Quote Originally Posted by gabowman View Post
Have any of you guys ever paid much attention to what the crappie you caught are eating? Well, if you have and you seen brown mush in their bellies then theyre feeding on grass shrimp. That's a GREAT bait this time of the year that congregates the crappie to a particular part of the lake when theyre there. I dont see many whole shrimp but I have seen them in the throats of a crappie a few times.
This is very educational. I feel like I know a lot about the shad and herring movements and habits in our lakes being a striper fisherman at heart. But I know absolutely nothing about grass shrimp. You mentioned certain parts of the lake where they congregate. Can you elaborate a little more on that? I assume the first thing would be the presence of vegetation for the grass shrimp to live in. But the fact you are long lining in 15 feet implies more open water in my mind. Are they more back in the creeks and coves than off the main lake?

I have seen the brown masses you are talking about in crappie, hybrid and white perch belly's this time of year. I honestly assumed they were mayfly larvae. I even powder coated a few jigging spoons brown and tied brown feathers on the hook to imitate the may fly larvae this time of year. Haven't tried them much but the perch do seem to like them.