4-26-10 Report and opening day tips

Crappie fishing still is good on most of the area lakes, Most of the fish are being found shallow around wood and hitting small jigs or minnows.

Just a reminder that Game Fish season is closed and you can get a ticket for targeting game fish right now. We had a visit from the Warden Sat because somebody used that old line "the guy at the bait shop said I could". So just another reminder to wait til May 1st before casting crankbaits and spinnerbaits.

I think the upcomming opener will be a good one, I would look for walleyes to be shallow around wood. I'm getting reports that the panfishermen are catching some nice Walleyes while targeting Crappie. Some of the ways that I target wood Walleye are using Slip bobbers with a fathead minnow and letting the bobber float into the cover, I also use weedless jigs tiped with plastic or a minnow. The weed guard helps keep the jig from getting stuck on the structure. I also like throwing floating stick baits around and over the cover. Look for fallen or overhanging trees that the wind is blowing into and start there. If you know the lake well, fish around any stumps or trees that are covered by water. Most of the lakes around here are flowages so most of the shallow areas still have stumps and logs from before the lake was filled.

Good luck fishing, The wait is almost over, hope to see all of you this weekend.