smithville 4/21

[embo_9]

Hey All.

I got out today around 1:30PM and was on the water until about 6:30. I covered lots of water, pretty much EAST of the Collins Rd bridge. I caught 3 keepers, including a nice 13 incher and a 12. Both were female whites. The other was barely 9 and a black. I also caught 7 more black males anywhere from 7ish to almost 9.

I used minnows all but a couple of casts. My FF showed them shallow and deeper. The bigger fish were caught staging in about 10-14' of water. The males were shallow.

I did run into a couple fishing south of the island just east of the Collins Rd bridge from the shore that had an impressive stringer. He looked like he was using orange and chartreuse. She looked like she'd never fished before. Though I hasten to add they'd probably say the same about me.

For what it's worth it didn't seem like many people were killing them today and there were a LOT of fishermen/women on the water and/or banks. The fish that DID bite seemed pretty aggressive.

Fisherman's Daughter is going out with me tomorrow, so I fully expect to be out-fished, but it was a great day today. A good chance to work out some kinks in the new electronics and trolling motor. If anyone has great advice on how to dial in a Lowrance HDS7 in terms of noise on the sonar, I'm all ears. None of the sensitivity settings seemed to do the trick.

Tight tines all! Hope to see you on the lake.

Bruce

[TnRidge]

Nice slabs ! Did you catch a lot of short black crappie ? They are ready to spawn and aggressive from what I experienced yesterday .

[Kemper654]

Thanks for the report, Bruce. Good luck out there today!

[beagle man]

good report, sounds like a fun day for sure,,, depending on what kind of noise, you may need to set your sonar up to eliminate surface clarity . there is a page for that, I set mine on high, think there is three settings on three different choices... when in doubt punch buttons,,, unless your getting trolling motor noise,,, ?

[embo_9]

I didn't catch a LOT of anything Scott. Just about 7 short blacks.

I've tried the clarity setting Beagleman. Maybe I'll punch a few MORE buttons!!! : )

Getting ready to head out now!