71 Today

Same scenario; on the water by 7:30 am and off by 2 pm. Out of the 71 that we caught & released today, only 2 were bluegill and one yellow perch. No giants, but respectable crappie no less. Air temps started off at 45 degrees today and ended at only 67. Getting pretty cold and way too early! But it is what it is. This is what the 10 - 20 mph winds made the water look like:

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We used a variety of artificials. Tubes, straight tails, Roadrunners and Fin-s Fish (the 2" size is great!). With 2 rods each we put one 1/8 oz. ball head on one and a 1/16 oz. on the other with various plastics and colors throughout the day. About the only stand-out was the straight tails once again, with an all white Roadrunner picking up second place.

We were moving right along on the drifts. Not sure of our speed, but our lines were quite straight out from the boat. Also, previously we found the crappie scattered throughout the pond. Not so today. They were bunched up in 100 yard areas on 3 lake locations specifically. Probably in prep for the winter cold temps, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, here are some pictures taken today. A couple of my partner's to start with:

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And some of mine:

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All I can say is that this presentation format - speed drifting in heavy winds - has been regularly paying off for us big time. Most of today's catch was taken after the wind picked up significantly, around 9:30 am. Then they really came alive! Hope the open water lasts a bit longer. :)