Making Memories

You know how sometimes a week just seems to drag on forever? Well that is the week I just had. Since making my official spring crappie and bluegill scouting adventure on Houghton lake last weekend it seemed like the last seven days were stuck in creeper gear as I anticipated the arrival of yesterday. For me, yesterday, Saturday, April 12, was a special day as it was going to be my first day of serious crappie and bluegill fishing for the 2025 season.
My panfishing season actually began last weekend with my annual spring scouting trip, but that is always more of an outing just to learn if any crappie are in the canals feeding and staging for the spawn. Though I knew the water was only in the upper 30s or very low 40 degree range, and I had to break ice with my kayak in the morning, I had a feeling the timing was right. And even though I spent the majority of that day reminiscing with my lifelong friend and fishing companion while we were searching for fish, I managed to catch a few crappie in very specific locations that I had hoped to find them. Locating those few fish reassured me that my timing was right on the money and that if spring weather stayed on track with typical Michigan weather, the fluctuating cold nights, a couple cold days and a few nice warm days would create perfect conditions for the first big push of crappie to migrate from the main lake wintering areas into the canals. So as the week progressed, and the weather drove most of us crazy, my mind was locked in panfish mode. I was fairly confident that I would get into at least a few fish yesterday, and having found out earlier in the week that my 15 year old grandson would be joining me yesterday only made me more intent on getting a whole bunch of fish slime in my kayaks.
Being just 15 years old, my grandson Haylen is still young but he already has plenty of fishing experience as his father, my eldest son, is an avid outdoorsman so it was only natural that my grandchildren would be exposed to fishing at an early age. And with this being my 39th season of kayak fishing my grandson already has quite a few years of kayak fishing under his belt. I was pretty sure that if I could find the fish he would be able to catch them, and since he was wanting to take home a mess of fillets for a family fish fry, my number one goal was to get him on fish as quick as possible, and keep him on fish the entire time we were on the water. So when he arrived at my house a little after 11:00 am yesterday, I already had both my kayaks and all the fishing gear, along with lunch and snacks, loaded in my vehicle and ready to get on the water. My grandson seemed equally excited as me to get a hook in the water so we wasted no time at my house when he showed up.
It only took ten minutes to drive to the landing we would be using and another ten minutes or so to paddle our kayaks to the first location that I wanted to try fishing. While paddling our way toward that first fishing spot, I explained to Haylen why we would be fishing that particular spot and the dozen or so other locations we would fish throughout the day. I briefed him on the specific gear and tackle I would be using and highly recommended that he use the same but also left him the option to try whatever he wanted. I, as usual, was going to be using what I almost always use to catch crappie, a micro jig tipped with a soft plastic lure and as we neared that initial fishing area I highly encouraged him to use one of my ultralight spinning rod and reel combos with the jig and soft plastic that I already had rigged but he really wanted to begin with his own rod and reel. Though he already had a jig and soft plastic tied on his line, and it was not what I would have used, I was more than willing to let him give it a try. I figured he would either catch fish, or when he didn't I would explain why I thought he didn't so he might be convinced to try what I was doing. And while I am not an expert crappie fisherman in any way, I am fairly successful at it and very confident in my approach to catching them, so to get the fishing started I suggested a few areas Haylen should try casting then let him proceed on his own as I concentrated on getting the first fish in the kayak.
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I began my fishing for the day by casting my jig and soft plastic, that was suspended under a bobber, to open water areas located a few feet from a break line about that is about ten feet off one of the seawalls. I was searching for crappie that might be roaming the open water in search of schools of minnows. My casts were presented about thirty feet from my kayak in a half circle pattern, like the face of a clock, starting at the three o:clock position in relation to my kayak then making each successive cast after that going counter clockwise to each relative hour position until I reached the nine o:clock position. Once I finished that cycle of casts I would present my lure a little closer to the break line or a specific piece of structure and repeat the pattern, all the while keeping an eye on my grandson.
For Haylen it was a bit of a rough start. He hadn't been in a kayak since last year, so adjusting himself to the watercraft took a little time. His line was a bit heavier than I would use so his casts were not going as smooth as I would like to have seen. Not that the casts need to be far but a smooth cast will make it easier to control the positioning of the cast, and to me that is crucial. And on top of that his jig was just not right. Well it wasn't right for me that is. Sure it may have worked for someone else, just wasn't right for me. But I let him continue on as I made my way about fifty feet further along in the canal.
We had been in the canals for about twenty minutes by the time I made that first little move from my initial spot and I was really surprised that I had absolutely not one bite so far. In fact I was actually a bit baffled as that first spot is almost a guarantee to put a few good crappie in the kayak. But yesterday that just wasn't the case. And the second place I was going to try was a spot that I rarely catch a crappie, but I knew from many years of fishing that spot, just like any other spot on any lake, from time to time those typical non fish holding areas sometimes hold fish. So I moved along anyhow.
I approached that second spot using the same half clock pattern as my first spot, easing my way closer to the nearest structure as each cycle of casts went untouched. By that time my fingers were starting to get a bit cold, as were Haylen's, and I was wondering if I had miscalculated my timing about the fish movement into the canals. I took a lot of self control to continue on in that spot and not let my good fisherman/bad fisherman internal argument convince myself that I was wrong and needed to move to a totally different part of the lake. But deep down I knew better. I knew the crappie were there and it was just a matter of being patient, and putting my life of crappie pursuit knowledge to use. So I stopped casting briefly and as I watched my grandson continue to fish without any success, I dug my thoughts into the deepest recesses of my fishing mind. I was missing something but I knew, somewhere along in my life, I had been in that situation before and had figured it out. Sometime in my 50 years plus of chasing crappie I realized that maybe, just maybe they were right over there, up tight to that structure, just waiting for the warming rays of the sun to heat up the open water areas nearby so they could actively begin chasing prey. And some,,,
Suddenly a blip sounded loud and clear on my internal fish radar.
My next cast was presented about two feet past the nearest piece of structure. Once my jig had settled under my bobber, I began reeling very slowly. I reeled so slow that I almost could not tell the bobber was moving, but I new it was as I could see it nearing the structure just fifteen feet in front of my kayak. Then, like a fine meal being served on a silver platter, when my lure presentation was just a matter of a couple inches from that structure, my hand carved cedar bobber twitched then stood on end and slowly started to descend below the water's surface. I followed that action with a stern backward flick of my wrists while reeling as fast as I could. My four and a half foot ultralight rod bent toward the water as my hook grabbed hold of a fish. It only took about a dozen turns of my reel crank before I had a very respectable eleven inch crappie along side my kayak and then in my hand. It was the size of fish we were looking for, perfect for the fryer, but as with my tradition, I released that first keeper of the day. But I had found the key. The door to catching fish was wide open and I was more than ready to cross the threshold.
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For the following hour or so, I worked back and forth between three main pieces of structure in that first canal. I would cast a couple feet beyond the structure then slowly inch my bobber toward it until my suspended jig was within just a couple inches of the fish's lair. then I would just ease the lure along, paralleling whatever might be submerged, until I would see the slightest little disturbance to the path of my barely moving bobber. A tiny ripple coming off the bobber, or the slightest rise in the upside of the bobber was enough for me to set the hook. And though the action was not fast and furious, it was enough to put a few fish in the cooler and convince my grandson that he would be taking home some fish.
Haylen was still struggling to catch a fish, in fact by the time I had five fish in the cooler he had not even had a bite yet. He did however have a few line tangles, misplaced casts, and one broken line. I could see his enthusiasm was beginning to wane, but he was not giving up. He was bound and determined to catch a fish and eventually he suggested that maybe he try casting without a bobber. This idea by him was all I needed to see. It convinced me that he was ready for a change. So what I did was suggest that he just give my extra rod and reel a try. A was a bit longer than his, with much lighter line, and I already had it rigged with one of my cedar bobbers and the same jig and soft plastic combination that I was using. I was sure the longer rod would help him control his cast better and I knew it wouldn't take long for him to start getting some hits if he switched. Well to my surprise, as he is quite stubborn like his father, Haylen actually agreed and happily took my extra rod and reel.
By then we had moved from our first canal location further into the canal system. We were on the main canal fishing similar structure to where I had initially caught fish. I had just added another crappie to our cooler live well and told Haylen to be confident and he would catch fish then I heard an excited " I got one!" coming from Haylen just thirty feet away. I turned and looked in his direction and right away a could see a bend in his rod as Haylen was fighting a fish. He only needed to make about ten cranks of the reel before he had that fish next to his kayak and in his hand. It was his first fish of the day and was a very beautiful eight inch bluegill. I told him to hold on to it for a minute so I could move closer to take a picture before he added the fish to the cooler. Well as luck would have it, just before I snapped the photo that darn fish made a quick slithering twitch and slipped out of my grandson's hand and back into the lake. Much to my surprise, Haylen wasn't upset about losing the fish. But he was ready to get back to the fishing.
About ten minutes later, and one hundred feet or so further along the canal my grandson hooked another fish. That time it was a ten inch crappie that he made sure to hold a tight grip on. I was able to get next to him for a couple photos. I could tell he felt great about adding his own catch to the family fish fry as he smiled proudly while holding his first crappie of the day. And I say "first crappie of the day" because it was truly just his first of many to follow, for once he figured out the little details of detecting a subtle bite Haylen was on fire.
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We would catch two or three good ones for the cooler and release two or three keepers back to the lake before moving on to another piece of structure. The bite would last for ten or fifteen minutes at each location before we would move, giving that area ten or fifteen minutes or more to calm down before we would return to it and catch a few more. We moved around like that for about an hour and a half before the bite seemed to come to a halt. The structures were no longer producing bites, but I wasn't confident that the bite had ended.
I began casting my jig about ten feet away from the structure into nearby open water areas and was immediately into fish. Not only was it crappie but there were some very respectable bluegill as well. You see, sometimes my fishing brain just takes over when I get on the water and, as my wife has told me a few times over the years, "you think too much like a fish." Which I guess may be the case but I don't really realize it because it seems sometimes I am not consciously thinking about it. And that was the case with that last decision to change tactics. I didn't really think about it, I just did it. It was like natural instinct told me the fish had moved out into the warm sun shine. Their bodies had warmed a bit and they were much more active. They were hungry, pre spawn was fast approaching, and they were going to eat. So eat they did.
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For the following three hours we were on fish. There were a few locations where we were getting solid hits with every cast. If I wasn't reeling in a fish Haylen was. We had a few doubles throughout the afternoon when Haylen and I were reeling in fish at the same time and adding two to our cooler. And the fish were good ones. Bluegill in the eight to nine and a half inch range and crappie from nine to a grandson hollering "I got a big one grandpa!!!" twelve and three quarter inch slab. He almost matched me fish for fish in the afternoon and beat me with the largest fish of the day. With did put three crappie in the cooler that were only in the nine and a half inch range because they were hooked bad, but we made sure to release three extra crappie that were over ten inches. . When it was all said and done, five hours on the water was enough for us to put 21 fish in the cooler and release at least that many. Almost all the fish we released were bluegills in the eight inch range and crappie in the nine to eleven inch range, being sure to give back to the lake that has provided us with so much.
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Today my grandson will be taking home a few pounds of fillets to share with his family and I have another wonderful memory to take with me the rest of my life.

Awesome job. Good times, good memories and good eats!

Great day on the water!!! Nice report, thanks for the write up. Great feeling when you figure em out... But I think it's only going to get better...

Sent from my moto z4 using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

Your Kayak fishing story gives me more encouragement to use my fishing Kayak more, it is a different level of fishing. Thanks for sharing.

Great post! Thanks for taking us along for the ride

Great day on the water with family, that’s what it’s all about.

It's all about making memories, great story, thanks for sharing. And great to see you back on the site.

This is my 39th season of kayak fishing. For me, there is no other way. In the 39 years since I began kayak fishing back in the late 1980s, long before "fishing" kayaks were on the market, I have only fished from a power boat of any kind about a dozen times. I have a little over 20,000 miles in my kayaks, with over 10,000 of those being in my 17 year old Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5. The few times I have fished from a power boat I feel so out of place. Totally uncomfortable. And my kayak fishing is pretty much bare bones, no electronics, no pedal power, no trolling motors. Just me, my kayak, my paddles, my pfds (always 2 of them), my fishing gear, my knowledge of the fish I am pursuing and an ability to read a lake map of the waters I am fishing. That's all I need. Makes me feel great and more in touch with Mother Nature. Good luck, be safe, and happy fishing.
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Nice story Frank and very informative for all panfishermen
Glad you and the boy had a good time