20160518 SHALLOW WEEDLINES WERE ON FIRE WITH THE LONG CASTS

Conditions were great for throwing the UL jigs on the super lines yesterday… water temps on the rise and near calm seas. B.Gills were on their way in as water temps rose into the mid 60° range. Long expanses of likely water were empty as fish concentrated in large numbers in isolated areas. Finding the fish required the effort. Boats that came in at the launch from the morning fishing complained of neutral fish, cold waters and cold front. One boat had (6) crappie as best. I for one am addicted to the late afternoon early evening bite… especially during the spring season… fish become more active as the waters warm.
We decided to fish Wixom Lake today mainly out of convenience and we were curious to explore some potential hotspots that were glaring at us on the topo map. Our instincts were correct and found hoards of panfish roaming the shallow weedlines to the breakwalls. We passed a couple miles of near vacant shallow flats before reaching our waypoints.
It was one fish after another being tagged on the UL jigs. Earl found action with a trigger x swim minnow on a 1/32 oz jig. The plastic 3” bait was cut down approximately 30% to just under two inches and provided more hookups. I found the white Jelly Jig and my Spring Cricket more productive on my end. 2# ice braid and 3# Nano were key in providing some good casting distance with these light baits..
B.Gills and P’Seeds in the 90% Master Angler Rating were more common place today. Many were caught sight fishing as they were cruising the shallows. The main spawning run for these guys will be the full moon in June as water temps reach the low 70’s.
Slip/floating produced a few good fish but the jigging produced the larger specimens in greater numbers.