Thread: Hillsdale 5-11 Afternoon-Evening

I fished HD on 5/10. Weather was overcast and blustery. I found some crappie and cats in the trees by the channel near a boat ramp. The ramp was near a water tower on the west side of the lake. I moved around the lake and kept going back to the same trees by the ramp. I was using minnows. The bite was slow and steady all morning and into the afternoon, several small ones and six nice ones, 11-13 inches. There weren't many boats on the water.

Thanks for the reports....I fished HD on 05/11 from 6am to 10am...wind was too much so called it at 10. Caught probably 15 fish...none over 10". Most fish came in 5 foot of water on a jig and float...jig about 2 feet under float. Also caught a couple in 12-13 feet of water about 9 feet down. Colors blk/chart or solid chart jigs produced best...also caught a few on electric chicken bobby garland jig. I watched a guy catch fish after fish from the bank on a single laydown. He did better on that one tree than I did in four hours moving around the lake. Water temp in most places I fished was 59 degrees. One shallow bank was at 62 deg.

how do you fish that slow death rig? Drifting or trolling? Trying to learn new things.

Zummy,

I fish both ways, just kind of depends on what is going on. Yesterday, since it was so windy I check areas with my electronics and then drifted through the areas that look promising. If I got bit, I would make a note of the general area and work it over both drifting and using the TM. I like to go just fast enough to get the crawler to spin and now more than a 45 degree angle on the line. If I fishing really rocky or brushy areas I try to keep my line closer to vertical as it helps to not get snagged as often. Also, typically you don't have to really set the hook hard, more of just a firm pull. A good percentage of the time they are already hooked up. Fishing more vertical usually requires a heavier bottom bouncer. This has just worked for me. I also use braid, really makes a difference on feeling differences in the bottom and my drag is typically set pretty light. Good Luck.

I was at HD on 5/10 with my 4-year old son and my dad. We fished from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

I'm an amateur, but trying to learn some knowledge from you fellas. Started by trying flats, points, and trees with minnows. Not a single bite. Finally, right as the sun went over the horizon, we hit the shallows and had instant success. We were trolling minnows about 3 feet below a bobber in 5-8 fow. Would have had about 4-5 fish in a 30 minute period, but we kept giving the poles to my 4-year old. We ended up with 2 landing in the boat. 1 keeper and 1 not.

So, my question is... Would we have had luck in the shallows before sunset? The number of people fishing from the bank significantly increased right at sunset. So, I figure they probably know something I don't.

What do you guys recommend that works better than minnows?

Note: My dad and I are going take a day off work and try out Melvern for the first time ever tomorrow morning. We'd be happy to land either crappie or walleye. Please PM me (or post) if you can share any advice for that lake.

Ingisuti-

To answer your question....yes you can catch fish shallow before sunset. There are a lot of things that can impact shallow fish. It seems to me you just need to keep after it, spend some time on the water, and try different approaches. I personally don't enjoy fishing the spawn a whole lot. Don't get me wrong I enjoy casting the banks and catching a few shallow fish but I prefer fishing brush piles or other structure. Plus you have a lot more folks out to share the water with.

It is really hard to beat a minnow this time of the year. I use a lot of of roadrunners this time year typically 1/16th oz in all sorts of colors. I also like to fish a jig (1/16th oz) under a small weighted bobber. You can cover a fair amount of water and keep the jig at a constant depth. Just have to figure out what depth.

You can catch the fish at night, but I just as soon be off the water before dark.

That is all. Tired of typing on my phone.

Good Luck

We went out yesterday, 5/12 and only caught a few all day. Went out today, fished the trees for a while and caught a few. We trolled into an area with 3-7 feet of water and found them. We probably caught 60 and 25 or so were keepers. We used several colors of jigs that have curly swim tails. After we found them, we put the minnows away. Cleaned them at the boat ramp and went home with a bit of a sunburn!