Thread: Think shallow for ice out Crappie on Shelbyville

I'm new to Crappie.com and have never posted but wanted to give a little info to those who don't get the opportunity to fish as often as some of us and those with children who would like to take them fishing and have a great trip. Nothing like the elderly or kids and I have a big heart when it comes to them and I've often ,when in the boat, noticed someone not catching fish that under the circumstances should of had a boat load because the bite was so good, stopped and took a few minutes of my time to help them out. I still learn to this day, after the better part of 35 yrs of fishing bass and crappie tournaments, there is always someone who can teach you something. To the group of people this is addressed to or anyone who has missed this awesome pattern, right after ice out, you can't think shallow enough. I think a lot of people associate cold water temps with fishing deep and downsizing on tackle. Although you can catch fish at any depth on a given day, the north end of Shelbyville is extremely good this time of year in a foot of water or less. Recently, on several trips the fish were so close to the bank, and i have been bank fishing lately, you never had to cast. Some of these might of been hard to get from a boat as they were so far back in.. With the lake being at winter pool you will be hard pressed to find brush thats in the water but what u do find usually has fish. So,how shallow, on recent trips some days it was a jig under a bobber 4 to 6 inches and sometimes they will hit the bobber instead of the jig which is really cool to see. most of the laydowns are in 2 ft of water or less as they are on flat banks so if the fish aren't right on the bank they will be somewhere between the bank and the tip so I still don't fish much deeper maybe 12 to 18 inches. Sometimes you have to let the bobber sit for a bit sometimes u dont but fish slow or you could miss them. Points work equally as well and if you can get used to casting in open water you can catch a ton of fish, they just move up on the flat part and suspend on nothing but once you locate them, game on!! Well I hope this helps at least one person and it will be well worth the time to post it.Good luck everyone and stay safe!!

Thanks Mac, I'm always willing to help, all ya gotta do is ask but you could probably teach me a thing or two!!