Do you love big bluegill?

SLIP’S 2017 LOGS, STATUS AND STRATEGIES

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 17, 2017 at 9:05am

20170413----~~<")))))><(---*Crappie Pre Spawn Period*--54°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 17, 2017 at 9:11am

20170413-After dropping off the wife in town I decide to stop at a little access on a private lake where ive done some ice fishing. A new laydown just adjacent to the site was created during a recent t’storm… I needed to test the bite off the new structure.

Loaded with a few spinning rigs loaded with some small swim jigs I headed towards the dock and within a few casts started hooking up with some nice sized B.Crappies topping off at the 11” mark.

The fish were in pre-spawn mode and working the shallow shoreline in 1-3’ FOW with water temps in the mid 50’s

7 B.Crappies in total were tagged within a half hour period all on the Lil Minnow bait Long-Casted with the new spinning rig loaded with 8# GLISS.

Best fish of the day…

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 17, 2017 at 9:06am

20170414----~~<")))))><(---*Crappie Pre Spawn Period*--53°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 17, 2017 at 9:42am

20170414-being the fishing addict I am… ;>)… I took a short ride to the local lake I had some good luck with the day previous.

I picked up where I left off with a mid-20s N.Pike on the second cast with a 1/64 oz purple twist tail grub. An extraordinary battle ensued with some spool burning runs. Amazingly I landed the toothy pred having the whole grub deeply engulfed. A quick snap and was released to continue doing what these fish do so well… controlling the B.Gill population.

popular bait and rig of the day was the Long-Casting spinning loaded with a 1/64 oz purple twist tail grub.

The trip was timed to a Major Solunar Period near sunset. A double play in my book and the results did not disappoint. A half dozen B.Crappies later the action quit and I called it.

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Permalink Reply by Leo Nguyen on April 17, 2017 at 9:48am

Hm. Interesting. Solunar cycling is in effect for medium-small lakes with limited food sources as well. We see the opposite here at the smaller lakes between 10 to 300 acres, with limiting food sources. They go all out until they're filled during pre-spawning period, regardless of the season, and photoperiod, as water temperature remains in flux between 61°F to 67°F.

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 20, 2017 at 11:17am

Cycles within cycles within cycles… it’s all about reading and interpreting them isn’t it? Full moon cycle in the peek of the Pre-Spawn Period… I would want to be fishing on one of those days for sure. Then I look in the Major and Minor Solunar periods for the day and I would want to be on my hotspot casting during those times. Now if the Major or Minor periods line up with dawn or sunset… things couldn’t be better!

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 17, 2017 at 9:07am

20170416----~~<")))))><(---*Crappie Pre Spawn Period*--55°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 18, 2017 at 2:19pm

20170416- Master Angler B.Crappie during the morning Minor Solunar Period

Church and errands this morning brought me within earshot of my recent shoreline hotspot. recent trips showed big B.Crappie were in tight close to the bank herding minnows. Spawning in my neck of the woods usually takes place for the B.Crappie the full moon in May and then in June. Some spawning takes place earlier but in very reduced numbers. I have recently caught a few males but no tuxedos.

I felt the powerful urge to make a short stop and test the bite. I always store a small tackle box and at least one jigging rod in the vehicle at all times.

Upon arrival to the launch the wind was strong from the west making east casts the only option from the dock with the tiny UL jigs. I proceeded hurriedly to the dock and started making some methodical casts just short of the newly formed laydown just weeks old.

The bite was slower than I am typically used to… no bites in a 15 minute period. Then the only bite of the period happened as the jig was being pulled away from the laydown. The setting of the hook was quick and solid and the battle was solid with significant resistance… LMB i thought.The fish shook its head above the waterline and revealed its identity as a very large B.Crappie. I lip locked it at the dock and stretched a tape to its length… at 14.24”!! Master Angler Sized!! A few quick snaps from the phone I released the trophy and her genetics into the water. WOW!! Over forty years to break that 14” mark. My PB still stands at 17.6”.

Making a few more casts after the release the wind and chill became overwhelming … I shortly called the trip.

Checking my phone app Fishing Points revealed I tagged the fish Mid Minor Solunar Period! Did I yield to the urge to fish during that solunar period?… I think so!... we as humans are top preds on the food chain. Spending more time outdoors and coordinating hunting or fishing positive experiences with one’s own inner biology and instinct one becomes aware. It’s a theory and a solid one but I believe it happens to everyone to some extent. I know… I feel it.

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 18, 2017 at 6:53am

20170417----~~<")))))><(---*Crappie Pre Spawn Period*--55°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 20, 2017 at 5:23am

20170419----~~<")))))><(---*Crappie Pre Spawn Period*--58°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 20, 2017 at 6:01am

20170419-with a stretch of bad weather coming up in the near forecast Earl and I planned a trip on a local inland lake. We’re looking for continuation on the hot B.Crappie bite I’ve been experiencing lately in the shallows.

What’s been missing in the recent tags is the B.Gill. The B.Gill is the main interest and focus on most of the fishing trips planned. I really enjoy following the B.Gill through the seasons and patterns. Lately the gills have been ignoring the Long-Casted 1-2” long jigs and slip/floating/live waxies. A change in tactics like vertical jigging and drop shotting may need to be implemented.

The time slot for the trip would be split between a lull solunar period and Minor Solunar period from 12:17-13:47pm. The water temp ranged from 57 – 59°. The wind was strong from the west with partly cloudy skies.

A quick sonar scan of the deep basins saw few numbers of fish in the depths with small groups of fish hanging off the break signaling in most cases a neutral behavior.

We started casting the shallows for the B.Gills and B.Crappies long-casting tiny swim jigs with very little activity. I finally hooked up and tagged a nice 10”+ B.Crappie after over 30 mins of fishing. Anchoring in that location we tagged a few more fish but at a painstakingly slow pace.

As the time progressed into the minor solunar period the bite picked up at a considerable pace. Even Connor hooked up a couple fish on a slowly retrieved swim jig in the 1/32 oz class.

We ended up with some nice numbers of fish with some quality thrown in. very few B.Crappies were tagged under the 10” mark. 3 B.Crappies were in the 13” class and all responded well to the power minnow on 1/32 jig, 1/64 oz 1” Apex Minnow and Lil Minnow on 1/64 oz jigs. Fisherman present on the lake were using bobbers and live bait told of meager results. Slip/Float/Waxies produced 0 fish for us today. One of the 13” class B.Crappies was extremely heavy with eggs. Just a few B.Gills were tagged on jigs. All fish today were CPR’ed.

It was such a productive today I had to split the snaps into two collages.

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 22, 2017 at 9:42am

20170419-here is the solunar graph screenshot off of “Fishing Points” Android app.

Like a watch we had a slow bite from 11:00 am till 12:35 pm in line with the Minor Solunar period… the hottest bite was within the Solunar minor period from 12:35 till 15:30 then it shut off like a light switch and you couldn’t beg for a bite.