5/30/04 Report

[Bill2]

Well...don't post here much but since I am the moderator I should at least say something. So hi to all who frequent here and if you need anything just give me a yell. :D

Now on to the report. Fished an electric motor only lake NE Indiana Sunday afternoon. Crappies were on fire. We had doubles on many times...all fish were between 10 to 12 inches and very thick (not fat like with eggs) but thick. It was a great time until the torrential downpour ran us off. Fish were caught on 1.5 inch curly tails. We kept some to eat and left some for another day.

Bill

[Indy-Travis]

Bill, how far northeast were you? I do some fishing in Steuben Co., and would love to get some tips from you for locating summer crappie in the natural lakes up there. I seem to do alright finding them in resevoirs with creek channels and wood structure, but can't seem to consistently find them up north.

[Bill2]

It was in the Wawasee area. There's bunches of small lakes in the area and most are electric only.

I've found the best way to catch them is small curly tails fished slow. They are moving out a little deeper now but we'll catch them all summer long. Keep in mind I'm speaking of the smaller lakes and not lakes like Webster etc. I'll post how we do this week-end and let you know where we find them and on what.

Bill

[Indy-Travis]

What I was wondering, I guess, is what type of cover do you fish for the summer crappie on the northern lakes? Near weed beds, off the break, docks, types of weeds, relating to points, sand bars, etc? I target catching them after the spawn all through the summer, but seem to catch them infrequently and not in the large numbers or the larger fish that I find durring the spawn. I usually use a minnow/bare hook or tubes, sometimes tip the tubes with minnows. This year I am going to try some slow trolling with the tubes and twister tail grubs as well.

[Bill2]

This year I am going to try some slow trolling with the tubes and twister tail grubs as well.

You got the hard part figured out.

The cover close to the break lines seem to be the best place to start. I hardly ever fish for them in the cover or right at the edge. It probably is productive at times (like fishing channels) but I prefer towards the deeper water break.

We (brother-in-law) aren't experts but our method seems to work most of the time. I hope to give a better report Sunday night. Message me if you would like more detail.

Bill