Crappie Fishing Tips - From line to use to lures and how deep to fish. Lots of great crappie fishing information to help you catch more crappie.
Crappies will take a variety of natural
baits, but prefer small minnows. Best artificial baits are Pinkies, streamers, spinners, small spoons, twisters, poppers,
and high-riding hair flies. If using a cane pole, anglers recommend a long monofilament leader, one
or two hooks tied near the bottom, and enough weight to get the bait down to the needed
depth. Hooks should be No. 6 to
No. 10, and line should be 2- to 6-pound test. With this gear,
using either cane pole or spinning rod, try drifting across a lake in early morning or just about
dark on any summer eve. Fish from 10 to 20 feet deep. If you catch a Crappie, anchor and keep
fishing. Use a landing net because Crappies have thin mouths, which are easily torn. If drift
fishing in the evening or at night, use pork
rind, a strip of perch meat, or a bucktail fly skittered over
the surface. If trolling try Flatfish or small spoons.
* When fishing a jig, use a loop knot for best results. It
allows the jig to move more freely when casting and provides an enticing subtle movement when fished
vertically.
* When fishing vertically, keep up with the exact depth you're
fishing at all times. Start with lures at a variety of depths. When you find a depth that's producing,
focus on that depth. Old timers used to use a rubber band on their spinning reels. Once you catch a
fish, just put a rubber band around
the spool of the reel. Then you can return to that depth
quickly and exactly.
* While many fishermen rely on the shallow water of spawning
crappie for good fishing, crappie will almost always be found in the deeper depths. In a typical year
there may be only two to three weeks when shallow water will provide more consistent fishing.
* When the Crappie seem to disappear from the area you've been
fishing, move out to deeper water, but fish at the same depth. Crappie will often suspend
out from structure or dropoffs, but maintain the same depth. This is often the case in summer.
* Good prespawn fishing often occurs toward the end of warm
spells, before an approaching cold front hits. During this time, male crappie start fanning out
nests in the shallows. Females also move shallow, looking for food. Therefore, focus fishing
efforts on shallow waters where spawning will occur. When the cold front arrives, crappie return to
deeper waters, holding near distinct
bottom structure where cover is abundant. If conditions are
sunny and windy, wave action cuts light penetration, and crappie remain near mid-depth
structures. A few days after the front passes, the wind usually calms, allowing greater light penetration and
driving crappie to deeper structure
and cover. If weather remains sunny and begins warming before
the passage of another cold front, crappie gradually begin migrating back to shallow
waters. Rainy weather - especially a warm rain - sends them scurrying to shallow reaches.
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* Trolling with several poles lets you "sweep" an
area at several depths to find scattered prespawn crappie. Put each pole in a rod holder. Use minnows and/or
jigs in a variety of colors and styles. Two baits might be set 10 feet deep, two at 15 feet and two at
20 feet. This permits you to test
different baits and depths. The dropper rig is popular for
prespawn trolling. Attach a 1- to 3-ounce sinker to the end of your line. Above this are one to four
12-inch dropper lines a foot apart. Each dropper connects to the main line via a loop knot or swivel. A
different type or color of bait is tied to each dropper, and the rig is trolled.
* Small spoons - 1/6- to 1/4-ounce - are very productive for
catching suspended prespawn crappie. Using sonar, the fisherman looks for the arched
signature of crappie suspended above humps, points and breaklines, then a jigging spoon is free-spooled
to the fish. The lure is jigged by raising the rod tip with an upward pull then quickly
lowering the rod so the spoon falls on slack
line. Crappie usually strike as the lure drops.
* Small safety-pin-style spinners are a boon when searching for
scattered prespawn crappie. Fan cast in a big circle. As you retrieve, work the lure slowly
over, through and beside woody cover. When fishing shallow brush, blowdowns and other visible cover,
cast beyond the cover and bring the lure through it or alongside it. Bump the cover with the
lure; this seems to excite crappie into
biting.
* Scan your sonar for shallow underwater ledges. These aren't
deep drop-offs falling 10 feet or more, but rather shallow ditches, cuts and gullies near
bankside bluffs or coves. Ledges are especially productive when found near weedbeds, timber stands
or other crappie cover. Medium-sized (1/16- to 1/8-ounce) jigs are ideal lures for
fishing ledges. Work a lure down the
drop-off, hopping it stair-step fashion. Around river ledges,
allow lures to drift naturally and bounce along the ledge.
* Fisheries agencies often construct fish shelters by sinking
reefs of trees and brush in waters lacking good cover. Buoys mark the locations of most shelters.
Others are marked on maps and can be pinpointed using sonar. All such shelters are likely to
harbor crappie concentrations during the prespawn. Use sonar to determine the shelter's position;
then use a countdown technique to
pinpoint feeding fish. Position your boat a cast away from
your marker buoy and cast a 1/16-ounce on 4-pound-test line to the buoy. Now count the jig
down until you get a hit or contact brush. If you get a hit, use the same count next cast. If you
contact brush, use a shorter count.
* Prespawn crappie often hold on points sloping toward bottom
channels. Among the best lures for fishing these areas are small, deep-diving, baitfish-imitating
crankbaits. It's difficult to keep crankbaits at favored depths and still move them slow enough
to entice lethargic crappie. Using a neutral buoyancy or sinking crankbait eliminates these
problems. Use light line - 4- to 6-pound-test
- crank the lure down to the proper depth, and then slowly
crawl it across the bottom. Fish crankbaits around cover on each point,
retrieving the lure from shallow water to deep, or working across the point toward the deepest side. Crappie move up and
down points as weather and water conditions change, and they may be difficult to pinpoint. But
when the first fish is found, you might
take several on consecutive casts.
* River crappie are nomads, moving here and there as seasons
change. They begin spawning in water that's 62 to 65 degrees, and they leave cooler water as
soon as possible. The thing is, water temperature isn't the same everywhere in a river. It
fluctuates from one spot to another, and that can make it tough to find fish. Crappie may move out of the
main river and into a warmer tributary.
Or they may move to water that's a little muddier, because
silty water warms quicker than clear water. It's important to find areas with the proper water
temperature in order to find fish. Start your search in areas with little current - big backwaters, side
channels and other places where current is reduced. If that doesn't produce, try fishing cuts
connecting backwaters and the main river, or work your baits around heavy cover in the river proper. Change
lures, tactics and locations as often as necessary to establish a fishing pattern.
* Don't overlook the opportunity to take loads of crappie in
tai lwaters below big river dams. River crappie move upstream in late winter or early spring,
searching for spawning sites. When they reach a dam, they congregate and mill around the area for a
while, and you have an excellent chance for extraordinary catches there. A jig/minnow
combination often out produces a jig or minnow alone in this situation. Use a leadhead heavy enough to
get down in the current, and cast the rig around wing dams, boulders, lock walls, sandbar edges
and other current breaks where crappie can rest and feed.
* Crappie can see colors well and many anglers like to use
colorful lures to fish for them. However, like all fish, their ability to see is influenced by water
depth, light levels, water clarity and water temperature. Also, a crappie's willingness to attack lures of
different colors and presentations
depends upon the fish's activity level.
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