20180430-Brenden tags some nice shiners

20180430-Brenden tags some nice shiners

The afternoon started out with Brenden and I taking practice casts out on the lawn ended up taking it to the docks and tagging some nice shiners spawning in the shallow weeds. The 1” swim baits were to big for the fish though they smacked it and held on for awhile. Brenden and I then dropped down to the pink waxie on a .016 oz Jig tossed into the weed pockets to nail them… and of course Brooklynn wanted to hold and touch nearly everyone of them…good times

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20180430-we had a scheduled trip today that worked against the solunar tables

20180430-we had a scheduled trip today that worked against the solunar tables

… but scheduling and finding that gap between day care, school and work found us on the lake during the Lull.Period during a 93% solunar day. We saw it in the forecast… after a significant winter like weather the two days before bringing those water temps back down into the upper 40’s there was no cheating the solunar table. I believe we could of gotten away with some decent fish and numbers if it wasn’t for the huge temperature drop.

Once at the launch we were greeted with some wind, sun and warming temps. The water temp registered 49°… I wasn’t shocked or surprised. We were on the way for a tough slim picking trip… no doubt about it.

I flipped the side scan on to scan 120 ft both sides to look for the fish pulse… were they out deep, tightly schooled, deep or shallow… nothing. The Dead Sea.

We tried the Shallow at the Bank Pattern we were so successful the past few trips with zero response. We looked for them tight to cover, near and on the first break in the shallow coves. No pulse.

We brought the battle to one of our most productive coves… I side scanned 100 ft both sides all the way to the end … only spotting solitary isolated fish with no response to baits.

Once at the end I bottom bounced a Long-Cast/.016 oz jig/1” Apex Minnow and hooked up on a nice tag of a chunky egg laden SMB… saving my day… somewhat.

The only other fish was Earl’s junior LMB… could not spot or tag a single B.Crappie or B.Gill.

The near skunking on the Lull.Period only solidifies our belief in those solunar tables. Scheduling worked against us but it was really nice to hook up with friends and cast!

20180428-here is a great and simple tip to add considerable lifetime to plastic tails on collared barbed jig heads. Clip the tip section of the plastic bait approximately the length of the jig head itself off before inserting the plastic onto the hook. It saves splitting of the plastic since the section is now larger to accommodate the diameter of the collar and barb. This is where most failure starts where unclipped baits will start to split when the small tip is stretched over the collar.

add a drop of super glue on the collar and behind the jig head and this combo could go all day!

Guaranteed you will be pleasantly surprised!

20180426-Putting It Together… Cold Water Period, Shallow at the Bank Pattern and Major.Periods 

…looking at my schedule I needed to be back at the home base by 15:00 and noticed a Major period that would take place from 10:00 – 12:30 … in 35 mins time I was on the spot making my first cast near the 10:00 mark. 

Lake conditions were favorable with glass calm seas, sunshine, cool temps and 52° surf temp at the launch. 

I immediately took up position to fan cast the bank in 0 to 2-0’ of water continuing with the “fish at the bank” pattern I had success with the past couple trips… the bite continued! 

I continued tagging the 90% plus Master Angler Rated B.Crappie with a few exceeding the 13” mark with a specimen at nearly 96%...and an occasion mid LMB and Midsized Lepomis mixed in. 

The action was at a methodical pace lasting throughout the Major.Period and ended quickly like a switch at the 12:10 mark. 

The popular methods for tagging were long-casting/.016 oz jigs/waxie or swim tails, short rods with 2# mono diameter super lines or less… Nanofil and Gliss. 

What ive learned from fishing seasons in the past concerning the cold water periods including ice… Is it is a nearly a complete waste of time fishing the lull periods in between major and minor periods. Ever been on a hot bite then all of a sudden the bite stops?... yes we all have been in that situation… chances are they are associated with  an ending Major or Minor Period. 

Was a successful trip for the books and I was back home an hour ahead of schedule! 

Timing… timing… timing.

20180426-after a brief warm-up a small cold front went thru yesterday with some chilly NW winds cooling the waters and probably putting a beat down on the B.Crappie movement shallow.

I feel the need and draw to the water today thru the early Major.Period to check the pulse on the B.Crappie as well as the B.Gill movement along the bank…on a 61% day the major.period will be 10:00-12:30

20180425-tagged a nice SMB…

 long-casting/.016 oz & .032 oz Jigs looking for that B.Crappie bite. The bridge area is usually void of fish Nov thru April then the fish start moving in. once in awhile ill get lucky like today with a tag. Hen full of eggs and will be spawning once temps get in the mid to upper 60’s.

very nice fight… I welcome each and every battle with these beauties. I am very blessed this stretch of the river will hold them throughout the May – October months.

20180423-Cold Water Period is on Fire!

this trip was to find my most recent pattern of “fish on the bank” on a public lake. Reason?... Master Angler trophy-sized fish are not eligible for Master Angler recognition when caught on a private lake. The first main goal is to tag the fish but we want them to count as well for the record.

With sun, above normal temps, and light winds we selected a public lake I’ve had very good luck on last year.

The solunar game plan was to be on the lake at 12:00 for the Minor.The period starting at 12:47 and leave sometime during the following Lull.Period

Once launched I noticed 54° temps at the bank, not a bad jump from skim ice and snow on the ground just a little more than a few days ago. Another thing noticed was an empty public launch parking lot. It is truly amazing the percentage of fishermen hang up their rods this time of year.

We headed out straight away to a waypoint we historically tag good sized B.Crappie early in the season on this lake. The spot did not disappoint. In a short period, we tagged several quality B.Crappie with 5 of them being lunker status. Earl leads the pace with 13” class bruiser sat a 93% Master Angler Rating.

Having a good feeling about this particular little stump field we decided to temporarily move on and let the spot rest for a bit. Earl mentions out loud he feels a Master Angler or two are definitely in the area. As we move away from the spot I side-scan the area and notice multiple fish in between the stumps.

We moved on casting tight to the bank and got a mix of Lepomis and B.Crappie in1 to 2-0’ of water. We were tagging combination of swim jigs or jigs and bait. Then Earl tags a Master Angler Monster B.Crappie stretching the tape to 15.5” on jig nite crawler combination. WOW!! I haven’t seen a B.Crappie that sized since I was 16 years old!

We tried slip floating but with little or no results.

The bite cooled down tight to shore so we moved back to the stump field and noticed schools of neutral fish just below the surface near the boat. I could literally touch the B.Crappie with the tip of the rod before they would move. Now that is a neutral fish!

We called it a trip in the middle of the Lull.Period.

The lunkers, as well as the Master Angler fish, caught measured this trip as an obvious success.

20180422-Opening Day

I decided to gear up and head to a local lake to test the waters for the panfish bite. Looking around winter evidence of ice is still present against the north facing foundations of the houses and garages and I’m going panfishing?

Looking at the solunar tables we were sitting at the lowest activity of the month at 13%. I would be fishing the lull approaching the major period. Today the weather was the trigger to get me out on the water.

30 short mins later im in the water scanning the shallows looking for the schools. Main lake body temperature was a cool 49° some calm shoreline waters broke the 51° mark where I started fan casting without a bite. This skunking went on for about an hour without a bite or signal from a fish.

During this skunking 2 other locals in their boats joined the pursuit and they seemed to be experiencing the same lack of success. I then started scanning with the side imaging looking for any sign of life. I then looked for them along the first and second breaks. Looking for schools of crappie would have been the easiest to spot on this lake… there are many as well as Lepomis. The search revealed nil.

Many times while out on the water during negative periods I would usually occupy my time by being productive in other ways like visual runs of the shorelines and contour mapping… just to keep me out there till the next solunar period.

At one point I started checking my phone for messages and position on the solunar graph while letting the boat drift slowly in one of the lakes shallow bays. Checking the surface temp on the sonar unit registered a blistering 53°. Just then I startled a large school of panfish in mere inches of water. Backing quickly out with the trolling motor I positioned the boat within easy casting distance to the bank.

I quickly rigged up the slip-float /fly/waxie setup and sent it to the school. The first cast was splashed on top of the school apparently alarming them sending the immediate shallows into a boil.  After repeated attempts with the rig ended with the same result the float spooking the fish in such shallow conditions.

I then started long casting the 1/64 oz jig/waxie combo into the school and started immediately hooking up which included the first fish/B.Gill of the season. I then let the jig settle to the bottom dead sticked it as well as a twitch and hop and increased the pace of tagged fish

After a short period in a flurry of fishing action I tagged 26 fish just over a Michigan limit and called it a day. In that mix were some nice mid sized B.Crappie and PSxBG hybrids in the lunker class… very nice.

I was able to recover the trip successfully by being persistent and adhering to a few basic early season principles. Fishing the warmest water, fishing tiny baits and fishing shallow. I missed the fish earlier in the trip fishing the same area but not shallow enough apparently.

A memorable opening day.

20180421-took a walk to the bridge to take a pulse of the reservoirs current condition… water temps etc. I of course took 3 long-cast/UL jigs set-ups with me to test the bite. As I started to take a temperature reading with the digital thermometer the battery died… but I’m guessing with the rapid snow and ice melt-off and ice and snow still on the bank water temps would historically read in the mid to high 40’s.

A great forecast ahead with sunshine and seasonal high temps we are headed for a fast warm-up into the water temps in the 50’s very quickly along with some fish activity.

with 20 mins casting during a major period i concluded no fish were present in this stretch of water presently.

20180420-did a little scouting today…

I was not impressed... since I always stow tackle in the vehicle at all times… (ya never know when an emergency arrives!) … I stopped at a few local shoreline spots that offer the premiere early fish activity meters in my area. The earliest fish activity  is measured at these spots accurately … after ice-out these are my earliest go to spots… throw a slip/float with a waxie or long/cast a little minnow/jig combo… hookup… fish are in. very simple equation.

There was no action today… I threw the go to baits and no hits. Just to test. Usually the fish are in with visible minnow activity in the sandy shallows… nothing… no visible life. The ice and snow melt off is a bull in the china shop indicator this is not the time… too early! Water temps at the most near mid 40’s with the melt off

Still thinking though a deep vertically jigged ice jig/waxie combo would be the ticket at the first break off the flats at 9 to 10-0’ levels….I need the boat for this to happen. Soon though the launches will be in shape and accessible.

Today with the great weather however I mark as a pivot point on the calendar in weather activity… winter/ spring transition I feel begins here.

Soon enough… soon enough I’ll be on the water scoring tags.

20180419- one year ago today Earl and I were on the fish in 58° water

One year ago today Earl, Connor and I were tagging the fish right and left long–casting/.032 UL jigs with 58° water temps. Checking normal avg water temps for this time of year would be within that range… we are currently -15° off that mark…. Water temps in the low to mid 40’s.

Checking the weather we art at the turning point where winter will finally be loosening its grip for near normal temps.

20180419-Tweaking the slip/float setup and methods…

I spent quite a few hours tweaking spinning rod setups for slip/floating and long-casting over some idle time this past winter. Back and spine issues kept me on the sidelines thru the hard water ice fishing season. Some of the changes I made were very minor in nature with no extra purchase in rods, reels and lines.

Since May and early June are just around the corner I concentrated most efforts on the slip/float set-ups realizing they are under the most use during those weeks with long-casters a close second.

The lines were all braid in the 6-8# test range with less than 2# mono diameter. For maintenance I simply swapped the line end for end which I normally do every one or two years to compensate for wear.

I noted one set-up is going on its fifth season with the red power pro line of 6# test. That is an incredible statement alone in itself. Significant durability and economy is well noted each and every time I use these rigs out on the water.

The line of choice is braid for the slip/floats systems. The main reason is its insane ability to cut thru weeds and stalks better than any other line type. On two separate occasions I landed 2 30” class fish in the same shallow lily pad field. I was simply amazed after landing the fish and noting the floating stems and pads in the battle zone. The braided line literally weed whacked thru the field… cannot do that with mono. Slip/floating and braid combinations has certainly earned my confidence. Then consecutively… it is thin and durable and casts like a dream.

The rods used varied from 4-0’ thru 5-6’ all UL action. The set-ups have the capacity to launch a slip/float in excess of 75-0’ fully loaded… not bad for short rods. I very rarely make casts over the 40-0’ mark … the floats are small and casts further than that are tough to see and detect the light bite.

Of course slip/floating set-ups are always changing preferences with me… but at a slower pace… I feell im actually getting close to the perfect set-ups matching my methods

Will always keep ya posted on any changes… good fishin

Keep those Lines Tight!

ken