It is amazing what a few days of warm water can do for fishing success. By Sunday afternoon, Miami Whitewater Forest had a surface temperature of 50 degrees, and it seemed to agree with the fish.

DJ Huegel and Frank Yates continued their domination of the Panfish Cup Series by winning with 23.14 lbs of crappie. Their total number of fish was down from the tournament last week, but the average size was larger. We are beginning to see some of those 8 inch and larger crappie moving toward the banks. Once again, 1/32 oz. tube jigs tipped with wax worms proved to be the winning bait.

Curtis Meece of Cincinnati and Chris Hagerdon of Mason came in second place with 22.40 lbs of bluegill, and Jonathan Keller of Harrison and Tom Doersam of Cincinnati rounded out the top three with 19.76 pounds. All three teams won trophies and Hamilton County Park District gift certificates. Huegel and Yates also won a Bass Pro Shops gift card for coming in first.

Attention bass fishermen…they are crushing them at Sharon Woods! We had several reports of 15-20 fish catches over the weekend. The lake is in perfect condition, and the bass are definitely on a strong pre-spawn pattern. Here is you hint for the day…jerkbaits and chatterbaits…good luck! By the way, it isn’t too late to join the 2013 Bass League at Sharon Woods. It takes place on five consecutive Wednesday evenings, beginning April 17. The grand prize at the conclusion of the league is a $500 Bass Pro Shops shopping spree!

The next Panfish Cup tournament will be an exciting one. It will be held at Winton Woods Lake on Saturday, May 4. That lake is famous for giant crappie, so if the water conditions are good, look for more than 40 lbs to win that event!

It’s springtime…I’ll see you on the water!

Neal Ramsey, District Recreation Manager