Murray Report 5/26/18

Finally made it back to the lake for a crappie trip. In the last few weeks I haven't had a chance to fish more than a couple of hours a weekend and the bass bite has been winding down on my favorite spots so instead of searching for them I decided it was time to pick the jig pole back up.

I was excited to get back after the crappie and normally this time of year is as consistent as it gets once you figure them out. Needless to say, I was greeted by some tough fishing. I started out at safe light and figured things would be slow until the sun showed up. This time of year I generally fish shaded cover and the early morning bite is generally slow unless a few are found on brush.

It didn't take long before I caught a nice fish in the 1.50 range but the quick start quickly slowed drastically! It took another 1.5 hours to catch another crappie. I stayed on the move and fished a lot of spots including blow downs, bridges, docks, logs, and brush. In hindsight I caught fish at each type of cover but it was 1 here, 1 there. I kept after them until 1 pm when I had enough. I caught around 20 crappie and ended up keeping 11 with a few bonus fish including a hefty shellcracker that made my heart skip a beat on a blow down LOL

Fish were caught in 4-15 FOW at a variety of depths and the best colors were black/chart. and June bug/chart. Although I tried casting, all fish were caught vertical jigging. I believe the fish are behind schedule a little bit. I could be wrong, but the water temps are lagging behind right now. Water temps were around 80 degrees Saturday. Albeit slow, it was still a fun morning on the water!

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Congratulations Derek! That's a really nice mess of fish. I haven't gone but once this year with Don. I've had something to do on the weekend or been ill. It's always been something. Thanks for the report.

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A fine mess of fish Derek. I had only time for a couple of short trips this past weekend myself. Likewise, I found the bite dramatically slower than weeks prior. Not sure of the reason, other than the cloudy, rainy conditions. The lake is rising which could play a part in my area of the state. Needless to say, I caught a enough to make it enjoyable. Thanks for the pics and post.

Enjoyed your report Derek and the pictures.

good job Derek. myself and a buddy went out thurs morning. started abut 7am on brush pile. i had him 8 to 1 at around 8am. we ended up with 20 very nice crappie. caught a few short stripers and three or four almost decent perch. quit around 11;30 when the weather was coming in. got a few sprinkles during the morning but nothing heavy. good to just be out there.

Great catch and great report. I hope to try my luck with them soon.