Crappie

[BolivarBasser]

So I've been bass fishing all my life, and I love fishing for bass in Stockton. I have been wanting to start going after crappie, and I've read a lot on this site about crappie fishing. Trouble is, I just can't seem to get it right. I've gone out a few times and haven't had the slightest bit of luck, even trying all of the tips I've picked up on OAF. Reading the reports of how other guys are doing, catching 20-30 fish ect... I figure even if I was doing something even remotely correct, I would catch maybe one crappie...but I just am having no luck. So, if any of you crappie fishermen out there want a fishing partner for a day, I would love to go out and have someone teach me a few things and show me how to catch crappie and use a fishfinder to locate them. I would pay for gas, lunch, whatever. My dad and I have booked a trip with Bob in may, and I'm sure to learn a few things then, but I'd like to catch some fish in the mean time too. So if you're going out anyways and have an extra seat you wouldn't mind filling, PM me.

Thanks guys.

[straw hat]

Bob is going to be a great help to you and I am sure you will get your moneys worth with him. I am going to try and stear you toward finding the crappie. I normally fish with minnows so I will leave it to someone else on this site to advise about jig fishing. I have done it but certainly there are others on this site much better than me.

Right know the crappie are on prespawn and with the ups and down of temperature and rain they certainly can vary in location. Most of the year I would simply direct you to standing timber or sunken brush but for the prespawn I would suggest;

Look for some deep water (15' to 30') near a pea gravel bank. In the next two weeks they will start moving up on those banks to spawn. Right now they are staging in deeper water nearby. If there is some brush in or around that deeper water that is better. Cooler days they drop deeper and warmer days they move shallower so you are going to have to hunt some. Crappie are schooling fish so I would recommend that if you don't catch a fish in 15 or 20 minutes change up, a little deeper, shallower, etc. Some have already moved into the creeks because of the warmer water there but in those locations you some times have to beat away the other boats with a stick!! I would start in an area maybe 1 to 3 miles from where a tributary enters (eg. turnback, Little Sac, Sons Creek, Maze Creek, etc. Search for temps around 52 F to 55 F.

Good Luck

[beagle man]

we are catching a lot of crappie using 1/32 oz crappie jigs, plactic ones, finding a school of shad, or what looks like fish, in 30 to 40 feet of water, dropping the jig to the bottom and holding it for a bit, then slowly reeling (real slow) the jig up and some where in the rise a bite will occour, verry light bite too. easy to miss, these deep water spots are in the bigger coves, or the mouth of coves, finding some fish over brush on the main lake bluffs, arround ruark bluff area, west towards the power line finding a lot just slow trolling the deep water brush, keeping the jig moving about half the water depth, ie, 40fow, fish 20 feet deep keep jig moving slowly, wed we caught a lot using minnows and jig combo. fishing back of state park cove. drop to bottom and let sit. then slow roll up best colors were blue/silver or white/chartruse. blue early white late. hope this helps.