Already broke my PB on crappie: a 2.61 lb fatso. I fish almost exclusively with UL, mostly JDM UL, for panfish, bream, crappie, and I am lucky to have some great fisheries near me.

Anyway my fave spot is warming up, and, I have, well, there is no other way to say it: I've been on a ROLL! Best wishes for fine fishes my ARF brethren and vagthren! Fuck all that reloading and shit - it is time to FISH!

1.5 lb crappie


1.1 lb redear or shellcracker! I love them!


15-3/4 " crappie!


Dagblasted ol' green fish tried to steal my gray hand-tied jig on JDM head I only have 3 left, over 40 fish on this ONE!!


O.M.G. !!! New PB crappie 2.6 lbs 16" WOW

PS every fish shown was released - and a zillion not shown. In the South some call it "tearing them UP" - when you get a fish on almost every cast. I love that time of year.

I still have 8 packs of frozen 2020 fish to eat before I keep some more. I don't "rape the lake" during spawn, it's just my choice. I let them all go, maybe enough for a supper. I prefer the taste of freshwater fish when the water is real cold, during winter.

I'd be fly fishing for those.

That last Crappie is a whomper.

Kudos for the catch and release at this time of the year.

Nice fish!
We're in the transition between hard and soft water.
This time of year is usually good for late winter panfish, getting on the ice is too sketchy for most anglers.
I'll wait for ice out, hopefully before April.

This lake is very deep, and colder than other waters around me,  where the spawn is fully underway and the fishing is on fire. I could hook up the boat and go, but I have a good chance of catching a 3+ lb crappie here, and it is very convenient to the house, so I keep fishing it, even though I know I could fill the cooler with fryers elsewhere. Plus, cool rainy weather has moved in for the next 2 weeks almost, but I think the next full moon is going to see the fishing off the chain.

A dark male with spawn colors, first one I caught:


Been racking up on the 13-14 inch class, like the fish below, 1.7 lbs / 14", and searching for the real big ones with my Garmin PLS. This tool has made me a "spot-and-stalk" fisherman, and it is so much fun, I just can't describe it.


I have also been catching about 5-10 nice bass a day. Several gave me a fit on a JDM UL rod and 2 lb test Gamma line, but I got the brutes in the net, oh yes. I was recently asked by the Water Authority lake mgmt to assist in tagging bass. I have been cultivating friendship with the guys, hoping for involvement and maybe more, so I quickly said yes. I am mainly a pan-fisherman, crappie and shellcracker (redear sunfish, the king of the bream) are my main quarry, but I by-catch a lot of really nice bass (LM and spots) while doing so, so much my bass rods are gathering dust. In fact, I caught my personal best LM bass, 10 lbs 24", while shooting docks for crappie on Lake Lanier with 4 lb test. No docks on this lake, and no rec boaters. A big ++ in my book.

i love crappie!! very nice lookin fish you got OP

Thanks, man. I really enjoy fishing for them a lot, casting small hand-tied jigs on UL gear. I find trolling boring, and I prefer to actively look for and cast to them, using my electronics. I'm a nerdy EE and gadget man, ya know.

Good on ya. Those are some frigging slabs!! I’m ready for a road trip...I’ll brings the beers or Cokes!

Nice.

I found a decent crappie spot myself. Lots of bass and a few gar and bowfin also.

I caught my first limit of crappie last Sunday. Hadn’t fished for them in years, they sure are tasty!!!!

Nice!

It's about time for me to get out too.

(but still have some of last years fish in the freezer, so I ain't jonesin' for a mess to hit the grease)

Crap, I’m behind but a cold snap hit us this week. I put out a minnow trap today on the lake. Also caught around a dozen crawdaddy (crayfish) in a nearby creek. Looking to set some hooks with my boys tomorrow.

Dang cold snap is bad enough, pushing fish back into deeper water, but this WIND is making fishing tough. Can't hardly control boat, can't hardly cast UL jigs, grrrrr. Full moon coming up 28th, hope to get on some bedding shellcrackers if i can find them. It might be a bit early, but you never know until you throw, right?

@RamblinWreck

Did you see the new world record caught in lake havasu redear  6.3-pounder that measured 17 inches with a 20-inch girth.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/05/lake-havasu-yields-another-redear-sunfish-of-world-record-size

Yes, I did. Havasu is at the top of my "must fish" list, plus I have friends in Az to visit.

A youtube angler I subscribe to just did the first of a couple vids there:


No record, but here's one of some I found recently at my local res: