Question

[scottwebster]

What are the current water temps on the Chip and what are the crappies doing. Wife and I are coming up Thursday to do some crappie fishing for our 25th anniversary.

[revmike]

Last weekend the temps were within a degree or two of 60 depending on location. We fished plastics exclusively on the west side and found fish in bays and creeks in water from 4ft - 10ft, selectively harvesting the males. It couldn't be easier to know the difference right now. The males are as black as they will ever be, and the females are bloated and ready to burst.

The fish seemed to be on timber.

Happy 25th. That's a big deal!

[scottwebster]

Thanks. We usually do real well this same weekend but the water temps are closer to 50 than 60 most years. cant wait to get back up there. And ya 25 years is a big deal. Cant believe she stuck with me this long!

[Ty Sennett]

I can't believe that she stuck with you this long either! Congrats.

The crappie are spread out now. You'll still get some shallow and some midrange but most of the larger females are already deep. They spawned last weekend and some are still finnishing up but for the most part the females are out deeper already. We caught about 150 yesterday and they were mostly smaller males but my clients were having fun and they were big enough to eat anyway. We didn't catch any over 10 inches. We fished the 1-8 foot depth. We only fished for a couple hours for crappie so that tells you how many little crappie there are out there. I seriously think there is a panfish problem out here. Way too many. Makes for some fun fishing though. The bluegills are spawning right now so they are really easy to catch. This weekend will be extremely easy for bluegills if you want. The hard part is finding big enough ones to eat. Most are pretty small and if you do find larger ones the small ones will be tought to keep away from your bait to even get to the bigger ones. Should be fun!

Good luck Scott,

[scottwebster]

Had a good few days. Caught plenty of fish and was niced to get back up. Wind was a little tough at times but managable.Got hailed on going across Rice lake on Sunday morning. Thanks for the help.