Crappie Fishing

I love crappie fishing. It’s my first main fishing event of the year, we catch 100-200 nearly every trip so it is action packed plus, they are one of the top three eating fresh water fish in America. When I’m on a roll I’ll go 2-3 times per week. Used to I did good on crappie until the end of May in Idaho and the 10th of June over in Oregon. But for whatever reason, the last few years I’m doing good on up until August/September when I have to knock off to start bowhunting.

Used to as a kid we’d do good on crappie in the spring in Texas when they were up in the willows spawning. Or on big ponds when they were up in shallow water in the creek spawning. Or up right by the banks in brushpiles in Nebraska in the reservoirs. We’d drop a minnow on a bobber not 1-1 ½ feet from the shore. And in Idaho and Oregon we’d put a tube jig about 1 ½-feet down on a bobber and fish not hardly one foot from the bank.

SO WHEN IS THE BEST FISHING?
The experts tell us that crappie start moving out of their wintering holes when the water temps hit 45-50. Then when the temps hit 55 they stage outside of their spawning areas (It appears to me in about 20-30 feet of water). Then when it hits 60 the males move in shallow and fan out the spawning beds and at 60-65 the females move in and then it is all fun & games. I periodically quote these numbers as the gospel but I never remember to carry a thermometer to prove or disprove them. But let’s assume that they are correct.

So, you can start catching them when they are staged out deeper but when they move in close, I’ll be catching them 1-2 ft. off of the shore. I don’t know why but I catch a lot more fish if I use a pencil bobber as opposed to a round bobber.

Not that they have the best action but in the spawn I do best on the tube jigs. Typically, red/white and yellow/white are popular spring colors but a few years ago me and my daughter could not beg a bite. A guy right down from us was drilling them. Finally I had to ask him what he was using. He was using a black/white tube jig. But color choice seem to change year to year. I don’t know if you catch all of the ones out of the gene pool that sees black/white best or what but seems like their color preference changes from year to year.

So the format is to flip your jig right up by the bank near a brush pile or in Idaho/Oregon up near the bank on the rocky canyons or in the willows which are flooded. You don’t have to work it. Just let it set and when the bobber either goes under or starts skating across the top of the water raise the rod tip and start reeling.

You’re not bass fishing so don’t set the hook or you’ll rip their lips off. They’re called papermouths for a reason. Keep steady pressure on and reel them in. Many will rip off when lifting them out of the water so I use a net so I don’t lose as many.

I had a hot spot where I caught them for years even after the spawn out a little deeper. By mistake I learned another new method to catch them. My hot spot was about 30x30 yds. area. One time it was pretty windy and I’d blow off pretty fast. I’d catch one or two, blow off, reel up and zip back over to my hot spot. Finally I got tired of reeling in so I just left my lines out and used the trolling motor to move back over.

Ha, that’s weird, I caught one on a tube jig while trolling back to my spot. This repeated itself repeatedly. Finally I thought hold on Junior, why not try trolling for them? So, I put on a little split shot and flipped two tube jigs off the back and trolled. I could not keep two lines in the water for more than a second. Finally after 176 fish I figured that I had enough. Two days later me and my daughter went back, same technique and quit at 212. Then two days later me and my buddy Ron Spomer went over, same scenario, 243.

So after the spawn I move out deeper and troll with a tube jig. I know it sounds crazy but I smoke em. I used to flip a jig out to the bottom and then slowly lift my rod tip and reel all the way to the boat. I’d get a lot of hits down deep but I also caught a lot of fish up close to the boat. But I just figured that fish had followed the jig up from the bottom. Anymore though I think they’re dispersed throughout the whole water column. They will hit super light so if you feel a bump start reeling.

As it gets into July/August I switch to a Mister Twister 2 ¼-inch plastic. I’m an early riser so usually we’ll get up and make the 2-hour drive over to my hot spots. We’ll fish all day and then think well, we’d better get off the water and get home and fillet our fish.

One day I didn’t get to go until later and noticed that as the sun dropped behind the rock cliffs that the crappie moved up in the shadows and by 7:30-8:30 they had moved up shallow feeding. So right now, I’m hitting them late in the evening. I’ll flip a jig tipped off with a Mister Twister plastic right up by the bank and then lift the tip and work it in.

Last Monday my wife and I went and maybe had three fish in the first two hours of fishing. Suddenly the sun started dropping and they went wild using the above method. At the end I was getting a hit literally every cast.

Well, I am way out of room but one last tip. It helps to put on a Pautzke Fire Ball. Good luck.