Just got in off the lake shore. Fishing was pretty good again. Actually the fishing this spring is the best we ever had. Crappie numbers are not up to some previous per outing counts, but the size of the crappies and the size and number of bonus fish is something we have never had before.

We checked out a dock that had been good last fall from something like 4 to 5:30 for a measily couple of sunnies; so we moved. On the next lake shore from a bit before 6 to about 8:45 for a bit of a different story. A couple of smallish crappies early, and lost bonus bass that could have been 5 pounds, and then real quiet. All through the evening the pool was just filled with 2" sunnies apparently feeding on a hatch of real tiny insects, which attracted some big eaters. A couple of muskies fed heavily around the pool for the next hour or so. There must have been 2 dozen major boils with the little sunnies scattering every which way. We saw one 3' muskie come swimming through and we had one cutoff in that period. There was a loon feeding there, a grebe, and a couple of merganzers; no question the forage was all over the place, but the crappies and even the bigger sunnies were keeping their heads down. We went through a dozen lure changes all to no avail. We actually saw the loon swimming under water past our feet a couple of times. Those birds can really move down there. It's quite a sight.

Finally as witching hour came on, also known as prime time, that time after the sun has gone down but before full dark, I dug out the Pearl Baby Shad, and we started to connect. The last half hour produced another ten crappies for an evening total of 19 between us. These last crappies were all 9/10" and more, including a couple of 12"s, a 13" and my personal best to date in the Metro a 14". The evening ended for me with a 2' pike and my partner with our last crappie, sort of a mixed double.

As I as landing the pike, some acquaintances showed up and put out fatheads under bobbers. While we were there they only took one fish, but that slab crappie measured 15 1/2". That was a horse! These are all internal Metro fish not some hidden place in the deep woods.

Temp was 50 degrees and dropping; so we were getting cold. There was no wind, the lake surface was close to glassy, no clouds and very bright, until the sun went down. The water in the second lake was also very clear on the second lake. Total time on the water was a bit over four hours. All fish we take in the Metro are released.

All in all not a bad evening, not bad at all, for all that it started slow.