Norman 3/20

Best weekend of crappie fishing I've had on Norman in at least 10 years.

Started Friday night fishing jigs under a light in about 15 fow. Fish were on the bottom. Caught 3 that were 14" with another 7 that were 10-13".
Saturday, the weather was beautiful, but the fish just weren't there. By evening, the wind turned east northeast at 15-25. It was really rough. I went back to the same place I caught themFriday night, and they were there again. Near the bottom and again, all on jigs. I learned that I could better control and feel my jig if I left my rodtip right at the water surface rather than in the air as the wind has a muchgreater impact on my line. Ended up with20 Saturday evening with about 7 in the 12-14” range and the remainder 9-11”.
Today, I figured it would be terrible….. cold front movedthrough, temp dropped at least 20 degrees, and wind was due east at a steady10-15 mph. History told me that the fishwould have lockjaw. History also told me that you never know and the only wayto be sure was to go fishing. Also, myoldest son came to see me for my birthday and to fish just a bit. Our first stop yielded just a few fish. We moved to another spot out of the wind thathad failed to produce much this year so far, and we did well. We caught around 25 in the 10-12” range.

I know this may not sound like a great day to a lot offolks, but for where I fish on Norman, I was very happy. I had been catching progressively fewer andfewer crappie at Norman for each of the past 6-8 years and today was a greatand unexpected improvement. This yearwas also the muddiest I had seen Norman in 10 years. It makes me wonder if all the rain the lastcouple of years has done something to improve the habitat for crappie –possibly making it harder for Perch to thrive.
TW

Norman 3/20 - 3/22