python73
I can help you with that. Here are the steps:
1 - get some minnows
2 - fish with those minnows for crappie and/or perch
3 - ahole bass will eat your minnows
Forget all that artificial BS. Live bait is what works.
That seems to work for me, and they don't mind Gulp minnows either. The big ones are fun additions to the day, especially when the kids are fishing. The smaller ones just get me excited that I have a slab crappie until it gets close. Although after the Spring panfish bite slows, they often save a slow day from being a complete wash.
For how many I catch targetting other fish, I'd probably target the same areas now. Shoreline structure, timber, weeds, anything that gives baitfish a hiding spot. When the weeds grow in a bit more, then move out to there. When it gets really hot out, move to deeper water structure (but mornings and evenings usually bring fish in). Turn to wiper/walleye tactics and you'll still find a few large mouth and cats (both seem to be the most prevelant fish in the lake - besides alewives and bluegills). If the water is high and submerges cat tails, fish right against them. Use some baby bluegill immitations. Arthur is full of them, and would guess that they are one of the primary sources of forage. Just about everything in Arthur eats alewives as well. Fish the coves, seems to be more structure. Rent a boat or buy a canoe/kayak. You'll open up a ton of new spots, although there are a ton accessible by land. Even if you only boat it once, you'll see 10 times as many spots and figure out a way to get to them from shore. Heck, take the nature tour with a map and mark locations!
Probably the best approach is just to pull the map off of the State Park page, that shows where the launches and other access areas are. Print that, then go to a satellite view of the lake and you can see a lot of structure from there. Mark some areas that look fishy and go from there. The North Shore is nice for the bike path, but there and the South Shore beach area is where 90% of the families are and fish. A little more elbow room for fishing at other access points.
Hopefully you get some info from some of the real bassin guys. Like Sam, they are a biproduct of my fishing day.