This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to hop in the boat with touring crappie pro and local guide Amos Livingston. When we first looked at the forecast earlier in the week it called for light winds and a high temperature around 52. Neither was the situation when we arrived at the lake that morning. A steady northeast breeze and cloudy skies kept things uncomfortable and the pesky breeze seemed to follow us no matter where we stopped to fish.

Despite the conditions, we did managed to catch some nice fish, just not the numbers we anticipated. Having been fishing all my life, its amazing how much the introduction of forward facing sonar has impacted our approach to finding fish. In the past, you had go solely on history and experience on where to fish. Now, with the ability to see the fish you’re trying to catch, it all comes down to putting the right bait in front of them.

No question Live Scope is a time saver. Being able to know you’re presenting your bait in front of a fish helps your confidence but as Amos said “a lot of people think that using Live Scope is cheating, it doesn’t make them bite.” We saw just as many turn up their nose to our jigs as we did bite them. Out on the water during the backside of a cold front had the fish not as willing to take our offerings.

We did manage to put some quality fish in the boat. There are several weeks of winter fishing left, so get out there when you can. It won’t be long before the schools will start to break up as water temps edge up and get the crappie thinking about spawning. But like they say “a lousy day fishing is still better than a good day at work.”