Cold Water Crankin II

The water had warmed significantly since the last cold water crankin effort. We elected to tryout the smaller lake at Penn Warner this time. Word around the campfire was that it was heating up. Temperature yes, fishing....still slow by my standards. If we had to fish that lake again, they better be jumping in the boat. Aside from the shallow water, the cold breeze off the chilly waters, and maneuvering around tree stumps, the trip was a partial success. Our goal was to catch some toothy fish like pickerel and pike before waters became too warm. The morning started out with a very brisk 37 degree air temp and strong winds from the west.

We tried to capitalize on the shallow lake in hopes the water would have been warmer and with that increased fish activity. The shallow stump filled lake was hard to navigate with cloudy water and strong winds. We covered a lot of area with three of us in the boat though. Each throwing different combinations of cranks and colors. After a few hours, it felt like we threw everything but the kitchen sink. But there was hope, the rookie we took fishing hooked up with a nice pickerel on a lipless watermelon colored crank bait. It wasn't long before we matched suit with similar combinations.

During the late spring and summer the lake is typically covered in lily pads which could be seen just starting to grow. A prime opportunity to drag a frog across the pads to invoke a bass to swallow like a garbage disposal. The early action on the other hand was mild at best. We had slammed them last year on the larger lake under the same conditions. This would be a learning experience for us and something to reflect upon. But another day fishing is better than any day at work.

Check out Rob below with his first pickerel he has every caught.