Shelbyville Update - Crappie, Whites, and Electronics
The last three weeks have been a big transition period for a lot of the fish in Shelbyville. New patterns are developing as summer transitions to fall and I just wanted to share some of the trends LSG and I have been seeing. The last three weeks have been awesome fishing with 100-150 crappie (35-60 keepers) daily. We began scouting for whites last Friday with XXL, and found them big time on the drops. If stumps are present, walleye are mixed in. XXL won the big fish dollar with a 25+ lbs buffalo on a Candy Striper. For some reason Jer became camera shy though.
LSG has been running combo trips with 40+ crappie and 75-100 whites a day since last Saturday. The crappie bite is shallow in coves and creeks early, then transitions to deep trees and brush mid-morning. The last couple of mornings have produced multiple 13-14" crappie off of shallow brush. All on corks and minnows. The deep fish have been suspended 13-15 ft down. Jigs are working, but with water temperatures in the mid 70's minnows are still king. That may change quickly.
The whites are stacked on ledges. Candy Stripers cast over the drops and jigged back up them have been very effective. Start at 20 ft and come up to 8 or 10 ft. If they orient to the top, cast and pause the lure during the retrieve parallel to the edge. As others have said, the shallow flat bite is not consistent yet, but getting better every day. The bait is there, along with small schools of whites. They bust the surface briefly then disappear like ghosts. The big bunches are stacked on the drops not far away.
Buffalo:
When you birddog buffalo all summer it is easy to attract ridicule. However watching the buffalo movements throughout the lake tell you a lot about what the other fish are doing. Whites follow them all year. Find the buffalo and whites are close by, guaranteed...many times mixed in. The buffalo are the first to stage in deep water during late spring and the first to move in the fall. They left their summer hangouts about 2 weeks ago, most likely because of depleting oxygen in the deeper water. They are big fish and they stack tightly so maybe they sense the change first. On side imaging this is what they look like. Notice the large shadows they produce.
White Bass:
Whites tend to school horizontally and are often moving. When in a neutral mood they look like these towards the top of the drop.
When moving and active, they are easier to catch. The elongated marks in the center of the drop indicate movement.
Whites often appear like this on conventional sonar. Moving fish display as long twisted arcs.
When fishing a drop, pay attention to the roughness of the bottom. Whites like a rough bottom, especially if it consists of scattered rock. Deep wood is an added bonus too. The following shows part of an old road bed and scattered rock on a drop which holds whites. It happens to have a brushpile as well.
Some deep wood,
Whites, buffalo (big shadows), and shad on a broken-off laydown
The only place success comes before work is in the Dictionary.
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