Great information. Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to trying this out. What is a slip float? A bobber?
Got down to LOZ with my dad and fished the Glaize Friday, Saturday and a couple hours Sunday morning before heading home. We found crappies shallow as previously reported by others, but the fish were scattered for us and others we chatted with on the water. Never really hit the "mother lode" of spawners and that fun fast action.
We took home our limit to eat but we worked for them. Average size was probably 10 inches with plenty around 11-11 1/2 inches. Most of the females were very ripe. Some were really bulging with eggs, while others had clearly dropped some.
Fished primarily two spots around Ft. Leonard Wood in shallow water. A tube jig set about a foot below a slip float was the ticket. Worked the float like a topwater bait for bass - plop, plop pause. Never caught a fish swimming a jig. Black/chartreuse and orange/chartreuse jigs on a 1/16 oz. lead head. Just worked back and forth through our spots.
Water temp in the Lazy Days area was 52-53 Friday morning. Got just one fish there before moving to the FLW area. Found 56-57 degrees there. Water temp around FLW reached 61 by Saturday evening. Found one spot on the south side of McCubbin Point/LOZ S.P. at 64!
This should be a great week for crappie action. Just hope it hangs on until I get back down on Friday with my brother-in-law. Might have to go elsewhere on the lake to find fresh spawners.
Enjoy the action.
Great information. Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to trying this out. What is a slip float? A bobber?
I keep hearing about guys fishing from fort wood and down. We were there beginning of last week. We put in at pb1 and never even went far enough down the lake to see fort wood. Don't let that dirty water turn you guys off during the spawn. We absolutely hammered the fish at the beginning of last week and I would think that there would be a decent chance a lot of those fish are still there as almost everyone was flying by us going down the lake. Just think bigger baits with some thump in that dirty water. Maybe a stroller or paddle tail minnow, or a big three inch flat tailed bait. Last week the bobby garland baits where the ticket for us. I kept trying other things but even though I was in the front of the boat my buddy kept out catching me. Sometimes you just have to give what they want so I switched over to em. Just throw them out play with depth and reel them back real real slow. Good luck.
Oh yeah one more thing. Laydowns were important. Normally we do well around the transitions but in that muddy water they were holed up more around the laydowns. Find a laydown at a transition and boom. It's on.
It'll be interesting to see if the fish are still present and spawning in the FLW area when I get back on the water this Saturday-Monday. The forecast for warm weather will certainly warm the water well in to the 60s, so I guess we'll see.
I too watched a lot of boats go by us, and we pretty much had our best spots to ourselves. Well, except for the one guy who came right up to us and actually dropped a cast into my spot as I unhooked a fish just caught there. I think he was pretty ticked that we were catching fish on "his" spot as he watched from down the shoreline. So he just casually horned right in. I did the gentlemanly thing and kept my mouth shut, but I sure wanted to give him a piece of my mind.
I concur about the dirty water. Don't be intimidated at all. Just do something to get the attention of the fish. I like the idea of a paddle tail, or something that thumps a little. Will have to try that this weekend.
Was with Working man last week and what he said was right on. There has to still be plenty of spawners around pb1 area and yes in that dirty water. Go get em, wish I could get back down there.
Wife and I did good yesterday in dirty water using paddle tails,dark body and chartreuse tail.
Where is this PB1?? Always heard of it but never new exactly where it was on LOZ.
"It's on like Bing Bong"!!!!!! Si Robertson
Way up the Glaize.