Goodness gracious how about this rain folks?! We are over here doing backflips and summersaults as we watch the lake levels rise in a very quick manner. This new oxygen and cooler temps ought to keep the crappie bite strong for at least a few more weeks, which is great news for a crappie guide.

The fishing lately has been consistent, as the water temperature continues to hold around 80 degrees on the main lake. The fish are on brush piles in good numbers, holding much shallower than they traditionally do at this time of year. I'm starting my days in fairly shallow water and moving deeper as the sun gets up. I'm still fishing aggressively, not giving any brush pile more than five minutes if we don't get bit. The keepers seem to be biting quickly, leaving no good reason to be patient at the moment. I imagine this will change as the summer season sets in to place.

The one thing that has become very apparent the last few weeks is that the keepers are biting much more lightly than the undersized fish, making hi-vis line a necessity. Also, most of our keepers are within a foot of the bottom, making boat control very important if you don't want to be tying jigs all day long.

I mentioned earlier that I'm starting shallow in the mornings and moving deeper as the day develops. Although there are exceptions to every rule, my schedule looks like this:

6:00am-8:00am= 8-12ft
9:00am-11:00am= 12-15ft
After lunch= hit anything you can find between 12-20ft.

***If you are fishing north of Don's Port Marina, fish 8-14ft all day long. The water is much more stained in this area, allowing for less light penetration, which keeps the fish holding at a shallower depth.***

In my opinion, there is still no need to buy minnows yet. All boats are still fishing 2.25" baits and are consistently bringing back 25-40 keepers on our half day trips. Most full day trips with 2-3 anglers are coming back with limits, or very close to a limit. I will say that with the lower wind conditions and warmer water temps, lighter jigs heads are really becoming a must. The slower fall is really paying off big, as long as everyone is closely watching their line.

Although I am a believer that any jig, affixed to any line, reeled in by any reel, attached to any rod will catch fish this time of year if presented correctly, this is what we're using to put filets on our customer's tables:


Rod and Reel: 7ft Crappie Maxx with Pflueger President reels. Also, Shakespeare Ultra Lite rods with Abu Garcia Cardinal reels

Line: 6lb Hi-Vis Wally Marshall monofilament

Tackle: We've changed gears a little bit and are now dropping Mr Blue Lightning and White Hot Thump Buddies on unpainted
1/16 oz jig heads with #4 sickle hooks, all provided by www.constantpursuitoutfitters.com. I am really liking the color
blue right now.

Technique: Dropping the jig to the bottom, slowly raising it up 12-18", holding it dead still for a 3-5 second count, then lowering
the jig back to the bottom in a painfully slow manner. The fish are prone to strike when holding the jig dead still, or
when lowering it back down to the bottom. I can't stress enough how important it is to go slow and watch the line
under the rod tip. As mentioned above, the keepers are hitting much lighter than the short fish. If the conditions are
right, I will have my customers pitch the jig over and into the pile.


Here are a few pictures from our recent outings. I've gotten to enjoy several trips with childhood friends and family in the last month, making my job that much more enjoyable.


Hart keepers (we all know Mrs Hart did all the catching)


CAT member Mr Fridge with 22 keepers (I struggled this day, but that is part of the game and an honest look into what can sometimes be a very frustrating profession. Thanks again for your patience guys)


My hats off to these dads for taking their kids crappie fishing.


Justin Boot Company trip. Apparently, these boots were made for fishing.


Two guys that I consider brothers more so than friends


The Rodriguez brothers. (I don't know what got the fish going so well this afternoon, but my goodness they were biting hard.)


Mr Ricky Shinn. (Big Crappie.com's longest customer and crappie fishing phenom)


Louisiana Farmers Bureau Trip (We only had three hours to do what we usually get to do in five hours, but these boys fish better than they sale insurance. Nice mess of sac-a-lait gentlemen!)


If you find yourself heading this way, give us a shout while you're down here. We always like putting names with faces and enjoy the opportunity to meet fellow anglers who are passionate about the art of crappie fishing. If at all possible, please take the time to plant some brush this summer. If you put it in 10-15ft, it will pay off nicely come fall. Thanks TFF for all you do for us!

Great Job Lane!

nice report and great fish man!

Heck of a report! Good job Lane!

Thanks for the report Laner!!1
I also have found that holding the bait still seems to trigger a few more bites.. The 1/16th jig is also the trick for a more aggressive bite..
That's what I've found this past week, watch it'll change this week! I guess that's why it's called fishing and not catching..
Jigum

Toads to boot

Nice fish. Good job.

good info and great pics, looks like alot of satisfied customers!

On top of the Slabs as usual Mr. Palmer. Good job and GREAT report!
Get out there folks, with info like that, you can't help but catch some fish

I appreciate it guys! This rain put little pep in their step today. My customers wanted a limit of sandbass, which we got in two and a half hours, leaving us time to hit the brush. When we switched to crappie it was on. Seeing them biting that good made me wish they would've wanted crappie from the get go, but I just do what I'm told to do.

Good times!

thanks Lane for the report! some nice messes of slabs being brought in.

Hey Lane...Ernest and I are coming to see (and fish with) you on the 26th, so consider this your only warning

Great Report Lane thanks

and for sure KABOOM