rlfrazee
May 10th, 2004, 08:32 PM
The crappie spawn in our Kansas lakes is in full swing. Water temp is low to mid 60's. Most of the lakes are at normal pool and good clarity. Went to Hillsdale Lake today and caught lots of fish but only 2 would measure the legal length of 10 inches. Not sure why so many were too small. Anyway we have a daily creel of 50 crappie and have been catching limits for about a week now at Pomona and Clinton resevoirs. Decided to give Hillsdale a try today because very close to home. Minnows and twister tail grubs catching many fish at present. Will have pictures soon. 1/16 oz baits are doing the best so far. Nothing beats local knowledge of the lakes right now as knowing the better spawning banks is key to the banner catches. Havent caught anything over 14 inches yet but a few 3 pounders have been caught at clinton that I have heard of from believable and reliable persons. Best technique for me has been to just pitch a bait up next to hardwood laydowns or stickups and let the bait swing back to the boat a little before retrieving. Fish are spawning in about 3 feet of water in most of the lakes except Pomona which is muddy. They are extremely shallow at pomona less than 1 1/2 feet in some places. Dont let anyone tell you fish wont bite in muddy water. These crappie at pomona have been biting everything in sight for about a week now. Best bait for me has been a Bass Assasin lure called a curly shad in the cyrstal shad color on a 1/16th oz. round leadhead and #6 gold hook. I dont fish minnows much but they are catching lots of fish. Going to Clinton tommorrow, get a limit of big ole slabs I hope. Yes I'm on vacation for next three weeks while you guys are working whoooops gotta go think I got a bite.......RL :)
