Memorial Day Crappie Fishing

This past Memorial Day was one of the hottest I can remember. While most Hoosiers were watching the Indy 500, my nephew and I were on the lake catching some crappies.

It was 90 degrees and super humid. This would have been a great day to relax in the water, like many others were doing. The water temperature actually rose 8 degrees during the time we were on the lake. It was 76 in the morning and 84 by the afternoon!

The crappies are pretty much done with the spawn and are transitioning to their deep water summer patterns. When the water temperatures get into the 80’s they are usually located in deep water. The pattern we found is almost done now for the summer. We caught our fish in shallow water around docks. The fish were located in the shadiest parts. Skipping plastic grubs worked the best. (Check out a previous post about my favorite crappie lures.)

Crappie fishing can be very difficult on hot, calm, sunny days. If you are faced with these conditions in late spring to early summer, it may be worth skipping some docks to see if you can get a few bites. I know we had a great Memorial Day on the water.

Finicky Bluegills

The first fish you probably ever caught was a bluegill. Bluegills have been hooking kids on fishing for years. These fish are notorious for being easy to catch, but what do you do when these fish won’t cooperate? Go weightless.

Bluegills go through times when they are very fickle and hard to catch. When I encounter this situation, I go very basic in my rigging and it almost always catches them.

The tackle I use is 6 pound Berkley XL line,  a small bobber, and a  #4 Aberdeen hook. Wax worms or crickets are my bait of choice when bluegill are in a negative mood and won’t bite anything else. The light line paired with this hook allows the bait to fall very slowly. Bluegill can not resist the slow fall of a wax worm or cricket.

This technique works the best when the fish are located in shallow clear water. The fish need to be able to see the slow fall of the bait in order for it to work. This is also ideal to use in the spring when the fish are spawning.

Bass fisherman talk about “finesse” fishing all the time. This is an ultra “finesse” way to catch bluegill, but I guarantee you it will produce fish when nothing else will.

My Three Favorites Baits When Bass are on Their Bed

Seeing a bass make a meal of your offering is rare. Visually seeing how a big bass will react to your lure is also very uncommon, but this is exactly what happens when fishing for bedded bass. Fishing for spawning bass presents a very unique challenge. When the water temperature reaches 55 to 65 degrees bass start seeking out spawning areas. This is also when you should start hunting the shallows for bass.

The tube bait comes in many different sizes and colors. The tube is very subtle which makes it a good choice on very finicky fish. This bait is a StrikeKing Bitsy Tube. 

The craw is another great lure for bed fishing. Bass don’t like these guys hanging around and will usually eat this style of bait. This bait is a NetBait Paca Chunk.

Bass can be very finicky when they are on their beds. One color of bait I really like to use is white. I like to see exactly where the bait is in the bed and white allows this. 

Last but not least is the Big Bite Baits 3.5 Warmouth. Big bass love eating bluegill, and this bait looks just like one.  They also hate bluegill because they eat the eggs and their babies. Put this bait in front of the bass and it will either pick it up and move it, or swallow it. Either way, it works.

Try these few baits next time you encounter bass on their beds. Patience is key when fishing like this, but keep putting one of these lures in the bed and the bass will eventually eat it.

 

Light Jigs In Algae

Fishing a lake or pond that is full of algae can be very frustrating. Especially when it’s slimy algae. This kind of algae sticks to everything. There are very few baits that can be used in this stuff. This crankbait is covered in it.  

Here’s a bait I think you will want to give a try. It has worked for me many times in this situations. I like to use a 1/16 ounce Strike King Bitsy Bug Jig. For the trailer I use a Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver 3.50 and cut it in half. This gives the bait a small compact profile with enough bulk to keep the bait on top of the algae. If you try to use a heavy jig, it will immediately get covered in algae and be ineffective

Light jigs do require a lot of patience because it takes time to fall to the bottom. Often the bass grab the lure as it is falling. You must be a line watcher; if you see the line pop, or swim off to the side before it hits the bottom, set the hook because a fish has it!

Next time you encounter this slimy situation, try this technique out. I know it will catch some good ones.

 

Hand Painted Crankbaits

One of the latest crazes in bass fishing is homemade and custom painted lures. I recently picked up a couple from KMW Lures. KMW offers many different options; from topwater, jerkbaits, and crankbaits in specialized and novelty colors. I was amazed at the detail on these lures.

Crankbaits are known for not running true out of the package. Some cheap lures will run to one side and must be tuned in order to run straight. There was no reason to tune these baits, they ran true out of the package. They also come with 2x Eagle Claw hooks

I got two different lure types and color schemes to try. One was the KMW Green Pumpkin Craw squarebill. The other was a KMW Natural Shad jerkbait. The first place I tried the KMW Green Pumpkin Craw squarebill was in my pond. The bass sure seem to like this color as well as I do. They were absolutely swallowing the bait. I can’t wait to hit the lake and try them.

If you want to upgrade some of your tackle and fish with a lure that the bass have not seen before, I think it is worth your investment to try a couple of hand painted lures. I know I was not disappointed with these KMW Lures.