May 18 & 19

[John M]

Fishing for crappie was disappointing. Slow friday, Saturday about 50 caught with only about 15 keepers. A keeper was so infrequent we released all fish. 70% of the crappie were between 7 - 83/4'. And the keepers were all under ten".

[John M]

Friday wind was out of northeast. So,Fished every cove/bay on big island southwest side. With everybody else that was on the water friday. Needed a traffic cop. Needless to say, spent the day fishing used water and spooked fish.

[John M]

But the pike are active in the spawning stages. One area extremely populated with spawning pike was the smalll island southwest of Big island. There is a green cottage the south end of island sitting about 10-15 feet above water level. Friday we caught numerous pike using out crappie jigs with slip bobbers or 1/16 jig head with 3" plastic minnow.trailer. slow retrieve with periodic stops . If you are pike
Fishing i suggesting right throwing a spinnerbait. We didnt use any live bait, so can't help with presentation
Would appreciate feedback. Size of keeper crappie being caught. (9-10, 11-12,12-13) also short/keeper fish ratio.
Love the lake , but not the erratic weather in the spring time. Tough to drive 200 miles to fish then e perked frontal conditions. Especially having every finger lake within 90 minutes of home.
We've been going on fall smallmouth trips for 20 Years to chaumont. Third annual black
Iake crappie outing. Tough to make reservations for rooms so early in advance and pray for good fishing conditions. Believe we will wait for a good weather report next May( 5-10 forcast) before scheduling lodging. There is always Ogdensburg and Alex bay motels within 15-20 miles.

All our crappie were caught from 2-4 feet per 5-9 feet of water.