Hi Crappiecat,

I would try a big streamer or two. One would be a shad pattern. I tie one with no or very little weight for lakes, but for a stream you might want to add a beadhead or some small bead chain or lead barbell eyes.

The shad I have tied in the past had a big white marabou tail, a little flash (crystal flash should do), a few strands of blue bucktail, and a white chenille body. I usually tied them on a #4 streamer hook. In a strong current, the marabou might be too hard to sink, or give too much drag. If that is the case, I would have an alternative, tying the same streamer with bucktail instead of marabou.

Another streamer pattern I would take is fair size hot flash minnows. It has great flash, and is somewhat translucent.

Finally, yellow is a good color in the early spring, so I would have a few of the above in yellow.

Regards,

Gandolf