High Winds and Major Cold Fronts
Seems like we have got everything thrown at us this spring if you want to call it that. Fortunately up here in north central Oklahoma, the crappie wasn't committed to the spawn yet. I can remember a few years back on a trip to a lake in Arkansas, we had a similar cold blast come through and woke up to sleet and snow one morning around the first week of April. We were leaving the next morning so I was going to fish no matter what. The males had moved into the shallow water to make beds prior to the front but I expected them to pull back out with the 35 deg temperature drop. While the rest of our bunch stayed in the camper, I took a 3 mile boat ride in the sleet and snow. When I got to the area I wanted to fish, a bay off the main river channel, I decided to spider rig in the mouth and deeper water channel going into the bay. Fished the ledges along the channel without a bite for 2 hrs before deciding the fish were not going to cooperate. With nothing to loose, I decided to move back into the bay to the brush and shallow flats where we had caught them before the major front came through in 2 to 3 fow. After an hour of fishing, I almost had my limit of big males and some females fishing 16 inches deep with a slip cork and shiners. 1 picture from my phone to camp and everybody was there catching fish. Heard Wally say one time once they are committed to the spawn, they are not going to stop no matter what the weather does. Not sure about that but they are catchable after major fronts. Fish may be really tight in cover but after a day or two of warmer weather, they will move back up in the water column. Good thing about these spring cold fronts is they are here and gone in a couple of days. High wind is something we are going to have on most days. Always tried to find areas with a wind break in known spawning areas and work shallower water to deeper water. Just a typical spring in Oklahoma that I think affects the fisherman more than the fish.
