# East Fork?



## Tom Thesing (Mar 10, 2019)

Has anyone been on East Fork lately? is the Blue/green algae in bloom? any crappie reports?


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## burnsj5 (Jan 30, 2014)

Haven't been out this week but last few weeks lake looked a lot better and not seeing much of the algae like I was previously. I havent been crappie fishing so can't speak to that. Just try to get the boat out for a couple hours 1-2 times a week after the kids go to bed and fish for hybrids normally. I think they have a big rowing event this weekend as well just FYI. Good luck if you head out.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I was out yesterday and the water looks really good. As burnj5 said there is a regatta going on so the whole west pool is "No Wake". It's been going on for a few days and I'm not sure how long it will be going on.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Any updates on the saugeye fishing ?
Good luck and good fishing !


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## Treble (Mar 27, 2017)

garhtr said:


> Any updates on the saugeye fishing ?
> Good luck and good fishing !


Saugeye bite well along the beach on south side


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## Tom Thesing (Mar 10, 2019)

crappiedude said:


> I was out yesterday and the water looks really good. As burnj5 said there is a regatta going on so the whole west pool is "No Wake". It's been going on for a few days and I'm not sure how long it will be going on.


Regatta, I thought that was just a weekend thing? oh well


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## burnsj5 (Jan 30, 2014)

Looked into it again. Dates were from 01aug to 05aug, so done end of Friday. You can still launch and fish just a large restricted area and increased no wake.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Treble said:


> Saugeye bite well along the beach on south side


In general-- What size are the larger fish ? and are you able to pick up good numbers ?
I've caught a few below the spillway but not in good numbers and still mostly in the 16 - 17 inch range.
Good luck and good fishing !


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

If I can get an overcast day next week with highs in the 80's, I'll give EF a shot and try for some saugs and post a report. Next Friday looks pretty good with the high only being 79. Might try then.


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## Treble (Mar 27, 2017)

garhtr said:


> In general-- What size are the larger fish ? and are you able to pick up good numbers ?
> I've caught a few below the spillway but not in good numbers and still mostly in the 16 - 17 inch range.
> Good luck and good fishing !


16" -20" west end of beach - use silver / gray minnow , such as the gulp on a very light jig head. throw close to buoys and let sink to bottom . Patience will pay off using this method.


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## Treble (Mar 27, 2017)

G-Patt said:


> If I can get an overcast day next week with highs in the 80's, I'll give EF a shot and try for some saugs and post a report. Next Friday looks pretty good with the high only being 79. Might try then.


Believe it or not, a friend of mine wades out to near the edge of swim area on the hottest sunniest days this summer and catches decent Saugeye in the middle of the day. I was surprised !


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Treble said:


> a friend of mine wades out to near the edge of swim area


I'm planning on trying that area this fall at night.
The fall fish are surprisingly shallow and that area also has a good reputation for hybrids.
Good luck and good fishing !


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I think it's just going to be a matter of time before patterns start to develop and people get tuned into what's working and what's not. I've been thinking of a few areas that should hold fish and had to at least try.
Spent 30 minutes casting a crankbait this morning and came up with this one...20.5"


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## Tom Thesing (Mar 10, 2019)

Well work got in my way of fishing East Fork this weekend, I will try this week when this work stuff is over


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Tom Thesing said:


> Well work got in my way of fishing East Fork this weekend, I will try this week when this work stuff is over


You probably didn't miss much, we had 3 1/2" of rain Saturday morning and the lake is rising. The lakes went up a foot this morning just in the few hours I fished.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

crappiedude said:


> this morning and came up with this one...20.5"


That's a nice healthy looking fish. The few I've taken in the tailwaters have been somewhat on the skinny side.
Good luck and good fishing !


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## Tom Thesing (Mar 10, 2019)

Well I today was a beautiful day to be on the water. I launched my new boat from the campgrounds at around 8:00am, I didnt expect much of a crappie bite for mid August but it turned into a decent day. this was the 1st day I could concentrate on using the Panoptix and it made all the difference, and I helped me confirm something I thought was true. I caught alll my fish off of 3 spots 15-20 males 8-10ft in 12-15fow off of laydowns and brush. What I discovered is that they would only tap a jig tipped with a minnow, but would devour a jig tipped with a Berkeley's crappie nibble, the Panoptix confirmed my beliefs. most fish were in the 9-10" range but had a few 11" slabs to boot. All and all a good day. Obtw I found out they caught the crack head that was stealing catalytic convertors, the Dnr step up cameras along with boars head, good job fellas


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

Glad to hear they caught that crook. Went fishing last weekend and attempted for saugeyes, caught none. The crappie, shad and catfish were stacked up thick just outside the beach on the southern end of the lake. Lots of people on them too along with the cormorants. I managed to catch a few catfish and crappie. No one was catching saugeyes when I was there. The saugs at EF are elusive.


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## Treble (Mar 27, 2017)

G-Patt said:


> Glad to hear they caught that crook. Went fishing last weekend and attempted for saugeyes, caught none. The crappie, shad and catfish were stacked up thick just outside the beach on the southern end of the lake. Lots of people on them too along with the cormorants. I managed to catch a few catfish and crappie. No one was catching saugeyes when I was there. The saugs at EF are elusive.


 I agree - and for the numbers they have been stocking one would think they would be easier to track down.


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## Treble (Mar 27, 2017)

Treble said:


> I agree - and for the numbers they have been stocking one would think they would be easier to track down.


Weather permitting, I may take my boat out there Sunday and will report if I can track any of them down


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## Stampede (Apr 11, 2004)

Are they hitting in the spill way?


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## Backwater (Aug 13, 2006)

Tom Thesing said:


> Well I today was a beautiful day to be on the water. I launched my new boat from the campgrounds at around 8:00am, I didnt expect much of a crappie bite for mid August but it turned into a decent day. this was the 1st day I could concentrate on using the Panoptix and it made all the difference, and I helped me confirm something I thought was true. I caught alll my fish off of 3 spots 15-20 males 8-10ft in 12-15fow off of laydowns and brush. What I discovered is that they would only tap a jig tipped with a minnow, but would devour a jig tipped with a Berkeley's crappie nibble, the Panoptix confirmed my beliefs. most fish were in the 9-10" range but had a few 11" slabs to boot. All and all a good day. Obtw I found out they caught the crack head that was stealing catalytic convertors, the Dnr step up cameras along with boars head, good job fellas


I've never tried tipping jigs with dough baits lie the Berkley Crappie Nibble. Any particular color work best for you? I just got my Panoptix setup and wonder how best to use it. I used to just set up over some cover, and jigged for crappies, but I'm thinking with the panoptix, I'll try setting up maybe 20-40 feet shy of the cover, use the panoptix to see what is out their, then cast a jig on a float past the fish and drag it back through the cover. Haven't tried it yet, can you actually see a small jig on the panoptix?


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## Tom Thesing (Mar 10, 2019)

Backwater said:


> I've never tried tipping jigs with dough baits lie the Berkley Crappie Nibble. Any particular color work best for you? I just got my Panoptix setup and wonder how best to use it. I used to just set up over some cover, and jigged for crappies, but I'm thinking with the panoptix, I'll try setting up maybe 20-40 feet shy of the cover, use the panoptix to see what is out their, then cast a jig on a float past the fish and drag it back through the cover. Haven't tried it yet, can you actually see a small jig on the panoptix?


 Do yourself a favor and spend $5 on a jar of chartreuse color nibbles, I never leave home without them! lol. Casting to them could work once you know there depth. I have only used the Panoptix twice, so I haven't messed with tuning it for the water I'm in, I'm still learning. But I will say about 75% of the time I could see my jig, I found if I crimped a split shot about 5" above the jig it helped, it was easy to see 2 objects moving at the same speed, I also tried some of Pico lures Scope Eye jigs they worked somewhat well, but from what I read any jig with flat surfaces on them vs, round lead heads will show up better, I guess like a minnow head jig may work, time will tell.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

FYI EF guys, for those of you who stop at Sherry's for bait. Gary (Sherry's husband) passed away and the bait shop will be shut down I think it's Saturday afternoon for a few hours mid-day. You might want to call to make sure when they will be open if you plan on stopping there this weekend.


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

crappiedude said:


> FYI EF guys, for those of you who stop at Sherry's for bait. Gary (Sherry's husband) passed away and the bait shop will be shut down I think it's Saturday afternoon for a few hours mid-day. You might want to call to make sure they when they will be open if you plan on stopping there this weekend.


 I'm sorry to hear that. Did he work weekend mornings? That's when I would by minnows from them during spring crappie.


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

G-Patt said:


> I'm sorry to hear that. Did he work weekend mornings? That's when I would by minnows from them during spring crappie.


Not recently. I don't think Gary has worked any for the last 3-4 years maybe. I think he quit working for health reasons a while ago. From what I understand he's had a pretty rough go of it once he was forced to quit working.


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

Backwater said:


> I've never tried tipping jigs with dough baits lie the Berkley Crappie Nibble. Any particular color work best for you? I just got my Panoptix setup and wonder how best to use it. I used to just set up over some cover, and jigged for crappies, but I'm thinking with the panoptix, I'll try setting up maybe 20-40 feet shy of the cover, use the panoptix to see what is out their, then cast a jig on a float past the fish and drag it back through the cover. Haven't tried it yet, can you actually see a small jig on the panoptix?


I put Panoptix on my boat a few years ago and if you look on youtube there are a lot of good videos on what settings to set on your device to be able to see the small crappie jigs. You may want to update it with the latest firmware too, there are new features that came out early this year that help with this. I have used this a lot for catching crappie and it is very fun to watch them swim up and eat the bait. My kids find that the most fun part of fishing now since it is like video game fishing but they get to reel in live fish instead of on a screen.


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## Backwater (Aug 13, 2006)

Tom Thesing said:


> Do yourself a favor and spend $5 on a jar of chartreuse color nibbles, I never leave home without them! lol. Casting to them could work once you know there depth. I have only used the Panoptix twice, so I haven't messed with tuning it for the water I'm in, I'm still learning. But I will say about 75% of the time I could see my jig, I found if I crimped a split shot about 5" above the jig it helped, it was easy to see 2 objects moving at the same speed, I also tried some of Pico lures Scope Eye jigs they worked somewhat well, but from what I read any jig with flat surfaces on them vs, round lead heads will show up better, I guess like a minnow head jig may work, time will tell.


I'll have to try it, thanks Tom


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## Backwater (Aug 13, 2006)

Bazzin05 said:


> I put Panoptix on my boat a few years ago and if you look on youtube there are a lot of good videos on what settings to set on your device to be able to see the small crappie jigs. You may want to update it with the latest firmware too, there are new features that came out early this year that help with this. I have used this a lot for catching crappie and it is very fun to watch them swim up and eat the bait. My kids find that the most fun part of fishing now since it is like video game fishing but they get to reel in live fish instead of on a screen.


I've been fishing other species lately, but will try hooking up with some crappie on my panoptix on my next trip. How do you us the panoptix when fishing for bass? Thanks for the reply.


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