Fish Sniffer Magazine Issue 4008 | Page 11

VOL . 40 • ISS . 8 April 23 , 2021

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larly enjoy . “ We ’ ll drive around one more time to find a spot to fish , then maybe we ’ ll go home ,” I told them . Low and behold , we found a cove on the Carson Arm , protected from the wind and with less mud . The kids were excited , running towards the water ’ s edge to soak in the warm sun and of course -- throw rocks , sticks , leaves and whatever else they could find . I took out one setup : my trusty panfishing rig consisting of a Phenix Elixr matched with a Daiwa Tatula . Tied to it was a Bobby Garland minnow bait rigged on a Get Crushed ! jighead and finished off with an adjustable float . “ Hey don ’ t throw rocks or chase after those ducks ! Be nice to them !” I shouted to the kids . I made a cast into the middle of the cove and before I had a chance to flip over the bail , the float sank and I had on something good . I quickly handed the rod off to one of the kids . “ Here Ava ! There ’ s a fish on here ! Reel it ! Reel it !” Ava , my middle daughter , struggled as the fish pulled drag in an attempt to escape . Was it a big trout ? Or maybe a pre-spawn bass ? Nope ! It was a very nice crappie . We snapped a few photos but as with most crappie , I like to make a meal out of them . Luckily , I brought along a cooler with some ice , so into the box it went . I made another cast to the same spot . After slowing jigging the float and jig combo a few feet , the float sank again . “ There ’ s another one Ava ! Take the pole !”

Roland Aspiras was fishing Lake Amador when he landed this slab ! He used a Bobby Garland Slab Slayer rigged on a Get Crushed ! jig head under a float set at 3 feet .

Photo Courtesy of Roland Aspiras

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Another nice crappie into the cooler . Dinner is starting to look good with two big crappie ! I thought to myself , “ There ’ s gotta be a school in front of us .” So , I went back to the car to get the kid ’ s fishing poles and proceeded to rig similar setups . Immediately , they were hooking up on big crappie one after the other . My son and youngest , Aiden , was hooking fish even though his intent was to use my Phenix Elixr as a weapon to hit things . Apparently , the crappie were digging the pauses between long sweeps of the rod . He hooked and landed four crappie in this fashion . Eventually , after stepping on the rod two times and whacking me and his sisters countless times , the rod eventually succumbed to the abuse and it broke . But , it didnt matter . Aiden and Ava continued to land nice crappie on the other two rods . The cooler was starting to fill up fast . Emma , my oldest daughter , was more interested in watching and

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feeding ducks but even she couldn ’ t ignore the great crappie action . She quickly pulled in two crappie herself before it started to get dark and it was time to leave . We drove to the fish cleaning station to take a couple photos then made our way home . Most of the time , quick bank fishing trips with the kids are pretty uneventful . Often , I end up reading and responding to work e-mails or catch up on what ’ s going on with the Fish Sniffer FaceBook and Instagram accounts . The kids always enjoy fresh air , throwing rocks and getting their hands dirty in sand or mud . That ’ s enough for me , if they ’ re happy -- that ’ s all I need . Catching fish is a bonus . But on this trip , the success was partly luck , but it was also due to the time of year . In the spring , crappie move into the backside of coves located on creek channels in preparation to spawn . Stable , warm weather in addition to a full or new moon phase will often draw large schools of crappie into these areas . Fishing small plastics or live minnows under a float under the aforementioned conditions will often yield large amounts of crappie . One observation I ’ ve made is the first groups of crappie to move into the shallows in mid March are often larger . As spring rolls on , the smaller fish move into the shallows . I still haven ’ t understood fully why the big fish move in first . As we near the end of the month and go into May , droves of crappie will continue to move into the shallows of your favorite lake where they are easy to target in shallow water . But even after they spawn , they continue to stay in shallow water but often relate to cover such as docks , trees and vegetation . I ’ ve found some lakes to have crappie in shallow water up until late June or early July . This spring , take your kids out fishing to your favorite lake to enjoy the beautiful weather . Let them throw rocks , chase ducks , and fall in mud . Bring a rod or two , look for shallow water and toss out a jig and bobber and just maybe , you ’ ll catch a couple crappie to take home for dinner .

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