# It's open water slab season.



## CrappieKeith (Apr 26, 2010)

Boated nearly 2000 in the last 4 weekends...yes I've burned a few vacation days too.
Here's some pics from this month so far.


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## CrappieKeith (Apr 26, 2010)




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## Arrowhead (Apr 27, 2010)

Nice Crappie! Sure go good with hushpuppies.


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## sbhooper (Apr 27, 2010)

Great pics. It is hard to find that quantity around here, but I have a little lake down the road where I have caught 30+ up to 14 1/2 inches long. I have been catching five to seven of them per outing and they are all good quality fish. The weather has been so bad that the trips have been very limited.


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## CrappieKeith (Apr 29, 2010)

What a nice male....if that pic is recent then you should be in for some fun shortly. You can tell by the color that the male is just starting to turn.
By the time the spawn is in full swing that same male would be almost all black and it's tail will look like a straw broom from sweeping out his nests.


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## sbhooper (Apr 30, 2010)

That pic was from last week. I caught another one yesterday evening that was just over 14 1/2 inches. I did not realize that about the color. This is the first time EVER that I have persued the crappies early. I have been missing out on a great time. I have been catching 5-8 of them every time that I go out to the little lake just down the road. The smallest one that I have caught is 9.5 inches and they are wide across the back. 

The six that I caught last night are not going to hit the freezer. They are going to be on the menu along with morels and asparagus tonight!


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## CrappieKeith (May 4, 2010)

...are you kidding me...I live for prespawn crappies..well to be honest spawning..post spawn..mid summer...fall and winter ice crappie too.
Here's a few from the last few days from 50 degree water.
The 64th oz hair jigs that I tie have been deadly.


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## sbhooper (May 5, 2010)

Great pics! That is a pretty fancy jig. I have been using an 1/8 ounce white jig with a gulp minnow trailer. I might catch more if I went to a smaller setup, but the ones that I catch are sure nice ones. The 20 mph wind has been messing things up here pretty badly.


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## CrappieKeith (May 5, 2010)

It really depends on what the water temp is...at 50 degrees they would never hit what your throwing out there. Once we get into early summer I'll be catching them on 1/4 oz heads 1/0 hooks and 3" plastics.


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## sbhooper (May 7, 2010)

I actually made a typo. I was using 1/16-not 1/8. With the trailer, it is still pretty big, though. We get a big crappie occasionally all summer on rubber worms while bass fishing.


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## PineFever (May 7, 2010)

*Still too cold here for em*

No crappie here yet as the water temp is still only 46 degrees, but these Rainbows are on the tear! We limited in 1hr 45 mins trolling yesterday morning.





Looking forward to the end of June when the crappie will be on the tear.
Nothing better than deep fried crappie strips and Cold Beer.
God I can't believe I'm wearing a Tampa Bay Bucs Shirt....They Suck!


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## sbhooper (May 8, 2010)

Nice bows. I have started chasing some white bass, also. They are starting to turn on in a local reservoir where they run up against inlet water. I caught 14 the last time out and they were great last night with Cabelas spice mix and a salad-Oh ya, and a glass of Lord Calvert.


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## luvsaws sequel (May 9, 2010)

hey let me tell ya i cant wait to get out on the open water for this season


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## CrappieKeith (May 10, 2010)

yes indeed...nice bows...we have these ore pits over here full of trout. We troll cow bells with 1/2 oz weight in 70 fow with a #4 orange rappala.They pound them.

Here's a few from last weekend.


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## PineFever (May 10, 2010)

Sweeet! Some nice catching going on there.
I took my pops out Saturday morning and we smacked em again.
He's 77 now and it was great to see the smile on his face when his rod went Bendo. I'm hoping to get back out on the water real soon.
Here's pop in his daily garb, Korea/Vietnam vet hat, Army Jacket, and our stringer of bows.








Pop don't get out there and wack the wood with me anymore, but he can still swing that rod!


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## CrappieKeith (May 10, 2010)

...no pics....


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