Is it happening yet?
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Is it happening yet?
Getting close.
still pre spawn here. They're staging and getting ready by feeding, but not to the actual spawn yet
Same here. Man they are putting the feed bags on. The fish I have been catching are gorged with bait. Big bait. Like 31/2 in long. Alewives
I'm actually thinking of stepping up my jig/lure size.
I'm getting both blacks and whites. In about 10-15ft
The ones that I've been catching are no where to the nest. No red spots on the tails at all. If nothing else the cat fish are putting on the feed bag big time. Tried the north end of Pymie today and it was cold. My old hands can't take the cold like I use to, hand to where gloves to keep the pain down. Did catch 2 small crappies and 3 keeper eyes drifting.
Spark,
My buddy was up there. Your water temps are about 5-8 deg behind us here.
Buddy got over 20 walleye and got into crappie up there too. Last week. And Said guys are fishing shorelines hard for walleye right now at dusk?
Yep the water temp was 54 yesterday. 59 today at Shenango. Caught maybe 40 fish this morning drifting and only 2 fish were over 10 inches. They wanted just a hook and minnow didn't,t want a jig.
I've been getting the same as sparkie over the last few trips out.. Hook and minnow only, haven't hit the big numbers yet, but picking up 20-30 each trip. I wasn't drifting, I have been shooting docks and land structure.. Hopefully this week the bite won't stop!
Was casting for eyes along the shoreline yesterday and caught 0 eyes but the small crappies 7-10" wouldn't leave the jig and tail alone. The crappie were anywhere from 3 to 15 feet down. Blacks were tight to brush and the whites are away from the cover. With the weather that is predicted for the week the lake level should rise quite a bit. With muddy conditions slowing down the bite. In a few spots the temp was 60 degrees.
Just got home from vacation. Any updates on Shenango lake?
Fished yesterday and only saw 2 other boats and they were bass boats. Very few shoreline fisherman. Not marking many fish shallow in main lake area, most fish are suspended over deeper water or buried deep in cover. Coming off the lake yesterday I stopped and threw a jig and tail at one of my honey holes and the fish wanted the jig slowly brought back to the boat and you had to be right in the cover to get a very light bite. The gills are on a good bite. Caught one on the old road bed at the prop area that took a whole 4 inch tail in it's mouth. It had the whole thing in it's mouth right up to the jig head.
Talked to a fellow at the launch who fishes Pymie at least 4 days a week and said the bite is very poor at Pymie right now.
Need some stable weather ,to get things going big time. To much wind, no wind, clouds, no clouds, cold or warm. The weather isn't real stable. With this cold front it should put a hold on the bite for a few days.
I've been crushing crappie on every body of water from 1-6ft.. Lake Erie bay, local resivior (eaton), and pymy (last weekend).. I caught over 50 at each place, I actually filled my freezer by keeping 30 big ones (10 per spot). I fished on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday (thru the wind in my kayak- Friday) With this cold front hitting this weekend, well you got me there ha ha.. I don't know if they will go deeper or hold shallow. I will be back out next wed and get back (weather permitting). I have been hitting them mainly on live minnows, I tried jigs and fake twister worms with little action.. I am finally getting pretty decent at locating pockets of crappie! (Even tho they seem to be all over), but this site has given me so much advice on what to look for and it seems to be working.. I still find myself scratching my head on the bigger bodies of water a lot, but what I have been doing is drifting with a jig tipped with a minnow until I get a bite and dropping the anchor.. Once the anchor is dropped I try to catch the fish and see what was biting.. Luckily enough it's been crappie!
Went to Shenango with my brother and friend Saturday. Cool and wet day on the lake. We did manage to put around thirty keepers over nine inches in the box for them. Didn't get the chance to do a lot of looking for the bigger fish. That rain was a pain and we got cold after a few hours in it. Got them all in shallow water on jig and bobber. Ninety percent were blacks. May try to find the whites Monday.Quote:
Originally Posted by sparkie51
Fished Pymatuning this morning went for eyes but they weren't cooperating. Stopped at a crappie spot I fished for years. Didn't mark any fish. Dropped the anchor and threw out a slip bobber rig. Before I could bait a second pole I had a crappie. Twenty minutes later there was 31 crappies released. It was a good time. Most came on a jig and tail right over the side of the boat in 13 fow. They didn't want any movement. Just keep it still and fish on. Wind came up and I left didn't want to fight the wind. All were between 9-12 inches and all males with sore tails.
I would be there tomorrow but blew a tire on the trailer going 60 on the way home and did a really bad fish tail on me. Had to change the tire in a persons drive way tire came off the rim. Scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Glad to hear that you're okay and congrats on a good day crappie fishing.
So it has been an odd year for me in NW Pa for crappie.. I have been catching crappie in decent numbers, but everything from a boat in a little deeper water.. Before I had a boat, I would fish the shallows from the bank and catch 100's of them spawning (assuming spawning). I live only miles from 2 of my great crappie spots, I check them daily and the land bite doesn't seem like it happened? Sure they got a few when the ice came off, but nothing with huge numbers.. Am I missing something? Did they not spawn yet? Usually I get them from shore around the 3rd week of April.. Our water temps have not reached 60 yet.. Matter of fact I'm sure we are only sitting about 55 where I am... Who knows! Im lost! Ha ha.
What lakes are you fishing? While at the Crappie Seminar last night, Dan Danmuellar said that his opinion is, that at Shenango Lake, that the crappie should start spawning in a week to ten days.
Don't feel bad for a lot of guys it's the same thing. Very few catches of large fish. Usually at this time I'm picking up large crappies while casting jigs for eyes but this year nothing. I'm not even catching them trolling. When you go around the lake and don't see many guys fishing you know something is wrong. Today when I started at 6:15 AM the water temp was 56 and when I left at 10 AM it waas already 62. The crappies should be in full spawn now.
Got word from the sports writers that Dan and Garrett caught over a hundred crappies spider rigging in the golden run area. Some had good size too. Had one real close to two pounds and quite a few over a pound. These guys are some of the best crappie guys on the circuit. Jigs tipped with minnows is what worked for them.
Ok good info there, I am going to head out tomorrow and see if I can get a few.. I have been fishing Lake Erie bay, and a eaton resivior. Lake Erie bay is a little harder for me because The depths.. Eaton has been, fish the weed bed lines that are starting to form.. I have been catching fish but picking. Will see how tomorrow goes and report back.. It's been 3 days of let's say consistent weather.. Finally hit 70 today, and was 55-62 leading up to today. So maybe that will help.
Chaunc, they caught about 150 spider rigging or as they call it pulling. What is Garrett's last name?
I fished from Mahaney up to 846 yesterday and didn't catch any numbers like that. Water temp was 60 - 61 degrees. My problem was staying on a spot with all the boat races taking place. It seems that some guys spent the day seeing how fast they can get from point A to point B. They don't care much about the no wake rule or how close they get to other boats while they are traveling to the other end of the lake at 70 mph. For me the unlimited hp makes Shenango almost unfishable at times.
Fished eaton resivior this evening and caught a decent amount.. Smaller size today, but I got them in one small area.. Prior to this evening I was fishing a 100 yard stretch drifting over them and picking them up here and there, but nothing fast and furious. Today I anchored and caught them at one spot. I found they had moved down closer to the shore spawning area I mentioned in a prior post. Where I would catch them when I didn't have a boat.
You're fishing the wrong end of the lake for this time of year, Rev. The golden run area is loaded with the spawners. Sure there's some all over the lake but for numbers, you can't beat GR. I'm headed up tomorrow as I try to stay away from the lake on weekends for the very reason you explained. Speed boats and no respect.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeke
His name is Garrett Steele. He's a country singer.
Yes, I know he is a country singer. Thanks for info. Guess I should have taken notes that night.