(02-10-2024, 10:01 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote: Arrived at Browning Point at a little before 5 am this morning to a cold 5 degrees. Typical picky crappie and even the perch were picky. Two crappie and about 10 perch. Slow, slow slow. I don't know if it is just that that area has been hammered, or if the fish just aren't interested all my different offerings. JArner met up with me this morning but left early after catching 2 crappie. Didn't miss much. Thanks for donating the 2 others to my small pile.

(02-11-2024, 02:40 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Too bad the crappie bite was so poor but good the perch bite was decent. How long did you stay and fish?

(02-11-2024, 03:56 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote:

(02-11-2024, 02:40 PM)wiperhunter2 Wrote: Too bad the crappie bite was so poor but good the perch bite was decent. How long did you stay and fish?

I left at 10:45 am. When I went 2 weeks ago it was slow, but at least I scratched out a half a limit of crappie. What worked then didn't work yesterday. I tried lots of different lures, baits, sizes and colors. From teeny glow to larger drop chain style, tubes and tungsten, and some others that i like. Waxies, spikes, perch eyes and chub for tipping.

BUT, I would rather be out fishing, even if it is slow, than doing almost anything else.

(02-11-2024, 08:59 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Just wondering...has anybody done a "CSI" post-catch exam on their fish...to see what they have been eating and how much?  As we have observed with other species in other waters...like Walleyes in Willard...when the fish are full of easily obtained food they are less likely to bite whatever anglers are showing them.  It's baby shad in Willard but the crappies in Pineview are prone to slurping vast quantities of zooplankton when that is all that's available. 

I have a theory that with all the new water and nutrients in the lake this year that there is probably a bumper crop of the invertebrates for them to eat.  I know in the past...night fishing...it was possible to see the clouds of the bitty bite critters coming up out of the mud after dark and then seeing the crappies move in on them...and to start catching the crappies while they were feeding. But if they are feeding effectively throughout the day and are already full up when anglers show up then they will not be as active.

As we know, there is no big population of small minnows for the fish in Pineview, so the predators have to make a living on what is available.  There are young of the year perch and crappies for a few months, but during the winter they are back to living on "soup".  

(02-11-2024, 10:59 PM)Jig-fisher Wrote: I just finished fileting yesterday's catch. Not much in the crappie at all. Could be zooplankton, but nothing much was coming out of them. They did have egg sacs, but not like the perch where they are bloated with them.

The perch were indeed bloated with their egg sacs. But I had several spit out baby fish about 1.5 to 2 inches long. They were too far digested to make an ID on them. I tried jigs about that size, but they were uncharacteristicly still picky. It may have been more about the weather pattern. Post cold front and rapidly dropping temps, clear and cold where it was stormy most of the week probably put them on a cool mood.

(02-12-2024, 03:48 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Hey Paul, looks like I found your report, thanks for the update... Sorry it was a rough outing, how did the ice seem?  Thanks Jeff