Water levels are coming back up to 600.5 or roughly 1 1/2ft. Water temps have been everywhere from 62-74 the last few days. We need these 46 degree nights to stop. This makes the baitfish inactive and the rest follow. The white bass and walleye won’t even bite until noon or better. If you have a few crappie spots left better guard them until the overnight temps stay above 60.

“CRAPPIE”
Believe it or not there are female crappie just bursting with eggs and males still coal black. For the most part the spawn is done and some crappie just didn’t find conditions perfect and won’t drop their eggs this year. They will absorb them for nutrients needed while they get back on their normal summer patterns. I am fishing a slip bobber and minnow for them exclusively. Staying away from them and casting to them. My Livescope shows me exactly where and how deep to throw. Finding fish from 6ft.to 20ft. no pattern they can be everywhere. For the most part cubes and brushpiles. This will be the pattern for the rest of the summer.

I use an 8ft. rod custom made spooled with 20lb. braid down to a 1/4oz. weight and a foot long Fluorocarbon leader. a number 4 Aberdeen tru-turn hook. Then a Billy Bob float big enough to hold it up. We use this set up all summer. With the slip bobber set up like this you can fish it from 3ft. to 30ft. If hung up just pop it free.

“Walleye”
I am pulling livebait spinner rigs on a 1 1/2oz. Bottom bouncer. I always use this weight. Years of doing this I know at 1mph just run your line counter out to about 12ft. deeper than the bottom depth or if you want to fish ten feet down then put your counter on 22ft. This way I know how deep it suspends when I come across a school of whites or crappie out off a flat. I use number 3 or 4 blades in both Colorado and Indiana in Pink and White, Firetiger or Chrome and Blue. All my walleye/sauger this year have come deep 14-22ft. on flats not near wood just near schools of white bass. These schools are small so hard to stay with them. If I see all four rods go back I drop a waypoint so we can quickly repeat before they move on. Everyone these days totally relies on Livescope all the time. This style of fishing is more about reading map contours and finding slight bends on river channels or inside turns on flats. Plus your old fashioned 2-d sonar is critical for finding these small schools of whites that suspend. My boat has five depthfinders all networked together and this time of year I am using all of them. I run side-imaging on my front unit but it is reading my rear transducer so you don’t get a smeared image if you turn your trolling motor. I find schools all the time off to the side of me while trolling. Once again throw a waypoint on them.

I have been pulling spinners now for about 9 days. I have had three with over 75 white bass and my best day of keeper sauger has been five but everyday I have been getting around three or so. They are nice fish in the 16-22in. range. It will get better as it warms up.

Check my calendar as I am finally getting caught up and have plenty of good summer crappie trips/ white bass. July and August are prime and I have a lot of openings in my Book a Trip section on my website. Plus don’t forget I am going back to Kentucky Lake in November and have a bunch of good trips left for trophy crappie.

Steve Welch
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