we went yesterday for a few hours, had to figure out where they wanted to be. we checked a few shallow brushpiles on our way to the honeyholes just to see what was what, and didnt find fish shallow., we found fish from 23 feet deep, to 10 feet deep. the fish in deeper water were not relating to cover as much as the shallower fish,.
were getting the knack of the open water single fish targeting game. we caught abt half of our fish, just slowly meandering around an area that had a good amount of fish swimming around and zeroed in on the ones we thought we could catch. these fish were not in an active feeding mood (oriented diagonally in the water column looking up).
that so far seems to be the less likely scenario we have found the fish to be in. all of the fish we found were sitting horizontally in the water column and had to be coaxed into biting. the jig had to be right in front of thier nose, and held there. Natural colors and minnow immitations are still the best jigs to use in small sizes.
I really enjoy this time of year, because the main lake was mostly vacated. Most anglers are beating the banks in the creeks or in slews . not sure how thats going, they are likely catching a few.
I will toss a slip cork rig shallow now and then in an area that has historically held very shalllow fish, IF they are close to the deeper areas im canvasing over. What im not going to do is spend a whole day fishing shallow banklines
From what I saw as a spawn pattern on waco this year, I will not search any shallower than 10
feet in the coming weeks.

Solid post and fish. Good job.

Nice post.

crappie simply do not always relate to cover or structure. especially on low UV index days. Im starting to think that on windy days with alot of wave action, they move around alot more too. They also seek out calmer areas of the lake.
breaking the long standing habit of going from brushpile to brushpile, tree to tree, or dock to dock is a transition im going thru because of the magic of livescope.
if you are new to livescope, and not finding much on cover or structure, I would suggest picking out a calm area of the lake, put the nose of your boat into the breeze and troll around VERY slowly, near a river or creek channel or large flat near a channel and see what is there.
sometimes just hovering in one spot can be productive, because the fish will sometimes come to you, I think they seek the shade that the boat provides, or are just curious of the large object above them. Sometimes after catching one open water fish in an area, others just show up, they may notice the commotion of the fish you just caught and it signals to them other fish are feeding.
not sure if crappie do this, but I can tell you white bass tend to regurgitate stomach contents when a feeding frenzy is taking place, in favor of eating a fresh baitfish,, this is why sometimes you will see an oily slick on top of the water and smell that distinct watermellon rind smell in areas that a feed has taken place.
I read reports of folks who say they run thier trolling motor on 10, running down the big fish.. well I can tell you from my experience, they are passing up ALOT of fish in most cases, and if they are fishing deeper water, and the scope is in the 30 foot depth range, you cannot tell the size of the fish as well as 20ft or lower range.
JUST SLOW DOWN . and really work an area over before you run and gun
when you find, target and catch your first open water slab, its an amazing feeling.
on our last outing my son dropped down on a single nice fish, the crappie kind of bit the jig, but didnt commit, and started swimming back down so I immediately dropped down on it, and it commited and we got it in the boat. it was a blast!!
gradually increase your search distance with the livescope, and the further out your searching the slower you want to sweep your scope.
I had been contemplating moving my livescope transducer from the independent pole its on, to the trolling motor shaft. That idea is now not going to happen because In my opinion, the constant left and right movement of the trolling motor needed to keep the boat where you want it, would interfere with ability to scan efficiently. JMO

Sound like you're having fun with that scope .... The more you see what these crazy fish are doing the more you'll see there are no rules to what they do day to day..... It's just go find where they are that day at that time..... They will park on the bottom then rise and why they just seem to appear out of nowhere.....
Transducer location is personal preference, I prefer it on the trollmotor since I don't want to depend on spot lock to get my target fish to the target range.....
Nice Catches!

Nice catch. I also liked your thoughts on where the fish were roaming/ finding en on overcast days, IF wind would just stay below 20MPH .I would put the boat on the lake, lol

I thought waco was dried up !!

There's going to be some serious water restrictions this summer if we don't get some rain before then.

its kind of a forced beating in the wind lately because the rivers are too shallow on all of my lakes to access.
I usually catch a few less fish in the rivers, but its alot more enjoyable. also on windy days, most anglers all run to the calmer areas, so it can turn in to quite the Shipp Show...

yes sir, I think alot more park on the bottom at times then we ever thought, because as you said, they just appear out of nowhere, and there they are. several times weve seen where there was one or 2 fish hanging near a stick on the bottom, and catch 7 fish, in one little spot.

it is tradinghouse that they decided was dried up and put a mountain of sand in front of the ramps...
WACO is different]
We
Aint
Closing
O urs ha

Same observation I had about Lake Tyler. I've lived on the lake for eight years. For the first six I sacked them up fishing my dock or the shoreline by my dock. It usually starts in early March but was on fire in April. It happened sort of but not-so-great last year. This year they never came to my dock/shoreline. But I did find some deep or about 16 to 18 feet. So I don't know if they are ever coming shallow here this year. Maybe they are tired of getting harassed by jigs.

Some folks theorize that many species of fish, take salmon for example tend to spawn in locations that they themselves were spawned in. So if certain schools of fish are spawning shallow and certain schools deeper, and year after year, many in a school are harvested, it would make sense that the ones that go to the areas being harvested more aggressively would slowly diminish.
on the lakes I fish, theres usually only a few locations that I can find them almost every year in very shallow areas. on some years, more show up than other years.
I think alot has to do with the wind during the spawn. I ve found areas that typically hold shallow fish, that are being pounded by wave action from wind, and they wont go there, or stay there. if the water is too clear, or too muddy, they wont go there or stay there. if there is excessive boat traffic, jet ski, 40 ft Donzi s riding back and forth with the booming system, same thing, wont go , or wont stay, finding more STABLE areas, is what im looking for. crappie just wont stay shallow in an area that has 1 to 3 foot waves breaking on the shoreline for long periods. .
Ive also seen crappie die from excessive mud in thier gills in areas of high turbulence due to wave action.,heavy boat traffic.. ect. . one area on belton that is very heavily fished, with everybody and thier brother going back and forth all day long, every year I find dead or dying crappie floating around in the area, and thier gills are caked with silty mud.
So... excessive wave action due to whatever, clear water, muddy water, all no bueno scenarios for me.