Slab Heaven

[bodyman50]

Paul, Thanks for answering back. Very interesting information. At what depth do these big ones hangout at? Do you catch any smaller fish in the area or are they all about this size? Thanks!!

[EnonEye]

Wow, wow, wow!

[Paul D.]

Depth, here in CT the clear lakes we primarily fish have basins that bottom out in the 18-30 ft range. We have the best results in depth of 20-25 ft with the fish being worked up to maybe half the actual depth.

The shallower dark water lakes max out at about 15 ft with most of the fish being found at or just inside the weed line (pockets are prime). It is much harder to mark these fish , and there is only a few feet to work them up , so it can be frustrating.

Sizes, there is a mix. The 7" thru 12" year classes are well represented, then there seem to be a void of 12 -14" fish with a strong year class of 15 "ers. Lake #2 has a very strong 10-13" year class and we do most of our harvesting outta there.
This stringer went just north of 17 lbs for 8 fish (2lb average):




Gonna trudge thru the snow again tomorrow the is 30 " plus on the ground here now . The lake should only have around 16 or 18.

[bee]

Thank you for sharing with us.

[ready2fish]

very nice quality fish, good job finding them

[bodyman50]

Paul, you are a true fishing gentleman taking the time to share your knowledge. We all enjoy it tremendously. I do have one more question. When you fish the evening bite after dark do you use a submersible light? Thanks for all your info. Ben

[Paul D.]

A yes ,the old submersible light debate. The simple answer would be none of these fish were taken with a submersible.

My opinion on um; simple again , they rarely hurt the bite, sometimes appear to help, but in the conditions I am fishing they seem to make no difference at all.

There is one other slightly stained lake we fish that the green sub. does seem to help, that particular lake has a limited forage base for what it is worth.
We always use gas lanterns to help see what we are doing , but with the ice and snow cover there is little light penetration at the depths we are fishing.

[Paul D.]

Still on um!!!!!!!!!

[bodyman50]

Paul, Man those are nice fish. We are going to venture out this Sat. night to try the night bite in our area. We have heard of some guys doing it, so we thought we would give it a go. I'm curious as to what weight line & size of jigs if that's what you use? Just curious! Thanks for showing your catch we really enjoy!!

[Paul D.]

I am currently using 4 lb mono and fireline on my crappie jigging set ups. One is rigged with a plain fatboy jig that is used for live shiners when required. My main stays are a 1/16th Forage Minnow Spoon, 1" Gulp minnow, and a Gitzit tipped with micro plastics. I switch up often to match the mood of the fish. .Some evenings they definitely prefer one over the others. Base what you are using on the preferred forage of the water body you are fishing; then begin experimenting from there.