ever-so-slightly, and "waggle" them back in, slowly, when reeling in to check baits.

Post your results -- HERE -- at the NY forum.

Kap'n K. -- over and out .....

*** P.S. -- Hey "Fishin-filet" ! How's it going ?

[Kaptain Kaliko]

Had to correct my title ..... ( "It's Time F O R .....") ... duh !

Hmmmmmnnn... everyone must be out fishin' .....

[DWS]

Kap'n K ,

Excellent report . Thanks for the info . If I wander out this weekend I will post up The results .

Thanks,
Don

[DWS]

Fished toad harbor saturday morning 7am until 1130 am . Very cold and litte action . Caught a few 11inchers . Watched a guy catch 5 nice slabs in a 20 minute period . Lots of shiners and dinky perch .

As usual I am a day late and a dollar short. Talked to lots of guys that fished last sat the 1st and hammered them good there . Next time !!

Marinas on south shore stopped action as well. I hear lakeshore and fisher bay marine were producing last week but not this . Warmer weather is on the way so it all should change again in our favor.

See ya
Don

[DWS]

Fished toad harbor again this am (sunday). Much better fishing today . Had to weed thru the small ones . Caught 7 keepers and thru back 16 . Everyone was catching some until 930 am and they shut down.

It was 22 when I started an 47 by 1030am.

See ya
Don

[Kaptain Kaliko]

Sounds like you were workin' it hard ..... that's usually what it takes.

I hear lots of guys complain, but when asked how much time they put
in, the answer's often "oh, you know, a few hours ...."

The truth is, if you don't put in at least five hours, you can't expect a whole
lot in return.
As you noted, the crappie will "turn on" for a few hours, and then, suddenly, just turn off like a switch.
The idea is to work a number of areas, and hit the "windows of opportunity." That can sometimes take the better part of the day.

Remember to work your baits S-L-O-W-L-Y at this time of year -- fish are still a bit lethargic. Don't expect them to chase anything. You've got to hit them in the head with your bait.
If you find fish on your screen, park your baits ABOVE the fish, about two cranks of the reel. That should put the food in the strike zone.

We went out this afternoon, and fished from 1:30p 'till 8:30p .... we had to fight the wind, but between gusty spells, we nailed 'em left and right.
Caught 30 fish, and threw back 20.
My partner and I each took home 5 nice calicos -- 10 to 12 inche range, with one 14 incher.

We were using Blakemore Roadrunners (white & white), VERY, VERY slowly, along with some tandem fatheads, tipping custom jigheads w/ Owner hooks.
All fish were caught in 18 to 22 feet of water.

This week will see a very nice warming trend, and the solar/lunar tables indicate a very strong feeding pattern for gamefish --- starting strong on
Tuesday -- and peaking out around Thursday night.

If you haven't already made plans to get out this week --- MAKE SOME !

The next several days will prove to be SPECK - tacular !! Mark my words !

Good luck to you all !!

Get OUT there !

Kap'n K. --- (Gone fishin' ....)

[DWS]

This morning was awsome . Caught 50 or so kept 19 keepers with most 11 to 13 . Many many small ones then spurts of nice ones then back to small ones . Almost all were males again. Some had fresh water shrimp packed in there guts with some having nothing at all. Toad harbor is the place. zcheck it out. Fish under all the branches you can find. When the sun hits the water throw in the rays of light and watch out. See ya

Don