The weather in Eastern Ontario has been nothing short of unbelievable. Daytime highs into the mid 20’s has really got things rolling on our local lakes. Ice went away very fast and water temps are already well into the high 40’s. The migration of Crappie to their spawning areas has begun.
The warmer weather and very fast rise in water temps seems to have confused the migration a bit. While in past years water temps in the low to mid 40’s had fished moved shallow, this year with the temps rising so fast I expected the fish to be in shallow water but they were not. That is the best and worst part of Crappie fishing. One day they are there the next day they are not!
We found the migrating Crappie staged out in the main basin in 6 to 8 feet of water. Once we found them we loaded them up! Though our numbers were great with over 100 Calicos crossing the gunnel very few were a decent size. Turns out the first run of fish were Males.
I did manage to luck into a pair of real tanks. 14 and 14.5 inches.
It’ll be tough to top this 14.5 incher this spring, but I’ll enjoy trying!
All my fish came on the good ol slip float rig. Varying depth settings on the float depending on water depth. At the business end was a 1/32ths oz. Nuckleball jig with a 2 inch Gulp Minnow in white.
I brought home a pile for the deep fryer, nothing beats fresh crappie. My step-daughter Ariel is always willing to lend a hand in the cleaning station.
Before….
After…The fruits of our labour…..YUM!
