Finally got on the water

[Eager Beaver]

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It was a little chilly today but was a great day for fishing. The air temp was 68 and the water temp was only 57. I finally got on the water today about 11:30 this morning. This is the first trip of the season and didn't know what to expect from the fish. With the cooler temps I figured that the fish would be out deeper in 14-15 ft along some breaks. With in 5 minutes of getting the boat in the water I had a 12 inch Crappie in the boat. After launching the boat I went to some docks in the Marina and first cast had a nice Crappie in the boat. I trolled around the docks for awhile and picked up another 3 more nice Crappie. The wind picked up a little and was from the right direction so I headed to the Dam. I fished the side of the Dam that the wind was blowing into. I put a bobber on the line about 5 ft above a minnow and started catching some good Crappie. A couple of kids walked down the bank and fished right next to the spillway. I didn't see them catch anything and then they started walking back my way. The Walleye are spawning on the rocks along the Dam. One splashed on the bank and the kids started throwing some dang big lures trying to catch the Walleye. I told them I would appreciate if they didn't mess up my fishing spot. They got the idea and moved on. They did put the fish off from biting for a while but they started biting again after a little bit. The bite slowed down so I moved down to the spill way and got into some really nice Crappie there. The Males where on the bank or close to it and the female were in 2-3 ft of water, and some of the females were out a little farther in 10 ft of water. The females in close to the bank are ready to spawn. Their egg sack is starting to desolve and the eggs are loose and ready to drop. The females in the 10 foot of water aren't ready to spawn quite yet and there eggs are still pretty firm yet. The smaller females are the ones ready to spawn and the bigger females are the ones out in 10 ft of water and will be another week or two before they are ready to spawn. I can't believe they are spawning in this cold of water tho. The water temp is only 57 here yet. I tried different jigs today but never got a hit on them and all the fish came on minnows. I got a limit of 30 Crappie and even got a couple of really nice Ring Perch. Wasn't a bad day today after all. EB
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[Cane Pole]

Fish must been feeling sorry for ya Beaver.....:p

Glad you finally got out and caught some fishes my friend.

Tom

[Eager Beaver]

Fish must been feeling sorry for ya Beaver.....:p

Glad you finally got out and caught some fishes my friend.

Tom

I was feeling sorry for me, after last weeks temps in the upper 80's, and I couldn't get out. Temps are now in the 50's and 60's, but will take what I can get now. Been a long winter for me. EB