By Jerry Neeley
March has come and gone, now comes the best month of the year for fishing. There’s not too much trial and error now that the fish are on the beds. What’s the best bait for bedding bass? I like a floating worm, swim bait or a Sinko. They will strike other baits too. If you see a bass on the bed chances are that she has already seen you and that makes it hard to catch that bass. What I try to do, is check over a likely area and make a long cast to that area in hopes of landing a bedding bass. Some places are better than others for the bedding bass. Also there will be buck bass in the area roaming the banks. They are usually easy to catch. One thing of caution, do not fish right behind another bass fisherman during the spawn. That fisherman might not catch a bass, but I guarantee you he has put the fish in that area on notice. Bass don’t get big by being stupid. They will be very cautious about striking a bait.
They’re on the bank. How many times have you ever heard that statement in April from a crappie fisherman? Well, The crappie are spawning and shallow in the very back of coves. I have a few places that hold spawning fish. I have pulled up with customers in a cove and caught the limit right off a tree or shallow brush pile. My favorite thing to do is cast a 1/32 hair jig right over the tree or brush pile and slowly wind it back to the boat. You will feel that tap tap on your line and a slight jerk on the rod will hook him up. Another way to catch a mess of crappie is to use a cork and jig. Just put a small cork up about 12-14 inches above the jig on four pound test line and pop it across the water in coves. They will sink the cork. You can still troll in April for crappie.
April is also a great month to flat line troll in the creeks. I love doing this because it seems to catch larger fish. You can cover a lot of water in a short period of time. Tight lining produces too! As you can see there are a lot of ways to catch crappie in April.
Catfishing is great in April. Some of the largest catfish are caught in this month trolling in the creeks. They do not spawn in April, but a little later in the year. They will be near white perch and feeding on them. Of coarse they are eating other fish too!
I hope you have a good fishing season. Slow down and fish. I guarantee you will catch more fish. Keep a diary! You will be glad you did. Take a kid fishing!
Jerry Neeley – Writes the Wylie forecast ~ www.carolinasfishing.com ~ 704-867-5113
Jerry’s Fishing Guide Service is a service that has more than forty years of fishing experience. They guide on Wylie and Norman. If you are looking for Bass, Crappie or Catfishing they can provide this service at a reasonable price. Their goal is to make your outing fun and enjoyable. They make fishing fun!