First crappie adventure this year., Cold full moon.

Thursday night watched the Oilers lose, then drove up to the lake. Hardly any traffic at 1am on the 401 or 35...made it by 3:45am. Fishing by 4am under the full moon. Cold, 1 degree with some clouds rolling in and out. A bit of a breeze but very damp, making it feel colder.

Fishing was good for almost two hours. Caught almost twenty crappie and six walleye. All the crappie were too small...7,8,9 inches.

Just before 6am some colder air moved in and the temperature dropped enough to make my line freeze up for about a half hour. Took a few pictures waiting for sunrise, water was like glass 5:52am. The bottom half of this picture looks like two eyes glaring at me. I think it was the Kawartha Fishing God and he didn't look happy.

Another shot a few minutes later, the sun creeping to the horizon 6:01am.

Temperature rose a bit when the sun finally decided to rise. Back to fishing, no more ice on the line. No more fish on the line either, nothing. Not another hit for hours. Not a clue what happened, fish were just gone. Did a muskie move in at sunrise? Was the Fishing God angry? It should have been a perfect day of catching more crappie, blue gill and the odd bass. Maybe the fish saw me standing there waiting and decided to hide on me.

Kept fishing until after lunch then gave up and went to get a few hours sleep. Long day/night being up since Thursday morning. Woke up and watched Montreal lose last night. Got a couple more hours sleep, then headed out today at 3am. Cold as Friday morning was, and the fishing started off slower this time. Only caught a few fish before the sun came up. Another long day but it got better as the sun climbed higher in the sky. No walleye after sunrise today, just crappie and blue gill. The fishing was very good between 11am and 4pm when the temperature came up. Still had to fish very slow as the water is still cold. Ended up catching around 35 crappie, all between 10 inches and 15 inches. Kept these four...11.5...12.5...13.5...13.5 inches. BBQ crappie with potatoes, bacon and eggs, for a family dinner. Watched the hockey game, the news etc. Going to bed now, not sure if I will fish tomorrow. Good luck to anyone fishing on Sunday. Stay safe.

Looks like your fishing tenacity is functioning well for the upcoming season.
When I was a young buck I used to use my fingers to clear the ice from the rod guides, now
I don't, I stay home...lol.
Your idea for breakfast sounds like a great way to get your protein.

Great post crappeeman, thanks for sharing.

We were chasing perch Saturday morning and also had no bite until after 11. We moved from one school and found another around that time, so was wondering if the bite was entirely off or just the fish we were on the first time were lockjaw.

Fishing in snow on May 2... gotta love spring!

you're off to a great start. Still don't know how you can stay up that long.

Thanks Fozzy, an extremely weird two days out there. It was a very late breakfast for dinner. Lots of food for a table of four, and definitely enough for seconds. Protein, B12 lots of vitamins, low fat except for the bacon, and frying everything else with the bacon fat. Who cares, LOL. We did have some grape tomatoes on the plates.

Thanks Whynot...Yes there were some rain drops, a few flurries, it felt more like early April. Guess it just depends on where you are fishing and what you are fishing for. I heard the trout and salmon were on fire in the big lakes.

Thank you sir. The cold keeps you awake and aware, in the spring and fall. The mosquitoes, spiders and other bugs, keep you awake and aware in the summer. I hate bugs, wish there was three seasons not four. But without summer there would be no more of the other food. No more anything really, guess we need summer and the bugs.

Good to see a great Crappie report......well done Jamie....in your happy place.....thanks for sharing fish brother.

Arnie

Thank you Arnie, it was a cold happy place. Got back home today by lunch time. I did want to fish today, but off to St. Thomas tomorrow to see my relatives visiting from Alberta. Going to get a good sleep tonight. My friends have been out on the lake all day today. They sent me this picture as they were gloating. They are not very nice at all. LOL.

Awesome Man!! Those Norse gods (the only real gods where us outdoor rednecks are concerned LOL) can be finicky.