Fish of the Week-Topic 11: Crappie

[CityByTheSeaCitizen]

My question is a little more specific... We used to fish Lake Aquilla near Hillsboro for crappie back in the late 80's. I would love to get on some crappie, but find it near impossible without a fish finder. Any advice on finding spots, and proper depth?

Without a fish finder, you can watch for other people catching crappie and go potlickin'. This is about your only option.

Or you could wait for the spring and stroll at about 10', hopefully near weed beds.

[spiny norman]

That's my problem. I can catch em in the springtime but once the spawn is over, I'm outta game. I want to know how to target them the rest of the year.

[deral]

If you ask ten different bass fishermen for the best way to catch bass, you will get basically the same answer.
But if you ask ten different crappie fishermen for the best way to catch crappie, you will get ten entirely different answers, and every one of them will be absolutely correct!
I’ve only been seriously chasing crappie for about four or five years and I am still very much a rookie and am still in the learning stage! My teacher is my brother-in-law. He has an uncanny knack for catching crappie! I am thoroughly convinced he could fill up his bathtub, sit down beside it, and limit out on crappie! He always catches five or six to my one.
So everything I tell you here is nothing more than my personal opinion! And you know the old saying about opinions!
To begin with, crappie are easy to find. All you gotta do is hunt for them! Guess that’s why they call it “fishing” instead of “finding”!
Things to consider - -
Water temperature; in warmer weather, they tend be deeper. But they will be very shallow during spawning season - - as little as six inches. (Spring time) They will start going shallow about this time of year; as the temperature cools off.
Location and depth of the thermo cline; crappie will feed best within a very tight temperature range.
Time of day; crappie cannot tolerate direct, overhead sunlight! Look for the shaded areas around stumps and trees and under bridges.
If you don’t have one of those fancy “depth thermometers” the best depth can be determined by the “WAG” method!
(Wild-Ass-Guess)
Do some experimenting!
Once you find the depth that they are hitting best at, stick with that depth! It might help to experiment with shallower depths, but do not go deeper! Crappie will go up to chase bait, but they will not go down! Crappie cannot see beneath them, and unless they are spooked they will not dive! Even to feed!
While you are searching for the right depth, move as slow as you possibly can! When you reach the point where you are dropping your bait as slowly as possible, cut your speed in half!
So many things affect crappie fishing - - barometric pressure, a full moon, cold fronts, etc. Their feeding habits will change drastically and suddenly.
Crappie will hug structure! Fish as close as possible to stumps, brush, and bridge pilings.
Whether you use live minnows or jigs is strictly a matter of choice.
Personally, I prefer jigs, simply because I don’t have to worry about keeping minnows alive - - a tricky thing to do in a kayak!
In clear water, I prefer “natural” color jigs. If the water is murky or stained, chartreuse is the color of choice. On a bright sunshiny day, try a jig that has glitter in it.
I always put a crappie nibble on my hook!
Stealth is of the utmost importance!!!! Be quiet!! No radios! Do not bump the structure where you are going to fish! Don’t drop things in the boat!
Use long rods! If the water is clear, you must get out away from the boat. Most of the time, I use a ten foot rod.
Just as a suggestion, go to Crappie.com and read what other crappie fishermen have to say!

[basscracker]

a good way to locate the fish is to either ask locals or watch them in action. the bad thing is for some reason, alot of crappie fisherman seem to think they own the fish in their local lake or river, and genuinely get mad over you asking for info or fishing in a spot they deem "theirs." i can assure you there are plenty of fish to go around.

when i'm at a new spot, i generally just work over an area that looks like a good spot for crappie. you're likely to find fish, but you have to be willing to move ALOT. if you don't get abite in 10 or 15 minutes, move.

here are a couple of good places for info, especially todd huckabee's site. i've met the guy and listened intently at his seminar and learned alot. nice guy and a dang good crappie man.

http://toddhuckabee.com

http://crappiekid.com/theonefishingtips.htm

http://crappie.net/index.html

someone oughtta get a crappie league going or something. at least some tournaments for us kayakers. i'm always up for crappie fishing (or bass) and would be willing to help out any way i can, with info or organizing or whatever.

[Northsider]

I've learned most all of my crappie fishing techniques from Crappie World magazine and like basscracker mentioned Todd Huckabee is one of the best crappie fisherman out there.

[ol'yeller]

Thanks a lot Deral. I found your posts very helpfull.

[ol'yeller]

Need to give a big thanks to Basscracker too. The Todd Huckabee site is very informative.

[Jerry Hamon]

I have been crappie fishing most of my life (and that's not that long DD).

I seldom fish in rivers but know that lots of folks do catch crappie in them and the tactics and tackle are virtually the same.

My preferred tackle are medium and ultra light weight spining rods and reels rigged with 2 to 6 pound test line. If I'm fishing from docks I use a 4' rod with a Mr. Crappie reel rigged with 20 # braided line (that is the size of 4#) so that I can retrieve my jigs from the huge amounts of submerged brush and trees without breaking off. For baits I prefer to jig fish and when it comes to crappie I've found the statement "the bigger the bait, the bigger the fish" to be true. I use 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inch sassy shad and bass asassins rigged on 1/32 to 1/8 ounce jig heads. I make my own jig heads and generally use the sickle type hooks. We also troll with Capps & Coleman rigs rigged with minnows (I'll explain below). Crappie nibbles and Berkley Crappie scent are helpful when the fish are being finicky.

Lake tactics for crappie and the cycle go hand in hand.
Of course, during the spring spawn find some submerged grass or brush and drop a jig or live minnow on a jig head in it and hang on.
After the spawn I usually find crappie in 9-10 feet of water hanging around ledges and structure. To answer ol yeller; a fishfinder is almost a must when seeking out crappie. They hold up around ledges and structure, you find them, catch a few, and they scatter. A good rule of thumb is "keep moving". When they stop biting you can move 10-20 feet and find them again. Other than jigging my other second favorite tactic is "drop shotting". This involves finding the crappie grouped up around structure.



Rig a jig head with a live minnow lipped or hooked through the eyes.



Drop down next to the structure at the depth the fish are suspending. No jigging action is required (the minnow does it for you). When you fel the bump lift your rod tip (DON'T JERK IT) and if you feel pressure begin reeling and



We also like to troll in the late fall and winter months when the crappie are grouping up on deep ledges. We use medium weight rods with Capps & Coleman rigs.



We use live minnows lipped on the C&C rigs. Drop them down to the bottom and reel up 1 1/2 to 2 turns, place your rods in rod holders and slow troll over ledges and around brushpiles in water usually 19 to 25 feet deep.

Here are a few caught with this method







Heres my biggest (a little over 4#) caught with a 2 1/2 inch sassy shad next to a submerged tree.



Basscracker I'm up for some crappie fishing anytime and since we're in the same area I can show you some GREAT crappie holes in your neighborhood.

Hope this helps guys. Get out there and give crappie a try. A 4 pounder will give you a work out and yes (preacher) it will "stretch your line".

[deral]

Excellent photos and information, TCF!
Sorry I didn’t get the opportunity to meet you at the GTG Saturday. Preacher and Hambone told me why you didn’t get to make it. Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. You have my most sincere condolences!
Hopefully, I’ll get to meet you at a crappie hole in the near future! I can always use more lessons and advice!
Lake Waco has been quite good to us with the crappie all this year! Although they were hitting slow Tuesday, we still managed to limit out, but it took us all day!
Looking forward to the day I get to meet the rest of Preacher’s fishing family! Guess we will both have to work on Preacher to get him to start crappie fishing!
Deral

[sgtrock78]

I love crappie, paper mouths whatever you call them. They are one of the most challenging fish to catch when not stacked in the shallows in spring. Key secrets i have discovered in most flatland Texas reservoirs are water temp and forage. Find the shad or bait fish and the Crappie will be close. Crappie are structure oriented by nature but during the summer they will move to deeper water for the coolness. Through my fishing time I have found that if you have a surface temp of 82 plus the paper mouths will be in 15-22 foot of water rarely will they go deeper. Great places to look are at the deep water weed edge, rock piles and deep water submerged timber that provides some form of overhead cover like an umbrella, all great place's to ambush schools of minnows and shad feeding on insect larvae. Crappie migrate from shallow in the spring (pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn) deeper cooler water in the summer, gathering on the edge of ledge drop offs. Jigs are great in the spring fair in the summer, improved by hooking a small minnow with the head pinched of to them, fall crappie are at a midpoint stage they move up in depth. last weekend I caught a limit of 1lb+ on minnows and jigs in 8-12 foot of water around large stand alone trees and bridge pilings. Two weekend ago I was catching them in 20 foot water on hard bottom drop offs. Winter crappie will move back deep, this is when I love it, they will stack up and jigs become killers, love a pink and white Marabou they can't resist em. Do not over work your bait they think about before they strike, they will not go down for food they prefer to strike up look at where their eyes are positioned, up and foreword. But the number one hint is find the forage and find the fish. Happy fishing.

[Dogpaddlin]

What is the benefit of using a jig head with a live minnow?

[Beve]

These are some great replies fellas. Keep em coming.

The insights on this thread are simply great

Thanks for sharing.

[deral]

Hooking a live minnow through the lips (from the bottom) allows the minnow to stay active longer.
Using a jig head for that purpose keeps the minnow in a more natural and realistic position - - like he would be in if he were swimming.

[Jerry Hamon]

Hooking a live minnow through the lips (from the bottom) allows the minnow to stay active longer.
Using a jig head for that purpose keeps the minnow in a more natural and realistic position - - like he would be in if he were swimming.

What he said...

[jcovey]

Since it's pretty hard to find and hold over the top of a brush pile in a yak, I usually target the dead trees in Gibbons or the tires around Big Creek at Somerville.

For me, the key is to keep moving 'till you find 'em. Those little galvanized limb grabbers are extremely handy for this.

I've always read about working the brush in the shallows in the spring when they're spawning. I've beaten that brush to death on Gibbons and caught nothing but bass and catfish. Anyone else have any feedback on this technique around here?

Anyone have a favorite jig color or style? How many jigs you tie on at a time? I keep trying jigs, but have more confidence in minners.
JC

[Jerry Hamon]

If I'm jigging brushpiles I only use one at a time. Red/chartreuse and black/chartreuse are my go to colors. If those don't work pink/black will. If I'm fishing the boat docks I use 3 jigs at a time tied 1 foot apart (use braided line to avoid break offs). And of course they are red/char, blk/char, and pink/blk.

Also, when I'm fishing stick ups or submerged brush from the yak I paddle upwind, anchor, and drift back over it. That is what I did in the top pic and it worked great. I caught 17 keepers that day.

[greyloon]

I don't crappie fish, at least not on purpose, but when cat fishing on a lake, if I want to hold over a hole, I use both a bow and stern anchor. Seems the same would work for holding over a brush pile. This applies to lake fishing only. If I'm fishing structure off the bank and there's a tree branch or stickup, my preferred anchor method is to use my brush anchor.

[deral]

Question for all you nocturnal crappie fishermen who use that green submersible light - - Is there a recommended depth for that light?

[CityByTheSeaCitizen]

I would not recommend ancoring over a brush pile, while fishing it. There is a good chance you will loose your ancor.

We refresh our brush piles twice or three times a year, and have been using the same areas for more than 10 years. There is so much junk down there. I prefer to paddle upwind, and float over the top, then do it again. Five passes and no fish, I go to the next hole.

As for Color, I am opposite TCF. In shallow or clear water, I like blue with glitter. Usually the jigs are either blue/clear or blue/white. In darker water, I go to chartruese. I like the chartruese power grubs, but the chartruese/black jigs work well also.

If it is windy, then I put a small spinner on the jig, because I am usually casting/strolling instead of jigging.

I never use more than 1 jig. I don't think it is necessary. the more crap on your line, the greater probablility you will snag the structure.

If you are fishing the shallows in the spring, I usually use a very small slip bobber, with a jog or shiner. This helps to detect strikes. Fish fast, and cover lots of ground.

[greyloon]

I wouldn't knowingly drop an anchor into a brush pile. The drift technique sounds good though.

[sgtrock78]

I use a green floating on the surface and a white. Fish on the edge of the light not in it, crappie like to lurk in the shadows and come out to feed always up never down as stated in some other post's. Never drop an anchor in the pile, drop and drift back.

[sgtrock78]

I have made several sweet spots for crappie. My favorite method is to use half inch 10 foot long pvc pipe pushed down into the mud or bottom put about 30 or so in a group about 8-10 inches apart. They will start growing algae in about ten days in the spring and will be covered by the end of spring the algae brings zoo plankton it brings shad and minnows they bring the crappie. I place them for summer/fall fishing so that the average lake level leaves then at 10 feet deep.

[Northsider]

Question for all you nocturnal crappie fishermen who use that green submersible light - - Is there a recommended depth for that light?

When I night fish for crappie I"ll submerge my green lights at different depths and it all depends on how deep the water is that I'm fishing then I divide the depth in half or even thirds and then put one of my lights 2 to 3 ft shallower than the other and thats just so that I'll light up a broader area. Theres really no need for putting the lights all the way at the bottom. My lights are 36" long so the bottom of the light is where I measure from And I also so have tape on the cord every 2 ft just to help me find the depth I need.

[Jerry Hamon]

I think I said anchor upwind from the brushpile or structure. If it's a stickup then tie to it. When they are bunched up I like to stay in them. These are only suggestions. Develop your own style that works for you. I have evidence that my style works for me.

[basscracker]

hey tcf, one of my friends called and said they caught some monsters at texoma last weekend (he's a striper guide). he said every 5th or 6th bite would be a 2# crappie or bigger. on 4 and 5 inch live shad. i bring this up because i've learned that sometimes (not always) bigger baits are better. most crappie fishermen wouldn't dream of using bigger thatn a 1 1/2 inch jig. i regularly will fish with the big beavertails and the 3" finesse fish. i have some others that are a little bigger. huckabee told me to check the size of the crappie's mouth, and thats as big a bait that they'll try to eat.