What's up with the fishing??

[slabby joe]

Ok I know I have my limitations when it comes to catching crappie but these last few months have turned into some of the most frustrating fishing I've had in a long time. I fished 3 days in the last week and had a grand total of 8 keepers in about 24 hrs. of fishing and I'm not even catching alot of dinks. I'm hearing the same reports from fishers on the Missouri side too.....is this the worst fishing season ever......sure is for me. Now today I even tagged along with Lee for some catfishing ( he is the pro at catching these slimmers) and guess what........WE DIDN'T CATCH ONE FISH!!! We gave up on the cats and caught a small number of 5 -8in. crappie in the trees and put another #%!&!#$%! fishing trip in the books. I'm going to start tallying up all my fishing crap....boat, tackle, rods & reels and see if I can unload all this stuff on some poor optimistic fishing newbe!!...................WOW I thought I'd feel better.....NOT!

[kscrappeye]

Slabby Joe- heck I haven't even made it to the lake to give it a try. Maybe you need to try another lake? FHNB in about another month. PM me if your interested.

[bluebasser86]

I've done pretty well for crappie and 'eyes the last couple times I've been on Melvern. Best technique seems to be to not fish for them Been getting them on cranks, grubs, and 4" boot tail grubs on the banks, less than 9' deep. Had 8 walleye up to 23" and a few keeper crappie out there Thursday.

[Crappie Chatt]

Just got back from 9 days out at Glen/Kirwin. Caught very few on normal spots @ Glen. Could get a 20 fish creel, but would take the better part of the day to do so. Best tactic last few outings was to work the main lake chanel breaks. Wind a real factor to the number of cleaned. Kirwin, back to brush but not every pile had them. Not a aggressive bite either. Kirwin is very low and down to just one ramp. A REAL HAZZARD lurks in the water just North of the usable ramp. A steel post just under the surface. Put a 'fixable' scratch in my hull but could do some serious damage. Needs to be marked or removed!!! Will take it up to Ozawkie to get fixed. <*)}}}><

[cricket george]

WHAT!!!!!!! The new boat got scratched!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *&^%$^^. It not old enough for a scratch yet.

[springhillwantabe]

Just got back from 9 days out at Glen/Kirwin. Caught very few on normal spots @ Glen. Could get a 20 fish creel, but would take the better part of the day to do so. Best tactic last few outings was to work the main lake chanel breaks. Wind a real factor to the number of cleaned. Kirwin, back to brush but not every pile had them. Not a aggressive bite either. Kirwin is very low and down to just one ramp. A REAL HAZZARD lurks in the water just North of the usable ramp. A steel post just under the surface. Put a 'fixable' scratch in my hull but could do some serious damage. Needs to be marked or removed!!! Will take it up to Ozawkie to get fixed. <*)}}}><

you can get it back in the rocks and brush and rocks now got that first one in there

[Lucky_Livewell]

Slabby, I wish I had some tips for you, but my summer has been going the exact same way. Last year, we caught a ton of crappie all through June/July/August, but this summer I can't buy a keeper. Therefore, I decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and targeted other species instead. We've been tearing up the cats/whites/wipers at Clinton lately - nothing huge, but plenty of action!

PS - I really love that cleaning station at Clinton. Wish we had more of those around (i.e. Hillsdale). Nice, clean, and convenient, not to mention a great place to swap stories and meet other fine anglers!

[zeepo]

Slabby, I wish I had some tips for you, but my summer has been going the exact same way. Last year, we caught a ton of crappie all through June/July/August, but this summer I can't buy a keeper. Therefore, I decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and targeted other species instead. We've been tearing up the cats/whites/wipers at Clinton lately - nothing huge, but plenty of action!

PS - I really love that cleaning station at Clinton. Wish we had more of those around (i.e. Hillsdale). Nice, clean, and convenient, not to mention a great place to swap stories and meet other fine anglers!

Lucky,

What pattern are you using for the whites and wipers. I have not been out in over a week but before that I was finding fish chasing shad on top but it was not real consistent, nor did they stay up but only a couple minutes. Seen a lot of people trolling. A lot of small shad in Clinton right now they are everywhere, every fish I catch has shad in their mouth. I caught a few walleyes two weeks ago and when I cleaned them their belly cavity was full of fat.

Zeepo

[slabby joe]

Slabby, I wish I had some tips for you, but my summer has been going the exact same way. Last year, we caught a ton of crappie all through June/July/August, but this summer I can't buy a keeper. Therefore, I decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and targeted other species instead. We've been tearing up the cats/whites/wipers at Clinton lately - nothing huge, but plenty of action!

PS - I really love that cleaning station at Clinton. Wish we had more of those around (i.e. Hillsdale). Nice, clean, and convenient, not to mention a great place to swap stories and meet other fine anglers!

Hey Lucky that's the SMART thing to do and I guess that's why I've been struggling.........need to use my noggin for more than a hat rack........you need to show me how you're doing it.....but NO catfish slime on my carpet!! Thanks and good

[Lucky_Livewell]

Lucky,

What pattern are you using for the whites and wipers. I have not been out in over a week but before that I was finding fish chasing shad on top but it was not real consistent, nor did they stay up but only a couple minutes. Seen a lot of people trolling. A lot of small shad in Clinton right now they are everywhere, every fish I catch has shad in their mouth. I caught a few walleyes two weeks ago and when I cleaned them their belly cavity was full of fat.

Zeepo

I've been drifting shad for the catfish in the evenings and eventually a school of whites/wipers will blow up nearby, then I start casting a spoon or sassy shad at them. I've had better luck bouncing the jig/spoon on the bottom below the schools or after the schools finish at the surface. Best bite has definitely been that last hour of daylight.