Balsam spring fishing, Crappie...Pike

Excellent report, Peja!

Congrats on the great pike opener and thanks for sharing the details!

Very nice pike size.

Jerkbaits rule!

I am looking forward coming over to Balsam tomorrow and try my luck for pike as well.

Came back from Balsam recently
Great weather and empty ramp and lake to enjoy
Got a few pikes, biggest around 28” and many many (at least 10) oos largies (all released )
As a bonus got two nice crappies 12” and 14”
All fish was In 4-6 Fow taking up some long awaited warmth from sun
Friends were in the morning and got three nice pike in 30-33” range

Excellent day out on the water with great weather. I would have thought there would have been 50 crappie in your report. The crappie must be splitting up a bit for the next two weeks. That's great you got pike and crappie and bass as well. There is always those bass hanging around with nothing better to do than hit your bait in the spring.

Thanks CM
The first crappie hit a 3” jerkbait around 7 pm in the cove in 5-6 Fow
I immediately switched to a 2” twister tail and got a bigger slab at 14” but then nothing
It appears they were on the move .
I fished from around 3 pm to 8 pm

Congrats JB on Balsam Crappie and Pike. I have not tried Balsam this season so far and I have never caught Crappie there...
What was water temp?

Thanks CM for the tips on Balsam, one day I will catch Crappie there and the entire lake will hear me screaming

Sorry for the off topic. Sat-Sun I fished for brookies. With family members kept 9. Lots of small ones were released.

Today just came back from another Kawatha lake and finally had decent few hours catching Crappie. Caught 30-40, kept 9 above 10", a couple of them are around 13".

reelingmachine...good job on the crappie wow. You and JB did well yesterday. Wish I was there, fish with you two guys soon I hope. We will go to one of my crappie and walleye spots in May. Good luck out there and stay safe.

Wow, excellent fishing long weekend you had, RM, on both trout and crappie! Well done

30-40 crappies that's an amazing catch!

Actually, yesterday I caught my first crappies on Balsam.

I do not target them there and always fish for mainly pike, musky and then walleye there using larger lures and different spots.

I do not try to catch all species of fish in the lake anymore as in my younger years and just concentrate my efforts on a specific fish but those slabs in Balsam definitely make me wanna come and fish just for them

Surface water temps midday were 7C in mid lake and 8-9C in bays, warming to 11C in bays by the end of the day

Thanks, CM.
Looking forward fishing with you in May.

Thanks, CM.
Looking forward fishing with you in May.

Thank you, CM! Looking forward!
If all aligned may finally meet JB in person.

Wow, excellent fishing long weekend you had, RM, on both trout and crappie! Well done

30-40 crappies that's an amazing catch!

Actually, yesterday I caught my first crappies on Balsam.

I do not target them there and always fish for mainly pike, musky and then walleye there using larger lures and different spots.

I do not try to catch all species of fish in the lake anymore as in my younger years and just concentrate my efforts on a specific fish but those slabs in Balsam definitely make me wanna come and fish just for them

Surface water temps midday were 7C in mid lake and 8-9C in bays, warming to 11C in bays by the end of the day

Thank you, JB.

Yes, caught a lot, but the majority were small. Just measured and 3 I kept are shorter than 10"
The spot I fished today was also about 11C.

I also did not target them on Balsam much, a couple of times last year only after Jamie shared a thought that Balsam should be renamed to Big Black Crappie lake

My PB is 13". 14" would be a big deal to me, I may

Nice video, thanks for sharing.