So, my dad gave me an old 1648 aluminum flatboat, and we have been fixing it up. It is nothing pretty, but is a fishable and stable boat. Got a little 15 hp that will get it up on a plane but not much more than that. Eventhough it isn't much, I am tickled with it and love being out on the water. I grew up saltwater fishing and have never done any freshwater fishing before. I live in Madison, so I guess now is time to learn.

A co-worker said that her husband really liked this forum, so I checked it out and joined last Friday.

I had been reading about the crappie fishing, and thought "why not!" My brother in law and I went out for the first time yesterday afternoon in the Rez. It was a humbling experience (did not catch a fish), but we still had fun. We were fishing on the north side. We did not have time to get minnows, so we were fishing a jig under a cork.

We saw about 8 other boats, but were not close enough to see if they were catching anything. We could see one boat that caught about 10-15 fish with a cork and jig combo, but the action slowed for them and they left. Some people were fishing close to the bank, while others were fishing a channel.

Does wind and water clarity affect the crappie? We had a south wind, so maybe that was muddying the water and we should have been fishing the south side of the rez?

Since I am such a novice, maybe I should be fishing with minnows? Just thinking that live bait might be less technique sensitive?

How long can you keep minnows alive? Can you buy them the day before or will they die? It would just shave off a little time, if I could get them ahead of time, if possible.

I need a minnow bucket, and am looking at the Styrofoam 8 qt cool bucket with aerator vs the aerator with lid that just snaps on the top of a 5 gallon bucket. Would it be better to have the smaller bucket with more insulation, or the 5 gallon bucket with more water?

Also open to any other tips or suggestions.

Thanks.