I went with a new friend to a lake I hadn't fished for years, remembering the excellent crappie caught which was the reason we went. The day was perfect: overcast with a breeze. At first we beat the banks but found nothing. Sonar showed the lake to average between 7-8' with pad islands all over the place. Finally I suggested we fish open water between the islands in deeper water which proved very productive. Bite after bite from sunfish as well as a pickerel that sliced the line easily and a 2 lb bass that felt like a 3lb on a light action rod. The crappie were small as were the sunnies but still fun to catch.

In fact many times the fish were near the surface and hit soft plastics as soon as they hit the water. Many times fish kept attacking the lure all the way back to the boat until hooked or hooked on the second cast to the same spot. I would say that in 7', the fish were schooled in the upper 2'. One gent did well catching LM bass using a Senko, but for my money numbers matter more. I have never experienced a deeper water bite and no shoreline action!

I will get back to the lake soon to learn it better even though many areas are thick with pads and won't be fishable until spring pre-pad growth. The lake has sure changed since I fished it 10 years ago and hopefully anglers haven't harvested too many of the 13" crappie I remember catching.