March Slab

Roll out the pontooner to a small lake with more of a multispecies crowd compared to the bass pond that was tried last week. An angler has more of a chance at getting into something in Colorado around March if there are more types of fish than just bucketmouths. This particular lake has largemouth bass but also rumored to have smallmouth, a few decent crappie and stocked trout that can get fairly decent sized. These are the times when I bring both the kitchen sink and the bathtub as well. Translated this means both the trout bag that has seen a lot action in the last few months and the bass bag, which is still being dusted off from last November.

Wind was about 5 to 10mph blowing out of the west. This had forced the fish to hold up against the western edge of the lake that was sheltered from the wind forced lake current. Most experts in this situation will say to focus on the east side of the lake as the fish and forage will be pushed that direction by the wind. I have found the opposite to be true on smaller ponds or where there is water sheltered from the gusts.

Once I find the shelter point and anchor down Don says he has spotted a school of crappie. He tosses at them for a while with the gear he has and then goes back to searching for buckets. I dig into my bag and tie one up and start throwing for crappie. Just a plain white jig with a plastic grub trailer, 1/8oz weight on the jig head and 2” length on the grub. This is not a secret tactic for crappie by any means but having something in the micro-size on hand just might be the ticket. The idea is to swim the jig through the water like a lost minnow or crazy water bug. Crappie tend to like deep structure so I try to cast around areas that have something these fish could hunker around.

Throw a few casts and two crappie slabs come out from the deep structure to investigate. One of them slams the jig right in front of me and the panfish battle is on. The fish didn’t give up a huge battle mind you but did provide a sturdy panfish scrap, which is something I have not had for a while. Land the fish and take a few pictures that turned out horrible and a quick video that I stole the screen shot above from.

No big buckets yet but the season is young. Getting my hands on a March slab is just as fantastic!

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.