Lake Shafer or Lake Freeman?

I have a buddy in Ohio I haven't seen in a number of years. We are talking about meeting somewhere at the halfway point between Ohio and WI. I'm looking in the Monticello area at Lake Shafer or Lake Freeman. Which one would be the best for some crappie fishing during the early to mid summer? Any recommendations on a place to stay, preferably close to a boat landing? We will be arriving on a Friday and leaving on Sunday so we won't have a lot of time to explore to find fish so any help is appreciated. This will be a catch and release trip so the locals don't have to worry about us taking their fish out of state. :biggrin

they have aa lot of resorts on Schafer fish monon ditch trees or the flats its lot better wiper fishing than crappie

Maybe your spellcheck changed something or it is a geographical term, but what is wiper fishing?

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Originally Posted by hunt4crappie

Maybe your spellcheck changed something or it is a geographical term, but what is wiper fishing?

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wipers = cross between Walleye and strippers.

White bass/striper hybrid.

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Do you troll for them using something like a flicker shad? I fish a lake here in WI for walleye and catch a lot of white bass while trolling.

They are catching walleye below Shafers dam in the upper river of Freeman. Both have crappie, Freeman is much clearer, has a lot of small mouth, largemouth, and eyes besides crappie. My favorite is Freeman as Shaffer stays pretty dingy to muddy. Houses and cottages around both with lots of docks and canals on Freeman.

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Originally Posted by hunt4crappie

Do you troll for them using something like a flicker shad? I fish a lake here in WI for walleye and catch a lot of white bass while trolling.

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It's not uncommon to catch either while trolling. White bass will school up and head to headwaters and rivers about this time to spawn. Anything with a little flash will catch them. They will get into the jumps around June. Targeting hybrids I like to bump a large swimbait off the bottom with long casts. The larger 5 lb. + wipers are tanks.

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i think there are plenty of crappie in both. i prefer shafer because it has more bay areas to fish. its a pitch/jigging dock and wood type lake. dont ever see or hear of many real toads though.

I’d hit shafer and fish the big monon ditch. Definitely wanna catch and release though. Those lakes are dirty