Late Winter Crappies and Bass

Type: Nontidal
Region: Central
Location: central Maryland farm ponds

Much of our angling this past month has been in central Maryland farm ponds and small, public under the radar lakes. Crappies have been prone to move shallow on windy days that push warmer surface water to shorelines where water temps are 3-5 degrees warmer than other parts of the pond. Bass too have moved tight to the banks on warmer, windy days. Soft plastics below bobbers have been catching the lions' share of the fish including this 16.5 inch crappie and Alvie Sickle' 19-inch heavy pre-spawn largemoth bass. Matt Gronaw also displays a stud black crappie he recently caught and released using the Z-Man Micro Finesse Tiny TicklerZ on a 1/32 ounce head. Colder weather has, however, recently shut down the bite.