I caught a few dinks and one decent male, should be any day now
I caught a couple yesterday in the wind that werent much bigger than the palm of my hand.
Haven't hit Thunderbird much early but here is a quick week report. Hit a few spots last week and only caught a few short saugeye. Water temp was 62. Went Sunday afternoon for a couple hours. Wind was too high to hit some spots. Caught 4 small ones in about 6 FOW closer to the dam. Water temp was about 61-62. Went last night and caught 6 decent ones 10"-13" in about 7 FOW. Could have caught more I think but the wind made it hard to stay on the spot. Water temp was still 61-62. Some of the fish had eggs that were pretty ripe but not really ripe if you know what I mean. The few bank fisherman I saw weren't catching much. I think the spawn will be late this year (obviously). The next week should be pretty good.
I have a few friends who are biologists and they always say something like “when the leaf on a redbud is the size of a squirrels ear then the crappie spawn will start.” Historically my family and I have had luck with water temp vs clarity (no crystal ball though). As far as T-bird goes, I was up little river in 6 FOW and marked what I think was a group of fish around structure, zero bites tho so I cannot contribute
Tried a spot on the north side of the lake last night. Wind on the lake is worse than wind on a soccer field. Was pretty calm in town blowing like heck at the lake. Managed a couple in an hour and gave up.
Today, at last the wind lay a little. I though was supposed to be north but was SE. My usual spots are main lake points and banks. I typically fish 6' or so. Caught a dozen decent ones and went to check out a few more spots. Caught a few at each spot but you had to work for them and fish any structure that shows. Caught most in 6-8 FOW. A few I caught late were in 4'. Still catching females with eggs so I think either the spawn has not started or its been on and off because of the weather. Water temps said 69-72 but thats surface and who knows how accurate. Also caught bluegill, bass, sandbass, saugeye and channel cats so that was a blast although all of them were small except for one 2lb channel. Was a blast on 4lb test and light rod. Caught everyting on black/chatreuse tube and dark blue/chartreus curly tail.
milliman3216 LIKED above post
I am new here I have been reading awhile but haven't posted anything. I hit T bird Saturday the 5th early morning around 7 with my buddy from work. First hit fisherman's point by the ranger station and while jigging for crappie caught two of the biggest bass of my life it was awesome. after the bite slowed there we jumped over to the clear bay dock and did ok on some crappie caught about six eaters before it started getting hot just after noon so we left. We were catching the crappie right off the dock on jigs and minnows we ran out of minnows.
Any luck?