Crappie season is now in full swing as these taste pan fish are starting to set up for their annual spawn. This is the best time of year to focus on slab sacalait.
While waiting patiently on the speckled trout bite to get back into full swing these little guys keep us very occupied during the early spring especially on the windiest of days. There is no better way to spend a common windy February or March morning than deep into the rivers or bayous of lake Pontchartrain. Here lately at Matrixshad.com we have been on the prowl jumping from rivers to bayous to lakes across the south. The Pearl River system has been our main focus due to the water levels being stable. We have been fishing with Captain Brian Baldwin a swamp tour guide on the Pearl River itself. Brian has taught us a wealth of knowledge on the tricky river and also helped us with many great techniques on targeting this finicky fish. The pearl can get rather high or even to flood stage quite often in the early spring so when it is below 12 feet, the west pearl is a great place to hone in on. While fishing on the west you are going to see a lot of dirty water and plenty of snags. The snaggier the area the better. Crappie up to 15 inches are caught rather commonly and plenty of black and white perch roam the area. You will see us spending a lot of time on the rivers just before big fronts which make the main lake too choppy to chase speckled trout. On the calmer spring days the crappie will play second fiddle to the speckled trout. All we do is put down the 1.875 inch long Matrix and move up to the 3.25 inch full size Matrix. Make sure to watch this episode of DockSide TV as we take the Matrix Mini deep into the swamp of the Pearl River. Until Next Time “Good Fishing”
