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SLIP’S 2017 LOGS, STATUS AND STRATEGIES

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 27, 2017 at 7:55am

20170424----~~<")))))><(---*Pre Spawn Period*--63°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 27, 2017 at 8:23am

20170424- With a new moon coming up and warming water due to above normal temperature we decided to fish the east leg of the Wixom Lake reservoir.

With the mild breeze, we started the trip searching for activity in the shallows and first break around the island… nothing.

We eventually found the fish in the deep cuts, corners of the bridge and some dirty shorelines floating with debris. The slip/float/crawler bits was the preferred method.

We eventually found some B.Crappie but not in the numbers we like so we may be a week or so early for the migration in with the numbers. Some of the B.Crappie came in approaching the 13” mark. Small swim jigs in 1/64 thru 1/32 oz sizes were the top producers.

It was nice to be on some quality B.Gill with a few going over the 9” mark. These fish hit the slip/float/crawler-bit combination.

Earl tagged a nice P.Seed on the combination just missing the Master Angler mark of 9”.

Connor got in on the action with some nice B.gills over the 8” mark.

...

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Permalink Reply by Allen Morgan on April 27, 2017 at 6:47pm

I did a shake-down paddle/fishing trip Monday. Went to the launch for Farwell Lake for the first time. You actually launch into a series of canals that connects to Pine Hill Lake, then go through that lake to a channel the connects to Farwell. I made it into Farwell, but didn't go far, due to wind and unfamiliarity with the lake. Not to mention that I had some equipment issues (why it was a "shakedown").

I was looking for shallow, "black-bottom" flats in protected coves on the north side of the BOW. The launch area fits that to a "T", which is where I contacted fish. Like you, tipped jigs under a slip-float. I didn't think to try any swim jigs, or even a XR-4 in Baby Bass that I found packed away in my stuff this past winter. I'm pretty sure I did see a LMB on a bed, though.

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 27, 2017 at 7:47pm

i was looking on google maps of that area ... pretty interesting.

glad to see you got out on the kayak this early... looking at my logs it was mid may for me last year... now we have a week of below normal temps coming up... will certainly delay me further.

i'll tell you what Allen... look into that canal where it meets that main body of water... that's where my cousin Earl got one of his Master Angler P.Seeds the other day... a canal feeding the main BOW... it was a huge concentration of jumbos b.gill and p.seeds!

shallow in the dirtiest water has been our rule of thumb.... logs twigs leaves laydowns etc all stacked up in the corner of a BOW.

yeah, the dark bottom back bays warm quickest.

we caught some p.seeds that had freshly wounded tail fins... April !...this is insane!! warm winter and warm spring really accelerating things around here.

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Permalink Reply by Allen Morgan on April 28, 2017 at 4:04am

The canal that connects Pine Hill to Farwell is only about 2' deep, with no cover or structure. The canal that dumps into Pine Hill from the backwater areas is deeper. There might be some bigger fish hanging around there. I didn't see any cover/weeds. My sonar needs some TLC, so I wasn't able to look around with that.

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 27, 2017 at 7:55am

20170425----~~<")))))><(---*Pre Spawn Period*--64°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 28, 2017 at 7:20am

20170425-with the very warm spring days we've had so far in April water temps put us and the fishing a couple weeks ahead of last year schedule. So that in mind we headed to the shallow canals where we had the success last year.

Once in the canals we noticed the likely spike in water temps… Earl and I started throwing the Ul jigs and Connor was set on the slip/float/crawler-bit. Immediately Connor was tagging some beauties so Earl and I switched up to the slip/float/crawler-bit rigs and started tagging the fish. The fish were cruising and staging in 1-0 to 2-6’ FOW at 64 degs.

I lost an 11” class fish by trying to hoist over the gunwale when I should have used the net… the weight of the fish was just too much for the small hook and the fish pulled free. Heartbreaking!. Earl then tags his first certifiable Master Angler Fish… a magnificent colored specimen at 9.0” !!

We pushed on fishing down the school till the activity slowed. All fish were CPR’ed.

We then moved on to a similar cut across the lake and immediately started tagging similar fish in similar water conditions. Most of the fish were incredibly in the 9” class and above. An amazing catch ratio!!

Still tagging fish at an incredible pace Earl suggests hitting the B.Crappie spot on the north end of the lake. I hate leaving such a good bite we pressed on to the new spot. Once there we noticed some fishing pressure and decided to fish some new shorelines shallower. Earl miscasts and ended up over a large caliber stickup and while working his line free of the snag he hooks another 9” Master Angler P.Seed… 2^nd of the day!

We lose interest in the crappie and continue tagging major Lepomis!

... what an amazing trip!

...

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 28, 2017 at 7:59am

reviewing low to mid 60's water temps didn't happen last 2016 season till past mid may... but similar results in a similar conditions

http://bigbluegill.com/forum/topics/slip-s-2016-logs-status-and-str...

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on May 6, 2017 at 6:34pm

Solunar Activity analytics for fishing trip of 20170425…

I love to be on the water on the 3 days of the New Moon and 3 days of the Full Moon. With the full moon falling on the 26^th of April we needed to schedule a trip falling on one of those days… we found ourselves on the water 24^th and 25^th.

On the 24^th Earl came close to exceeding the 9 inch mark on a P.Seed with some great activity. The following day the fish were at the activity level of 92% on the lake was on fire. The fish were shallow in 1-2 FOW ignoring jigs but taking live bait under the Slip/Float.

Earl tags his first Master Angler at 9.0” just past the Major Period at 15:58 pm.

Then he tags his second Master Angler at 18:00 on the dot at the Minor Peak near sunset. Major or Minor Periods at dawn or sunset when overlapped are especially significant. A great time to be on the water.

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 27, 2017 at 2:49pm

20170427----~~<")))))><(---*Pre Spawn Period*--64°

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Permalink Reply by Slip Sinker on April 27, 2017 at 7:30pm

20170427- launched the boat into one of the most protected coves on wixom lake and literally got blown out of there. hey i can fish in 20-25 mph winds with the best of them... but not when they are coming from all directions!. I lasted only 45 mins.

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Permalink Reply by Allen Morgan on April 28, 2017 at 4:07am

When I had my kayak out, the wind was blowing fairly good, and it was basically lined up in the direction the canals ran. I just threw my drift sock over and let the wind push me. I did find a nice little area with Lilypads, that proved productive on the first drift, so I paddled upwind and dropped anchor. It started blowing so hard that my anchor was getting dragged....