Neil McCauley

Great fish.

Going to give it a shot this week since it will be clear with a full moon, what can I expect? Any tips or advice?

Spawn is mid May here I believe. I must have been catching prespawn males. First time going that time of year for me, it was surreal.

SC is probably getting a little warm for crankbaits, and fish are lazier about feeding. They might be more interested in early evening around sunset. I've found a stop-and-go retrieve works well if the fish aren't aggressively feeding, or reel it down to depth and then let it rise up to the surface giving it a twitch every couple feet. You could also just take the easy way out and troll them and for every 100 fish that don't bite 1 will. Also helps to use fluorocarbon line and a sensitive rod. Crankbait strikes are subtle and if you aren't detecting them you're probably missing a lot of fish without even knowing it.

Not sure, those aren't mine, just the only pic I could find.

I fish a canoe + trolling motor. It's really not much of a disadvantage vs a bassboat once you're at a location. It's only an issue if there is wind or wake from other boats.

If you're doing topwater, try a popper with a flyrod. You have to be pretty discrete pond fishing...sounds are amplified and fish know the little environment well. They're also very wary of land predators like Blue Herons so they will shut down surface feeding if they sense splashing or shadows near the shore.

Rapala DT crankbait

Perch pattern shad raps and shallow runners have been very productive here. Also Rapala skitter poppers in light brown or light green.

Did a lot of SM fishing on LG in upstate NY this spring and noticed differences as the water warmed up. Can anyone explain, maybe offer some advice what to do differently? Mid-Spring (late April, early May) - Moderate depth (15-20 FOW), BIG fish (many >18"), very aggressive to bite, in groups, but lethargic fighters. Crankbaits productive, not topwater. Late Spring (late May, early June) - Shallow (<5 FOW), but smaller fish (almost all 12"), aggressive to bite and very energetic fighting, jumping, running. Lots of topwater hits.

Most productive for me, the "TopKnocker." Walks the dog well, and has a ball bearing inside that rolls along a track and creates a delayed "knock" after it moves and this seems to really drive fish nuts. Best part is it casts further than anything else in my box, much farther than Zara Spooks. Now I just wish I could find them for sale somewhere..