sugar bay tomorrow

might try fishing for big blacks tomorrow in sugar or higgins bay if i was to fish shallow should i just cast jigs to bank and retrieve slow or should back out deeper and try spider riggin some

Hey Jeremy,

Normally after a cold front like went through last night I would go deeper. But there is a quick recovery with a high around 60 for tomorrow. Depending on time of day I might try both. Shallow early to see if they are there. Then a little deeper (10-15 feet). But I would hit the shallows again as the day warms. Especially if you notice shad activity shallow. I don't think I would be deeper then 15 feet if I could help it. Especially for black crappie and with the fresh water that is coming into the system.

Lyndon

thanks old guide, so you would just cast jigs to bank and do a slow retrieve in the shallow water, and spider rig in deeper water

Pretty much. Also, I saw one posting a week or so ago where a fella was fishing down in Panther. He was using a bobber and jig in deeper water, 10-15 feet over cover. I guess the bobber likely kept the jig in front of the crappie a little longer. I been wanting to try it myself but haven't yet. Might be worth a try. And if you get up towards Duncan there use to be a BIG brush pile about 1/3 the way dead center of the bay on a high spot. I haven't fished it in a couple years but if you get in there check it out. May not be much left of it by now. It is west of the no boating area. I think a ton of guys use to know about it. But early one March I was in there by myself. I was idling through the bay and the water was fairly clear. I saw the brush about two feet under the water. The darn thing was about twenty feet around! There was a constant wind from the west. I pointed the nose of the boat west. I cast out and counted down the jig and hooked the brush a couple times. Then I got the depth down and thump! i 13 inch black crappie. My boat drifted way off the brush while I unhooked the slab. I got back in position and thump! A 14 inch black crappie. I set there all afternoon catching one after another. The water was a little warmer then now but IT WAS A BALL!!!

Also, I don't know if you use them or not but another thing I believe in whole heartedly is Berkley Crappie Nibbles. They really seem to help my bite, especially if the bite isn't an aggressive one. I have even used them on the hook with minnows and seems to be a difference from those fishing with me not using them. A little tip, if you haven't used them, is to dry them out a little. I put them in a aluminum pie pan over a small electric oil filled heater. I dry them for an hour or two until they toughen up. They stay on the hook better and I also believe drying them out removes moisture and intensifies the smell. One thing not to do is try and dry them out in a microwave. I had a buddy try it and they caught on fire! His wife still wonders why the microwave popcorn has a fishy taste. Hands Clapping

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

I just fished Sugar today actually. Didn't find anything shallower than fish at 11-12' in 16-18' FOW. Maybe a couple of nibbles all day spider rigging with jigs (with crappie nibbles). The problem was more than liley me not giving them what they wanted than them not biting. The water was extremely dirty as expected. I was on the north side of the bay at the mouth of the coves that have attractors. Good Luck!