Fishing Report Archives

Hello from the Excel Bay Pro 230 Elite.

After months of rigging, the new boat has been fish slimed big time. Planned fishing trips for early week had to be cancelled when fire destroyed my taxidermy studio early Monday morning.

Inspection found the fire to have been caused by an electrical issue. I want to thank the fire departments who responded, fought the fire, and stayed on site for several hours.

I’m thankful nobody was injured. The business was a total loss. Thank you so much to all who have reached out to me since the fire.

Reports from friends and my observations from my guide trip Thursday all point to an early spawn for our gamefish. With no big cold fronts in the forecast, it looks inevitable. Water temperatures everywhere I have been on the lake this week were in the 55-58 degree range on cloudy days.

Big female crappie are being caught in waters 8-15 feet deep. We were trolling spinner jigs Thursday and action was non-stop when I could control my boat. Our best colors were a dark head with light contrasting tail.

As often happens on new boats, a gremlin showed up in my trolling motor at the worst time. I finally figured out a way to limp to the finish line and my clients were great about my struggles.

I’m very happy with the new boat but it’s going to take a while for me to figure out where all my tackle is stored. The Storm Cat had many more places to hide stuff but I knew where stuff was most of the time.

Caution is the word for those who choose to hit the lake now. Many ramps are almost unusable at current levels. Those ramps may appear fine until your trailer drops off the end.

I’ve experienced damaged trailer axles in the past from this. There is no frustration like having a damaged trailer that can’t get your boat into the lake or back home.

April 1st is the normal beginning of the lake level rise. That rise will be slow and it will bring the floating debris with it.

The lakes are full of short fish right now. We caught several shorts for every keeper. Fish and Wildlife is busy checking boats and fish. Be sure you have all your required safety gear and make sure your fish are all legal.

Crappie have to be 10”. Sauger have to be 14”. Measure any fish that might be close. A visit to see a judge to pay fines for illegal fish will ruin one’s day.

Be careful out there. Be considerate of those in boats around you. Everybody wants to catch fish but crowding other boats or cutting off their direction of travel isn’t the way to do it.

Get your boat and tackle ready before you start onto the ramp. Parking at many ramps is always an issue. Don’t be that person who decides taking up several spots is OK since you are in a hurry to fill your boat with slabs.

Those lines on the pavement are there for a reason. Enjoy your time on the water. Enjoy our slice of Heaven.