Beans

Me neither Meely...I haven't caught a single crappie since I stopped fishing Rice Lake......Scratch that lake... Maybe today is the day...will give it a try this afternoon after it warms up some more...

And as Uncle Dave sez "they are just the right size for a hamburger bun with tarter sauce etc."

All the best to you Wayne... I hope you had a good one...

I tend to use the smallest swivel I can use safely on my main line (palomar), then tie with a lighter lb test fluorocarbon leader (palomar) on the other side of the swivel, then tie directly to my jig or spinner or make the leader into a carp hair rig then tie to the other end of swivel...except when using 4 lb test Berkley for panfish, then I use the same line below the swivel... I have been known to use the Berkly # 1 snaps for most pickerel and bass lures except when trolling for musky, then it is mostly an eight inch wire leader...

Oh...if only it were true (*sigh*)...

Welcome to my other club Merc... I usually sneak down to the launch mid week with my wife to put the "Tin of Beans" in the water in the spring... Never much problem hauling her out in the fall... Once a season is not enough backing up to become expert at it...

We carp fished 42*C water yesterday...needless to say we caught nada...but what a beauty day !!!

Still iced up over on your shore Peter Taites Bay today...A good stiff north wind should push it down the back channel...Nogies Bay is wide open...

Way back when I was a teenager...my partner and I only ever used Dominion 36'rs or 197's spinners for pike down at West Lake...drive up into the weeds and cast as the wind pushed us back out... Haven't seen them for years...no need for steel leaders as they were built on a long metal shank...

Sorry Nick...to tell anyone about ...er...um...you know...is to suffer the wrath of Uncle Vinny (The Chin) and Cousin Guido...

Bumped re: new pic above in first post and comment in second...

I plan on checking over at...er...um...you know on Saturday !

Taites Bay... The south wind is pushing the ice against the north shore... From the big bridge in town it looks like open water from the mouth of the river clear over to Big Island... Too foggy to take any pics Saturday...doesn't look like much change from above pics...I'll wait a few more days...

Last Sunday... Thursday morning... Saturday afternoon (very foggy)

Stick with the fakes...they will hit damn near anything in the spring...ice out they are in the shallows feeding...later they come back in to spawn...

If using crappie fillets you may not need as much time as above...

On Sunday the north end of Pigeon was still frozen except out from the mouth of the river in town...can see lots of open water from the big bridge and can't tell how far it is open in the current area to the south between Big Island and the west shore...

But you live in the "Banana Belt"

Yep...you and Uncle Dave, Meely, Photoz, and Big Cliff... Did you see the pictures I posted on Sunday ?

We got my step-daughter in Florida to try fish when I used a 1/4 cup of store-bought salsa, a tablespoon of peanut oil, 1/4 cup of white table wine, mixed together and poured over a couple of good sized Black Drum fillets wrapped in foil and baked on BBQ... Steve's (CPH) wife liked my garlic /ginger sauced fish done in the oven at 400*F -425*F for 20 minutes... In a bowl I mix a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil, 1/4 cup oyster sauce, 1/4 cup white table wine, a heaping tablespoon of chopped fresh garlic, a heaping tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, a couple of good splashes of soy sauce, a 1/4 cup of water and pour it over any white fleshed fillets and bake in hot oven...when finished baking I sprinkle some green onion over top along with a few drop of sesame oil Both methods I like served over steamed white rice and any Oriental veggies I'm not fond of fresh-water fish with the exception of catfish but my favs are cod or haddock...

watchin' the ice and countin' the days (sigh*)

Two shots looking north from Nogie Bridge Two shots lookin south from Nogie Bridge Last but not least...A view from our Launch (gated) Sorry about the glare in the pics...hard to get good pics in the bright sunshine unless it is at my back...

Hey Shane...I have to take my garbage to the dump this afternoon and will bring my camera with me and take a couple of shots off the bridge at Nogies along with some shots off our private park on Taites Bay... I'm guessing the launch in town below the dam on the north side of the river is free of ice as the river is wide open and the open water extends way out in the lake... Two shots of Nogie Launch

About a year or so ago, My bro-in-law moved into the Ports of Newcastle subdivision (east of Wilmot Creek) He took a walk down by the creek yesterday and couldn't believe his eyes...people, shoulder to shoulder from the RR tracks down to the lake. The part he found amusing was how everybody in unison would lift their line out of the water then cast upstream and start a new drift...could have put it to music he sez...LOL