Pineview 1/12 Action

[TubeDude]

Hmmmm, then I wonder why the zooplankton rise out of the mud after dark?  Don't they know crappies are dangerous?  Scared of the light?  What type of bottom do they rise up from?  What kind of mud? 

I was just commenting about the bite timing because I've caught a lot of early morning and afternoon crappie up there, too, and the bites seem to change on me, a lot.  Good here today, good there tomorrow, good here this year, good there next year, moon cycles, temps and storms, whatever else.....  I'd love to find that ONE consistent, always-on spot, though.  I've seen those clouds on sonar, but I'm making due with cheap electronics.

Interesting enough, (to me) I generally use a fairly large jig or chain-spoon on them, because they are so deep.  Certainly nothing that looks  like zooplankton.  I've never had too much trouble detecting bites on a spring-bobber, IF I was getting bites.

I had a pretty good handle on it for about 5 years, then they just lost me, and I still aven't re-figured it out.  It's good to see a crop of little ones that will grow up, though.

The good news is that crappies are not as "match the hatch" specific as trout can be at times.  They are usually more opportunistic...and will feed on multiple food items.  That's why they will still hit lures larger than zooplankton while heavily feeding on the green soup.  And a good glow goodie can attract them from several feet away...unless they are already stuffed.

There have been a lot of cycles in Pineview over the years.  For a few years there was a good balance of perch and crappies...with lots of young hatchlings in the food chain every year.  When both the perch and the bigger crappies were patterning on young-of-the-year perchlets...about 2" long...the narrows became the place to fish for both species after about mid November.  That's when the small perch followed the zooplankton down to the depths in 40-50 feet of water...and the bigger fish followed.  The game plan for anglers was to look for schools of baby perch on the bottom and fish around them.  Usually resulted in goodly numbers of good sized perch and crappies.

Under those conditions, I caught most of my larger fish on 1/4 oz. jigging spoons with a piece of perch meat sweetener.  And the hits were almost always hard enough to easily detect.  The fish were hunting for meat and they weren't bashful.  You mentioned the "chain spoon".  I have been effectively using my "holy jigs" on Pineview for years...1/4 oz. glow blade with thin wire and a small "flat rinkee".   They get down fast, attract the fish and then the fish hit the smaller offering.  

I haven't been fishing Pineview during the winter for a few years so I haven't been tracking the food chain changes.  But I suspect that there are still some good sized fish showing up near the buoy line...and that they would accept larger offerings with some meat on the hook.