I fished from shore on Saturday, 10/1, in the afternoon and evening between doing chores and watching as much of the Buckeyes as I could swallow. The first 90 minutes caught only three crappies and one bluegill, but 2 of the crappies were 10.5 and 11.25. Those fish were caught on triple-tip grubs.
I figured the bite was slow, so the next session started to play with fishing depth and cycled thru 3 different baits and six different colour combinations. Once located depth and tube colour, the bite was very active, with both crappies and bluegills willing to play the game. By the end of the day Saturday, the catch was 23 crappies, 18 bluegills, and one 10" bass. I don't tip with wax worms, but many GLSM fishermen do.
GLSM has an exceptional class of crappies. Sixteen of the crappies were legal.....very few short fish. 11.25 was the biggest, with most 10.25-10.5". Bulk of fish were white crappies, although just before dark, I found some fast action for black crappies in the 9.5-10" range.
More than 1/2 the bluegills were keeper size, thick, 7-8". When I arrived Saturday around noon, my neighbour was quitting.....in a bucket; he had 13 great-looking gills to clean. He said he kept 18 earlier in the week, and he and a friend stopped at 50 gills the previous weekend.
I fished for an hour and a half Sunday morning. The bite was slower but caught six crappies, four bluegills, and another small bass. Four of these crappies were 10+, including one at 11.75. 70% of my crappies were legal......impressive, and it said something about the impact of the state's 9" size limit.
The real key to catching fish was depth. Fish were holding around brush/cover, but right off the bottom. They weren't aggressive and required you to hit them in the nose fishing within a few inches of the base. The Water temp was 57 degrees (earlier in the week, I was at Brookville, and the water temp there was 67 degrees......big difference).
Below is a pic of an 11.25-inch crappie caught Sunday by my nephew.
I figured the bite was slow, so the next session started to play with fishing depth and cycled thru 3 different baits and six different colour combinations. Once located depth and tube colour, the bite was very active, with both crappies and bluegills willing to play the game. By the end of the day Saturday, the catch was 23 crappies, 18 bluegills, and one 10" bass. I don't tip with wax worms, but many GLSM fishermen do.
GLSM has an exceptional class of crappies. Sixteen of the crappies were legal.....very few short fish. 11.25 was the biggest, with most 10.25-10.5". Bulk of fish were white crappies, although just before dark, I found some fast action for black crappies in the 9.5-10" range.
More than 1/2 the bluegills were keeper size, thick, 7-8". When I arrived Saturday around noon, my neighbour was quitting.....in a bucket; he had 13 great-looking gills to clean. He said he kept 18 earlier in the week, and he and a friend stopped at 50 gills the previous weekend.
I fished for an hour and a half Sunday morning. The bite was slower but caught six crappies, four bluegills, and another small bass. Four of these crappies were 10+, including one at 11.75. 70% of my crappies were legal......impressive, and it said something about the impact of the state's 9" size limit.
The real key to catching fish was depth. Fish were holding around brush/cover, but right off the bottom. They weren't aggressive and required you to hit them in the nose fishing within a few inches of the base. The Water temp was 57 degrees (earlier in the week, I was at Brookville, and the water temp there was 67 degrees......big difference).
Below is a pic of an 11.25-inch crappie caught Sunday by my nephew.