Neil McCauley

They will be loving a warm-up like that. Put the back of your hand against the side of an April bass sometime, it's icy cold just like the water. Their metabolisms need warmer temps. They do still peak in feeding behavior during low-light conditions, but in Spring more because low-light is when prey are easier to nap, not because they're avoiding the sun.

The ones I catch are too big and un-tasty. I did keep some SMB last summer for the hell of it and results were so-so at best. I panfried them after a dip in milk and coating with breadcrumbs/flour/cornmeal like I do with Yellow Perch, but the difference was.. uh noticeable. Kind of a pungent fishy meatiness to them, like frozen Tilapia.

What does everyone use? Also, do you sharpen them yourself?

Night fishing in April? Maybe in Georgia I guess.. I'd just go the 2 least windy days, Monday the 18th and Tuesday the 19th. Possibly Thursday the 21st. Wind is really the limiting factor imo, especially if going in a kayak. Personally I arrange trips more based on what conditions are enjoyable to fish in, less around when the fish will biting the best. Probably why I always seem to be out on bright calm days during high pressure systems.

Nothing beats that first trip out in perfect weather. Empty lake, hungry fish, the entire summer ahead.

I tend to let the lure do the action for crankbaits, though I will try a stop and go if they are reluctant to bite. I try to limit deflection and bottom-contact because it beats up the lip and they don't cast/dive as well with lots of scratches. I've also lost a few baits this way, and not just getting stuck between rocks or in logs- one of my more heavily used Rapala DT-16s last year actually completely disconnected from the lip on a cast, the epoxy holding it on just gave way. For me the key with crankbaits is maximizing the bait's time at target depth. Like someone pointed out, roughly 1/3rd of the retrieve is spent descending to that depth, another 1/3rd spend ascending from that depth. You can increase that middle 1/3rd where the bait is in the target zone two ways, either increasing the distance covered by the retrieve or increasing the rate at which the bait dives. Cast further by using lower test softer line, which also helps with diving. But you can also cover more distance using wind to your advantage. Obviously casting with the wind is one, but you have to make sure that you're anchored and not drifting toward the bait you're reeling in which is a waste of the longer distance cast. I will do this when I have a specific isolated structure I'm targeting like a sunken hump. The alternative is if you have a bait that casts really well into the wind, you can do that while allowing the boat to drift away from your cast direction, retrieving slightly slower to compensate for the drift speed, sort of semi-trolling. I like this when I'm drifting along a long linear structure like a drop-off along a shoreline. When I'm using CBs as search baits casting distance is important enough to me that I'll go back to monofilament line instead of fluoro for the extra distance it gives.

Really can't ask for better weather.

I'll be out there this weekend. Not yet after bass though, lakers and salmon for now. Gonna be great to be back on the water.

Did 2 back to back full day trips last April and got skunked. ~8 hrs each straight with no catch, it was like the lake had no fish. Think the water was just too cold and I had never fished cold water. Was very discouraged, but then 2 weeks later I couldn't keep them off my line.

Bump, no one fishing for Lake Trout? Bueller?

this is ridiculous

Whatever you think is worthwhile, I'm still new to sonar.

I've only have a little PiranhaMax 197c with a 28 deg sonar cone the past few months but mostly it seems helpful for identifying cover and baitfish, letting you know a spot isn't dead. Trolling crankbaits still seems more efficient at "finding fish" imo, esp if you can follow contour lines. I would be much more lost without Navionics. That changed fishing for me almost as adding a motor to my canoe.

Anyone have experience with these? Could they charge a big 27 or 29 group 12v marine battery?

By North, do you mean Northern Basin? It is a bit different from the Southern Basin. A lot less boat traffic, probably fishing pressure also. Never fished it, to be honest. You really can't go wrong fishing LG for bass any time in June. The smallmouth bite does slow a bit later in the month, but the LMB stays hot. Submerged weedbeds and humps in 15-30 fow, around 8-9PM fishing a shallow running crankbait over these places is usually absurd. Deeper humps 30-40' you can catch fish any time of day. The only downside imo is this time of year the smaller 8-12" bass really get active and will hit any lure you use, and you won't get any fish in the 18"+ range. My solution is fish deeper with bigger baits.

The extremes of success- red hot bite or completely dead. There is actually a good statistical rationale for this: there is good positive predictive value (or negative predictive value) for a lure being very effective or very ineffective depending on the "pre-test probability" ie how easy the fish are to catch at that point. For example, if the fish are biting everything, and you throw something and it fails miserably, you can be very sure it is a terrible presentation, at least in those conditions and that location, time of year, etc. On the other hand, if it is a dead bite and you find something that is effective, this again is very predictive of a successful presentation for those conditions in the future. Use your bread and butter techniques and apply your basic fundamentals when the fishing is average. At the extremes- when it sucks or it is crazy good, that is when it pays off to get creative, at least for the sake of your learning.

First off. Sell the kayak. Buy the canoe. That said, yes, I generally have a plan. That plan is usually made a few months or so in advance according to the time of year, and refined a week ahead according to the weather conditions. That plan is usually based ona a species and then a general presentation. I will target pumpkinseeds with worms, or bass casting crankbaits, or perch jigging, pike trolling swimbaits, etc... The weather the week before makes a big difference. The day-of, I will stick with the plan unless it seems to be absolutely failing. Your definition of absolute failure may be up to you to decide. Personally it means no fish in the first 2 hours. At that point I switch to a backup plan. At some point my back up plan always seems to be jigging for perch or pumpkinseeds. Hence why I take a couple dozen nightcrawlers almost ever trip in the summer. I think the key to success is not just having a plan but having one that has been battle tested and proven by yourself in the past. New anglers obviously do not have this luxury. I guess that's the fun of it and the challenge. Eventually you will have a plan and slew of backup plans for every time of year and every condition that could possibly pop up therein. Not many of us reach that point though.

More traditional sonar images please if anyone has em.

What water temps are people seeing on the larger lakes right now? LG was 36-38 about 2 weeks ago.

such as?

6.25"....2.5 oz. what a beast

This is one of the few times of the year lakers aren't 200 ft deep and can be caught on light tackle. So...what tackle to actually use? Troll spoons and plugs?

Most big Northeast lakes are thawed already.. I am not used to open water this time of year, water temps are 36-38F. When should fishing start to pick up?

It IS enormous... 6-7" Rapala Super Shad. Pike like it.

Tried it out today! First time using a fish finder. Didn't find much. Water temp was 38 deg though.