Crappies - Learning How To 101

[Buckshotdad1960]

Hesitation Retrieve

Freshwater predator fish (bass, bluegill, crappie, white bass, etc.) don't belong to the shark family, but they exhibit similar tendencies as this saltwater terror. These fish have a killer instinct when they see a helpless looking prey. This is why Berkley's Atomic Teaser bait and a "hesitation retrieve" are so deadly at catching these fish. They can't help but strike it. The combination of this small tube jig's appearance and size and a gliding, hanging presentation tempts strikes even from fish that have turned up their noses at other lures.

For starters, anglers must use just the right tackle with this bait and presentation. My choice is an ultra light spinning rod and 4 lb. test monofilament line. The Atomic Teaser weighs 1/16 oz., and ultra light tackle is needed for adequate casting distance.

Cast this lure into a target zone, engage the reel, take up slack, and then just stop reeling. Hope the rod tip up while allowing the bait to settle. And watch the line! The only signal of a strike may be a slight twitch in the line.

After a few seconds, pull the bait upward with a sweep of the rod tip, reel up slack, and hesitate again. Continue this sweeping/hesitating action as the bait returns to the rod tip.

Again, the Berkley Atomic Teaser fished with a hesitation retrieve catches anything the feeds on minnows. It is a "dessert bait" that fish will still take after they've already eaten. When nothing else works, I'll go to the Teaser. Many are the days when I've turned a slow-bite day into one with lots of action with this lure and retrieve method.

Tough Bite

We've all been there: on the water on days when fishing is tough. For whatever reason, sometimes the fish just don't bite. It's not fun, but it is a part of the fishing experience. It's like paying your dues for the good days that do come along. Still, there are some things anglers can try to get some action on those slow-bite days. For instance….

1. Try something different. If you've been soaking live bait under a bobber, switch to artificials and start moving more. Make a radical change and see if the fish might respond to a new approach.

2. Change locations. This is a no-brainer. If one spot isn't producing bites, try somewhere else. Don't camp out on a dead hole. Keep moving to try to make something happen.

4. Downsize lures and tackle. Fish that have fed or that don't want to feed are more prone to hit small lures than big ones. These little lures are like "dessert baits." A fish may not want a "full meal" bait like a big crank bait or spinner bait. But pass a little finesse worm or tube jig under his nose, and he might be inclined to suck it in.

5. Slow down. This plays on the same principle as above. If fish are full and lazy, they probably won't chase active baits, but they might bite a vulnerable one that's slowly gliding by.

6. Pay attention to small details like making noise, casting your shadow across your fishing spot, etc. When fish are inactive, little mistakes can yield big disappointments.

The main thing is to simply be persistent and keep experimenting until you find a combination that works. Again, some days are a lot better than others in terms of how active the fish are. But even on the slow days you can usually get a few bites if you practice the tips offered above and just keep your line in the water.

Crappie in Winter time

For many anglers, the tasty crappie is only a springtime target. However, with some planning, you can catch crappie year-round. Locate beaver ponds, sloughs, cut-offs and bays in your favourite lake or river. That water will warm-up more quickly in the wintertime during a warm spell. Crappie often will move into these shallow pockets and hold on submerged trees, stumps and the roots of live trees.

Fishing for crappie will be productive in these pockets during a warm spell in the cold months. Then, as a cold front heads into the area, the fishing can be phenomenal. Both animals and fish tend to feed more aggressively ahead of a front. You may find that crappie go on a feeding spree when the cold front comes in, and you may catch some of the biggest crappie of the year. However, as soon as the temperature drops even a little, the crappie will stop feeding.

Cold Weather Crappie

To pattern wintertime crappie, look for cover along the thermo cline where crappie will be holding. Many lakes "turnover" during the winter months, meaning the coldest water will be on top, and the warmest water will be on the bottom. Crappie will seek warmer, deeper water, preferably with cover. Check the edges of creek and river channels and along stump rows where the warmer water is close to the bottom in the winter.

When fishing during the winter, keep in mind that the metabolism of the crappie has slowed considerably. They won't be willing to chase bait far. So, fish your bait slowly and deep to get bites.

Try trolling very slowly (also called bumping) for crappie in the winter. When bumping, hit your motor just enough to move the boat forward a foot or two at a time. When you troll very slowly, you're dragging your bait right in front of the crappie. That slow-moving treat eventually will provoke the lethargic crappie into biting. If you find crappie, then troll very slowly back and forth over that area to catch more fish.

Weather Watch for Crappie

Be aware of the weather. Weather and barometric pressure can have great impact on where the crappie will be, and how they'll bite. Crappie often will bite better just ahead of a cold front. However, if a high front moves through the area after a cold front, the crappie tend to not bite well. They'll generally head for deeper water and hold tight against the brush.

If a cold front moves through during the spawn, look for crappie in 8- to 10- feet of water. Minnows are the best bait to use in this situation, since the minnows will naturally work themselves into the cover where the crappie are holding, rather than you trying to get them there.

Also, try casting a 1/32-ounce jig, and retrieve it slowly with your spinning reel. As the line on the reel comes back in, gently touch the line with your index finger to cause the jig to twitch just a little. That small, erratic motion makes the jigs look more lifelike and often will make tight-lipped crappie bite.

Prespawn Spots for Crappie

Crappies are often at their largest just before the spawn. Females are full of roe then, and crappie of both sexes still may be carrying their winter weights.

Three or four weeks before the spawn, crappies are usually hunting for warmer and more-shallow water in preparation for the spawn. If you know of a source of warm water, it can be a very productive place to fish in the late winter. Anywhere you can find warm water discharging into small streams or creeks that run into major reservoirs, there's a good chance you'll find a honey hole for big, wintertime crappie.

On major reservoirs, crappie that are preparing for the spawn will run up the warmer creek and river channels and wait for warm weather and the correct water temperature to move out on the flats to spawn.

Look for numbers of big crappie to be holding in a hole or a deep spot near the very end of a ditch or small creek channel. These crappie are likely to be very aggressive because they're feeding for the spawn.

Post spawn Crappie

During post spawn, fish for crappie on the first drop-off away from the bank, between the spawning area and the creek channels. Though the bottom may drop two or three more times before it reaches the creek channel, post spawn crappie generally will concentrate in cover on the very-first drop-off near the bank.

Try pitching jigs to drop-offs and vertical jigging down through the structure. In clear water, back away from the structure and pitch to it. In stained water, vertical jig right on top of the structure. Another proven spot to find post spawn crappie is in the brush piles in the fronts of docks and piers. These brush piles provide cover at the depths where crappie suspend and are near shoreline cover. Bridge pilings, railroad trestles and other kinds of vertical structure are also good bets.

Making Crappie Cover Work

Working cover effectively is critical to taking crappie. Crappie often will hold tightly to cover, especially in the spring and the summer. You have to know how to present the bait to those fish if you want to take them. If you use heavy lines, heavy sinkers and big corks, you'll often get hung-up in cover and either break-off your line or disturb the crappie concentrating there by shaking the brush as you try to retrieve your line.

Instead, fish with light line and a sensitive 11-foot graphite pole to enable you to feel the brush and work your bait properly. With some practice using a light-tipped pole, you'll often be able to determine which way an underwater limb is running and bounce a jig along the top of the limb to resemble a feeding baitfish. Tapping the cover with a jig may tantalize the crappie into biting. When your pole and your line are sensitive, you can work your bait carefully and avoid being hung-up.

More and Bigger Crappie

Often, the most and biggest crappie in any lake will be found in the creeks in the middle of the lake. The water temperature in that section of a lake is usually the most stable. Generally, the water in the middle may be somewhat stained. Because the middle of the lake is more stable, the crappie in that area may grow more quickly and to larger sizes. This is because they are somewhat protected from adverse water and weather conditions.

When looking at these mid-lake creeks, choose an area with a entrance about 30-feet deep. Try to locate creek channels that drop off from 10 to 18 feet, since these channels serve as natural highways for the crappie.

During the spawn and in warm weather, the crappie will use these channels to move to shallow water and then return to that 10- to 18-foot-deep water when the spawn ends, or the cold weather returns. Too, baitfish like to travel these channels.

Dragnet Crappie

During the spawn, put your minnow in the deepest part of the cover. When you locate crappie, mark that spot on your GPS. When that place stops producing, come back to it later in the day or on another day.

Small creeks, streams and sloughs are also productive areas to fish for spawning crappie, because they warm up more quickly. Crappie generally will be spawning in these regions before they spawn in other places. Because these areas are somewhat protected, there's a good chance that these crappie haven't been pressured by other anglers and will be more eager to bite.

You don't need a boat to fish on a big reservoir to catch crappie during the spawn. Plenty of big slabs are caught fishing from the bank on little creeks.

Pinpointing Crappie Hotspots

Generally, crappie will hold at the same depth on the same day in similar areas. For example, if the water depth is at 20 feet and you find crappie 18 feet deep in a brush pile, then you're likely to locate crappie holding 2-feet off the bottom in other brush piles.

For instance, try fishing at 13 feet in brush piles in 15 feet of water. Though fishing in 18-foot or 13-foot water is a dramatic change, continue to look for crappie at the same depth from the bottom. However, you'll probably catch more crappie if you look for sites with similar water depths.

When you locate crappie, identify how they're positioned, and how they're holding in relation to cover. If you locate crappie holding above a brush pile, you'll usually find them concentrating above other brush piles elsewhere in a lake. If you pinpoint a group of crappie on the side of a brush pile, check the sides of other brush piles to find more crappie.

However, keep in mind that crappie will hold in different positions at various times of the day. Don't expect to find them concentrating in the same spots at noon as they are at 6 a.m. In summer, look for crappie close to the surface in the early morning and late evening. Once you've located crappie, you reasonably can expect to find them in a similar position for the next four hours or so. If the day is overcast, crappie usually will concentrate in one place throughout the day.

Build Your Own Crappie Hot Spots

Fish attractors can help any angler build productive honey holes for crappie. By creating habitat where the crappie can hold, you can have crappie available and easily accessible year-round. Tree tops, stake beds and discarded Christmas trees all make productive fish attractors, especially in older lakes and reservoirs, where the original cover may have decomposed.

Fish attractors actually may help improve the lake's overall crappie fishing. The more cover you sink for crappie, the more crappie the cover will attract. Sink cover at different depths, and record these spots on your GPS. Try each of these spots at different times of year and under various water and

weather conditions.

You also can sink cover at different depths in the same general region to give the crappie in that area cover at their preferred depth on any specific day. Eventually, you will learn which of your spots the crappie prefers when. Then you can spend less time looking for crappie and more time catching them

Tips for Catching Crappie

Crappies take small plastic jigs, jig-and-spinner combos and live minnows. But the one you chose to try often makes the difference between a good day and a great one. Lures are often better for quickly covering shallow spawning areas, and they can enable you to find fish fast. If water temperatures are warm, they may also be the best choice for filling the fish box.

In sparse cover, a 1/32- or 1/16-ounce Beetle Spin is an outstanding, although often overlooked, lure. Relatively weedless, it can cover a lot of water quickly, and few veterans start their search without one rigged on an ultra-light rod.

If fish are located over a relatively clean bottom, shifting to a bare jig can often be a better bet, especially in clearer water. Crawled slowly over spawning beds, it's an offering few bedding crappie can resist.

In heavier cover, slipping a bare jig onto a cane pole under a float is a surprisingly quick way to probe small openings. Crappies normally strike the jig as it drops after it hits the water. Let it sink and twitch it twice, and if nothing happens hit another opening.

If the water is cooler, however, a live minnow is normally a better bet. These can be fished on a small gold hook or tipped onto a jig head.

In open water situations, savvy anglers fare better by mixing the bait selection - bare jigs, minnow-tipped jigs or just minnows. Crappie can be surprisingly finicky, and you often have to let the fish tell you what they want. It is best to have both bait and lures on hand.

Few fish are as color-selective as crappie, and their preference can change during the day. While every lake may have its "favourite" jig color combo, it is best to have a number of hues on hand.

In turbid waters, high visibility colors like pink, yellow, fluorescent chartreuse and pearl white are often the most effective, while clearer water calls for black, brown, green or pumpkinseed.

Regardless of which is working, however, when the action slows it is wise to start experimenting with different colors. That can often re-trigger the bite after the school has had a long look at the previous color.

Current Breaks

Summer Series: Learn tips about the streams current and where most fish usually are in this situation. “I like to think of current as liquid wind, as in movement of water that blows baitfish into predictable locations. Wind-driven current allows predator fish to stack up in predictable areas. They like to go where they know the baitfish will be going into the current.

Fish like to hold close to current, right along the edges waiting for the bait fish to float on by. You always want to cast up-current and bring your bait back with the flow. If you cast upstream and retrieve your bait downstream, that is the natural presentation for the fish.”

Bend Back Your Hook

Bending back your hook can mean you catch more crappie.

Well, that’s it for now! If you found this post useful give us your tip, trick or comment at the bottom of this post to bump it back up where others can find it and benefit from it too. Remember lets keep it real, be safe and good luck out there!

[eric1978]

Sit on dock.

Hook minnow.

Drown minnow.

Open beer.

Wait.

[FishinCricket]

Sit on dock.

Hook minnow.

Drown minnow.

Open beer.

Wait.

This is more complicated than it looks.. Be wary if you jumble the steps.

By the time I had figured out that I messed up the steps I had already lost 3 beers under the dock (they wouldn't stay on the hook), swallowed 2 dozen minnows (and was decidedly NOT feeling the BUZZ I expected), and had 4 more minnows swimming in my one open beer can (cause my wife got ahold of the directions and thought she could do it "better").. If I hadn't stop when I did I would have confused step 3 with step 1 and drown the wife!

Of course, who has time to read all the advice in the first post? lol

I know, I know.. Thousands of starving comedians and all.. lol

Thanks for posting the tips for us, Bucks Hot Dad...

[Kayser]

Had a few hours this weekend to pound a small (8acre) pond for crappie. Wind was hitting the levee hard, and minnows drifted 2-3ft deep, or 1/32 oz red/white jigs tipped with minnows produced good numbers. No luck without the minnows. Fished the drop-off, no fish in the shallow flats or deeper water to speak of, all of them seemed to be on the drop-off. Top 3 fish- 1-4, 1-5, and a 1-8. All 13" blacks. Smallest fish on the weekend was 10.5". In my mind, it's just kinda hard to beat that real-minnow taste and feel when crappie fishing...

Rob

[Zack Hoyt]

Because I think credit should be given to the individual who did the work......

http://www.myoutdoortv.com/crappie/2.html

This site has some great information regarding many species.

[Buckshotdad1960]

Because I think credit should be given to the individual who did the work......

http://www.myoutdoortv.com/crappie/2.html

This site has some great information regarding many species.

Hey, that’s the site I stole the information from. Notice I never said I wrote it. But maybe you got confused and thought I did? Hence, the title, STOLEN TIPS AND TRICKS – LOOK OUT FOR THE LAW. Anyway thanks for bumping the thread!

Yeah, if that information is good enough for them it’s good enough for us! I think it might help a few people get started on their way.

[Buckshotdad1960]

This is more complicated than it looks.. Be wary if you jumble the steps.

By the time I had figured out that I messed up the steps I had already lost 3 beers under the dock (they wouldn't stay on the hook), swallowed 2 dozen minnows (and was decidedly NOT feeling the BUZZ I expected), and had 4 more minnows swimming in my one open beer can (cause my wife got ahold of the directions and thought she could do it "better").. If I hadn't stop when I did I would have confused step 3 with step 1 and drown the wife!

Of course, who has time to read all the advice in the first post? lol

I know, I know.. Thousands of starving comedians and all.. lol

Thanks for posting the tips for us, Bucks Hot Dad...

Not bad fishingcricket, not bad! But maybe we can both ride to work together! LOL

[FishinCricket]

Hey, that’s the site I stole the information from. Notice I never said I wrote it. But maybe you got confused and thought I did? Hence, the title, STOLEN TIPS AND TRICKS – LOOK OUT FOR THE LAW. Anyway thanks for bumping the thread!

Yeah, if that information is good enough for them it’s good enough for us! I think it might help a few people get started on their way.

(Is this a point so nice you had to make it twice? lol)

On a serious note for a second regarding Zach's post: Anytime you cut and paste information from one site to the next it is not only the polite thing to do, but is necessary.. Otherwise if someone complains about the plagurism then the owner of this site has to go through and find that post of yours and delete it...

That and it helps us to understand what words are yours and what words are someone elses. This is a pretty important point, too.. Anytime someone post s some info on a forum I personally like to see them put a little of their own thoughts on the subject in there too..

Above all: Yes, Buckshot, it's true. Some folks actually do totally misunderstand your humor.

Not me though, you see I am catching on quick!

Thanks again to you for posting this information, just next time post a link too?

And thanks Zach for bringing this up, it is an important point that (I assume) a moderator would have had to address sooner or later, even though Buckshot meant no harm.

[Buckshotdad1960]

(Is this a point so nice you had to make it twice? lol)

On a serious note for a second regarding Zach's post: Anytime you cut and paste information from one site to the next it is not only the polite thing to do, but is necessary.. Otherwise if someone complains about the plagurism then the owner of this site has to go through and find that post of yours and delete it...

That and it helps us to understand what words are yours and what words are someone elses. This is a pretty important point, too.. Anytime someone post s some info on a forum I personally like to see them put a little of their own thoughts on the subject in there too..

Above all: Yes, Buckshot, it's true. Some folks actually do totally misunderstand your humor.

Not me though, you see I am catching on quick!

Thanks again to you for posting this information, just next time post a link too?

And thanks Zach for bringing this up, it is an important point that (I assume) a moderator would have had to address sooner or later, even though Buckshot meant no harm.

Alright, that’s a good point. I never thought about it like that but if that’s how it is then ok. I’ve never been one for being politically correct but then I don’t want Lilley slapping me around on public TV either! The kind people here at the nursing home said I could get on here as long as I behaved and didn’t steal any more meds! LOL And I want to keep at least one of those promises! LOL Because darn it Fishingcricket, people like me and I don’t see why….oh…..oh….oh hold on Fishingcricket I have to go to the bathroom! ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

.AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! OK that’s it! NURSE!.... NURSE!..... BAG NEEDS CHANGING! LOL

Thanks for being a friend!

[eric1978]

You're a riot Buck's Hot Dad. Will you mail me some of whatever it is you're smokin'?