Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine Fall 2001

Springtime is Crappie Time

By Bill Harding

Old timers often claim that nature has many signs that indicate the beginning of crappie fishing. Some say it is when the dogwood blooms, or the redbud buds, or when the oak leaves get as big as squirrel's ears, but the real signal for excellent crappie fishing is water temperature.

When the water temperature ranges between 64 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, crappies begin to spawn. That is when it is easiest to locate a good concentration of these fine tasting panfish. In our area the best fishing is often found in May and June, although in the southern portions of our coverage, April and May can be the best. I have found that fishing in my favorite lakes begins slowly in mid to late April and reaches a peak around Memorial Day. Of course, crappie can be caught any time of year, even under the ice, but the fishing is usually slower and will demand different tactics.

If your favorite lake has riprap along the shoreline, you might be able to get an early start on the season. Rocks in fairly shallow water catch the sun's rays and warm the surrounding water. Not only does the warmth trigger the crappie's feeding instincts, the rocks are home to many food species attractive to crappie.

The best tactics for these areas include tube jigs fished below a slip bobber. Tipping the jig with a minnow, wax worm, maggot or grub will add bulk and a certain amount of scent.

There was a time when just about everyone fished for crappie with a bobber and minnow. This still works, although some expert crappie anglers feel that baiting a hook takes too much time. Many of these experts choose to use an untipped tube jig or small spinner.

One of the best lures I have found is a 1/32 ounce, white Marabou jig. The Marabou feather moves enticingly in the water and crappie seem unable to resist. Other colors will also work, but white has always been my best producer, with yellow a close second.

Fishing at the proper depth is very important when crappie fishing. If you are using a depth finder, use it to locate the depth at which the fish are holding. If you are fishing blind, it will take some experimenting in order to locate fish. Since crappie will come up a short distance to take a lure or bait, but are reluctant - probably because of their eye location - to go down, your best approach is to begin shallow and slowly increase the depth until you catch a fish.

The need to adjust the depth of the bait or lure is one reason to use a slip bobber rather than one which is attached directly to the line. The line runs through a slip bobber and the depth is set using a plastic stopper, rubber band, or a small piece of string to stop the line from sliding through the bobber at the desired depth. The stopper should be small enough to allow the line to slip through your rod guides, but not through the bobber. This will allow you to cast without a long line hanging from your rod tip. You will find this to be an important advantage if the crappies happen to be suspending below about 5' in depth.

Like most fish, crappies love to hang out around sunken brush and wood. Sunken wood attracts all sorts of critters, which in turn attract minnows. Crappies dine on the minnows as well as the worms and larvae that live on or near the wood.

Sometimes the brush holding the best concentration of fish is impossible to fish by casting. This is when avid crappie anglers often switch to the old standby, cane poles. Today, however, these poles are more often constructed of telescoping fiberglass or graphite.

With the long pole, many of which exceed 20' in length, a minnow or jig can be dropped straight down through a tangle of brush to reach the fish. When a crappie is hooked, he can be pulled straight up out of the brush and swung into the boat or on shore. The telescoping poles can be shortened to make landing the fish easier; otherwise you would need 20' arms.

Unless I am fishing straight down into brush my favorite crappie rig consists of an ultra-light rod with an open faced reel. I like to keep my line at no more than 4-pound test and sometimes I go to 2-pound test when faced with finicky fish.

Several years ago I purchased a micro-light outfit and it makes a crappie or bluegill seem like a marlin. This is also a fun outfit for stream fishing for small trout or smallmouth bass. The micro-light is definitely not an outfit for lunker fish or for horsing any fish out of brush or weeds. Still, it can put a lot of excitement into your fishing.

There are times when crappies will spurn jigs and live bait and hit only spinners. When that happens, Roostertails, Mepps and Flicker spinners are excellent choices. The Flicker can be a deadly combination when worked slowly on a flyrod.

Roadrunners are a cross between a jig and a spinner, and they catch a lot of crappie for me. I find them particularly useful when I am searching for a school of crappies as the Roadrunner is an excellent lure to troll. I troll until I catch a fish and then throw out a marker. If I catch another on my next pass, I will generally anchor and fish the spot seriously.

Do scents work? I think they do and some of my experiments back up my theory. While they will not cause fish to jump into your boat, they do seem to improve your chances of catching fish. I have had times when nothing was biting until I added scent to my offering. Fishing was still slow, but I did catch a few. That tells me that the fish were not really feeding, but the added enticement of scent was hard to resist.

I once used a scent called, "Fish Formula" that combined an oily scent base with sparkle material. This particular brand does not seem to be available these days, probably because the sparkle violated some sort of EPA regulation. However, there are still several liquid scent enhancers on the market and it is fun to experiment.

Berkley Power Bait comes in many forms ranging from liquids and jelly to various sizes of chunks and nuggets. The small sparkle nuggets are perfect for tipping jigs as they provide both visual and scent attraction.

Crappies are not tackle busters, but they are a sure cure for cabin fever. A day spent catching crappies under a warm spring sun will chase away all of your winter blues.