Patterns aren't useful just for bass fishing !

[Spoonminnow]

One lake I've been fishing more than any other in my area has opened my eyes to finding and fishing patterns. Different patterns may be going on in one water on the same day and last for days. Once one or more patterns stop, others begin though at times hard to find without covering a lot of territory.

There were three patterns happening in the last few weeks.
1. larger crappie were always present in the south in 14' in a large pool of water adjacent to a long underwater ridge of rock and a parallel rock cliff.
Slow and deep was the key retrieve.

2. on the west shore the crappie were adjacent to dying weeds that formed coves from being wind blown to shore. Depth was 7' and prime coves yielded ten or more crappie for days.

3. at the north end, water depth averages 5' due to the drought which has dropped the lake more than a foot. The northwest part of the cove yielded mostly small crappie, decent size yellow perch and sun fish. It was not uncommon to catch 30 or more fish working an area 40x40 yards any day for a week.

Sonar showed areas that produced best, clean of weeds, unlike the mid third of the lake where casting distance is less than 8' and no fish vertical jigging or even seen on sonar. This weedy area accounts for the middle third of this elongated body of water and was more than 2/3 of the bottom-to-surface from spring up until a week ago.

Lure size of 2.5" and of a straight tail design-soft plastic using 1/16 oz jig heads in the north and 1/32 oz in the south (shallower end) was the rule rather than the exception.

Today those patterns are coming to an end as more and more weeds die and either sink or drift and the lake water evaporates lowering it more.

Today it was tough to discover another pattern where schools of fish could yield 10 or more fish per location.

New pattern discovered today:
Northeast shore/dying weed formed coves in 6 plus feet of water, again 50' from a weedy shoreline. Lure downsized to 2 - 2 1/4" on a 1/32 or 1/16 oz jig head - same tail design; three fish species all in the same area types and depth. Wind helped all day to circulate the water and suspended algae.

I'll be going back tomorrow and will count on that pattern along a 40 yard stretch in the northwest 1/3 part of the lake in 6-7'. Today, fish were scattered in 8 or more feet at the south end and though produced nice perch and crappie, far fewer fish per hour than with a pattern that worked.

In my mind (different than for bass), patterns are about finding schools of fish in certain areas and fish more apt to bite certain lures and on certain retrieves.

Shoreline anglers must be scratching their heads seeing me catch fish after fish, which I've demonstrated for weeks!