Fish schools and numbers caught

This week on one lake, a large number of sunfish were caught. The next day on a different lake, a large number of crappie were caught. Both have schooling in common but uncommon when it comes to fish locations.

The sunnies were in 3' or less and close to shore. In one spot I caught over a doz. cast after cast, though in a different part of the lake they were more spread out but still shallow. Their numbers contributed to the 102 fish caught that day along with bass, crappie, perch and a few pickerel - all in shallow water in many different areas.

Crappie in another lake, on the other hand, were caught in deep water 9-12' deep, in tight schools or more scattered but in the same area of the lake. The lures used were the same for both waters, but the jig had to be lighter - 1/32 oz for shallow water but 1/16 oz for deep.

As usual, low lure speed was essential for both waters to activate fish-triggers of suspended inactive fish. Before that happens, the splash lures make as it hits the water, starts the process of alerting fish and focusing its attention on our lures. Whatever happens after that is angler driven. What is the ultimate proof your choices were the right ones? When fish hit 3x on the same or next retrieve or right at the boat! :highfive

Fish much of the time can't turn a trigger off once it's been activated fully and especially when other fish in the area get excited into mob violence, which is very contagious and fun for us when it comes to numbers!

Man do I love getting it right and triggering triggers!

Great insights! Thanks for sharing

Congrats! Nice numbers !

Isn't amazing that nature has a way of showing us new things and refuting beliefs we've held for years - especially when it comes to seasonal fish locations?! Now when I fish any of 8 lakes I rotate through, I will look for deep water structure patterns. Sonar is a must for finding fish - even baitfish - as well as bottom hardness, weed height and density. We got the tools, it's just a matter of using them. Heck, I didn't know crappie strike trolled crankbaits last year until a bud I fish with proved it.

Good report and had to be fun when things go right ...

This time of year the gills are really aggressive. I fish a weighted float with my hand tied duck jigs and make long casts. Had several fish that I would miss on the hookset that would hit several times before I finally got hooks in them. Keep it moving and they keep chasing.