Got off work at 5pm and was making my first cast by 5:10. I started at the SW shore and worked my around most of the lake. The largemouths are setting on beds already. I seen 4 or 5 beds with males guarding them. No eggs in any of them so I think the bass have just moved up shallow. I left the bass alone but it was neat to watch the males just look at you and not move an inch as I casted to the pads and walked along the bank.

Here and there I would get nibbles from what I think were small trout. Just tapping the jig and letting it go. Made a far cast out to the edge of some pads and the bobber went straight down and didn't return so I set the hook! It's a little 8" male crappie. Cast back to the same hole and it's bobber down again. I started catching them left, right and center for about an hour in that section of the lake. There were a few males in water that was only 5 inches deep. At one point I had the bobber set 4 inches above the jig and the males would crush it in the shallow pockets. None of the males look like they have been fanning nest so I think it's the very early stages of the spawn. The females I caught where all on the outside edge of the pads and even out in open water. All of the females were thick with eggs.

Hour and a half on the water: 16 males 6"-9" long and 8 females 8"-11". It's not anywhere near peak spawn but there are a few moving shallow to feed and look for nesting sites.