This month we would like to spotlight the upcoming and the outgoing hunting
and fishing seasons.
The outgoing season this month is Coyote.
This has always been one of my favorite critters to chase.
The wiley coyote can be found just about
anywhere. They are becoming more and more
common in rural areas and many complaints have
been made about their killing their family pets or trying
to get into small farm pens. While these little guys are
very pretty and sometimes I love to just sit and watch
them they are one of mother natures most vicious
and unprejudiced killers ! !
They eat 24-7 and what ever they can catch is the meal of the day. That is one
reason why I am such a big advocate of coyote hunting, they are destroying the
small game hunting slowly but surely. They flourish on rabbits, pheasants,ducks,
geese, squirrels, fawns and yearling deer and when in packs they can even
take down bucks and does. Some like to say it is inhumane to kill coyote but
considering the ecological damage they endure it is more of ecological
management than an act of inhumanity. I always encourage hunters to talk
with local farmers in their area and seek permission to hunt coyote on their
property. It will help manage the balance in the ecosystem and help small game
to thrive. So give it a try and see if you don`t get hooked on the yote.
And then there is FISHING!
One of the tastiest little fish and one of the biggest fighting little guys you will
have on the end of your line is The Crappie. Now seasoned panfish enthusiasts
have chased these guys for many many years, it has spawned Crappie-thons all
over the USA. They can be found in just about any small or large body of water
including creeks and rivers. They dwell in brush piles, around submerged trees,
stumps, rock piles. They can be caught on a variety of baits bot live and
artificial, minnows have long been a staple for crappie fisherman. Tipping small
buck hair jigs with them can produce great yields, tipping small jigs with twister
tail grubs or just using a leadhead jig and grub combo will take even the most
stubborn crappie. One of my favorite tactics is using a slip bobber and either a
live minnow or jig, jig combo. The slip bobber allows me to hold a certain depth
as crappie when feeding will always bite up and not down. This slip bobber
allows me to suspend my bait over the top of the school and work that depth
over the entire area where the schooled fish are. I have tried just plain jigging
and had great success, but the bobber has really refined my crappie fishing for
the last 20 years and I highly recommend it to everyone to try. With spring
coming on the waters will begin to warm and when they reach the 50 degree
mark the crappie will start feeding and preparing for the spawn. A lot of
fisherman will wait for a certain month or week there in that month, but keeping
an eye on the water temps is the big key. When they reach the 62-64 degree
mark start looking for the papermouths way up in the shallows of coves building
beds, generally you will find them just on the outside edge of where direct
sunlight makes constant contact with the water. This allows them to stay semi in
the shade and in warm water, pre-spawn is a fast paced time to catch these
guys. Once you locate a school and find the right depth they will hit HANG ON.
Now a lot of anglers have complained of only catching the SMALL ones ! There
is a easy cure for that, the smaller crappie will in fact beat out the larger ones
for food. You would`t think so but they do, they will actually stage their self
above the larger crappie so they can get to the food source first. Now when you
get in this position the simplest thing to do is fish about a foot deeper, come in
below the small ones and above the large ones. This will take some trial and
error and adjusting depths several times but it will pay off in the end. Some of
the better crappie lakes around Indiana have always been Monroe Res. down
by Bloomington,IN Patoka Res. down by Jasper,IN and Brookville Res. out by
Brookville,IN
All of these lakes have A-1 crappie habitat and a wide array of areas to find
them so you don`t have to worry about being stacked up on top of other
anglers. Now post spawn is a little more tricky, the crappie have laid their eggs
and have moved out to deeper water to rest and rejuvenate. They won`t be as
eager to bite as they were in the pre spawn and it will take a lot more
persistence and patience to catch these guys. Look for submerged cover along
breaks into deeper water, usually they will stay in a 8-12 foot depth that has a
drop off into deeper water. Now when I say DEEPER water that doesn't have to
mean 30-40 feet, it can be whatever the deepest water is in that area, the big
key is they will be staged on cover in between the shallows and the deep end of
their area. This will take what is known as Vertical Fishing, this is where you key
in on the individual structure and drop your bait straight down and slowly jig it in
front of them. Now this may take several attempts to draw the crappie into biting
but it is a labor with reward. So keep an eye on the water temps, check with the
DNR at the lakes you wish to fish and find out what the water temps are and if
and where the crappie are starting to hit at. The Conservation Officers are
always happy to help people know where to start out at and will gladly offer any
information to assist. So get out there and have some fishin fun this year.
|
|
|
|
