Out in it: A shallow mind helps right now

If you are reading this, you should probably stop. Hook up your boat and read this later. The fish are biting. The light switch has been turned on this week. Many different species have moved shallow with the warming water and they are active.

I've been on three crappie lakes in the last 10 days. The fish were staging just off spawning grounds with the temps holding in the low to mid-50s. As the weather and water warmed, those fish pushed en masse toward the shallows.

This is the time for spawning, a turnaround from the "here today, gone tomorrow" nature of pre-spawn crappies that test an angler's patience. These fish will stick around in the shallows to spawn and feed voraciously in an attempt to recuperate.

The male crappies have donned their jet black tuxedos, and the females shine in chrome, reflecting the sun from their watery hideouts. If you are venturing out, here are some places to look.

No. 1, get the front of your boat right up tight to shallow water. This is not a casting bite. This is a visual plucking of individual fish from cover, including lily pads, emerging reeds, and any wood that is in the water. All three will gather the heat of the sun and bump the water temperature up a few notches, attracting the crappies. The cover allows the fish to feel secure to go about their business.

If you normally run a bow-mount trolling motor, I would advise against blowing into a spot with the blades blasting. Rather, nose the bow of the boat into the cover using your main motor. Better yet, break out the paddle. You will get one chance at being stealthy.

If you spook the crappies, they will return but may prove tight-lipped.

Grab the longest fishing rod you own and dissect each piece of cover. Almost exclusively I use a 1/32-ounce jig tipped with a small plastic on 4-pound test line. Although tempting, I will not use a float in this situation. I've seen hundreds of crappies suck in my bait and spit it out before I could blink. If I were relying on a bobber to transmit those bites, I would be out of luck. As it is, my reaction time must be getting slower, because I've missed a couple of those quick bites this spring, although most have still visited the inside of the big blue Lund.

A good pair of polarized sunglasses is worth its weight in gold right now. The difference between randomly casting and targeting individual fish is the difference between a couple of crappies and a great day. Also, practice selective harvest. The crappies are vulnerable during this time period. Keep a batch of smaller males to release into the frying pan and enjoy catching and releasing the rest.

Depending on the lake, you will also see largemouth bass, bluegills, sunfish, pike and even the occasional walleye or muskie prowling the shorelines.

A couple of muskies and a good number of walleyes visited my boat this week on the St. Louis River. You guessed it, plucked from the shallow water. I've been trolling the 3- to 5-foot flats off the river channel south of the Oliver bridge. Number 4 Salmo Hornets trolled directly behind the boat have been producing a mixed bag of walleyes, muskies, pike, perch, crappies and even a big channel catfish that wanted to play.

As the spring shifts to summer, the bite will get better and shift. My shallow-water crappie obsession will move to a shallow-water bass obsession. The weeds will really start to emerge, and many of the gamefish will congregate in the newly formed cover. This will force me to remain shallow-minded, at least for a couple more weeks.

Bret Baker is an award-winning outdoors columnist and lifetime resident of Cloquet. Email him at [email protected] with fishing questions or story ideas.