The weather was just too perfect for me to resist not running out to the I-82 ponds for an evening of fishing. I settled on pond #5 just because there seemed to be little pressure on either pond 4 nor 5. So I biked in to Pond 5 and was quickly settled into the water in my ultralite rod,shorts, polarized sunglasses and boonie hat. My favorite spot this time of year is in front of the weed line off of the west shore beaver hut. I almost always use a 2.5" Berkley gulp minnow in watermelon pearl matched up with a Pucci brand 1/48th oz red hook jighead. This bait falls in a circular pattern and is deadly on suspended crappie. It took me nearly ahalf an hour before I caught my first fish, a solid 10" slab took my minnow on the drop. But after nearly 2 dozen empty casts, I switched up and put on a southern pro Red/chartruse silver glitter skirt tipped with a crappie nibble. I tried it with a shy bite bobber, but on this night the Crappie wanted that jig swam tight lined without a bobber around the ouside weed edges near the beaver hut. The strikes were subtle, often without hardly a "tap" but just a slight mushy feeling on the rod tip. 13 fish fell to that red/chatruse skirt jig. I caught 5 more on a black/clear glitter skirt as the sun started to wain. The bite just quit around 8 p.m. Final tally- nineteen crappie and one decent bass and another successful trip to the I-82 ponds. I hope to down load some digital pictures of my custom minnow jigs soon. The Jigmiester

Jay K

7/27/2010 9:44:00 PM

Hey Jig, you mention biking into the ponds, but then say you're bottom fishing from boat. Are you shore fishing, biking in with a raft, or a kayak?

blufin loui

7/27/2010 11:29:00 PM

Hello Jiggie, that sounds like a whole lot of fun. as I read the detailed description of the take, I could almost feel the action. How far do you have to bike in to fish the ponds?

The Jigmiester

7/28/2010 8:01:00 PM

Jay K and the mighty Looui... I biked in my caddis float tube. with a small back pack, water, jigbox, fins, and a change of clothes. Mobility on these type ponds and other spots is awesome when you can fish out of a float tube. I also believe that stealth in the approach is totally key to catcjing big panfish, so every thing that I have and wear while fishing is either camo or olive drab colored. Pond 5 is about a 1/2 mile jaunt from the pond 4 access. I'm used to the crappie being schooled up in pond 5, but this time of year, they seem to be suspended in the shade of the outside weed edges near woody cover like that beaver hut. Another little hint-they only wanted jigs with silver glitter in the tentacles of the skirt. If you have a boat, you can pick up some nice crappie in Buena pond # 6 near the Island and downed tree. The Jigmiester.

Jay K

7/29/2010 9:33:00 PM

Thanks for the info... I'm also a fan of portability - nice setup.

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