Chris doesn't have to be told what to do. He knows what is happening and what to do about it. I have the trolling motor cut off now and the boat is starting to get sideways as he opens up the storage box and pulls out the Sea Anchor. Chris dropped the sea anchor over the side and let out about 10-ft. rope. " SAY WHAT " You don't know what a sea anchor is? All right, to make it easy, just picture a windsock at the airport. The front end is from 18" to 54", depending on the size of your boat. My boat is 17' so I use a 32" sea anchor. A sea anchor has 2 jobs. It holds your
boat straight while slowing it down. It is an absolute must in the wind. Some people use a five gallon bucket (works but not well). A chain works well but can be dirty and heavy. I sell 2 makes of sea anchors. Cal-June Corp. from North Hollywood, Ca. makes one and Team NU MARK makes the other. They sell for $26.00 to $54.00 depending on the size. Back to the FISH: I have my speed adjusted and have tied on 1/24 oz. Hal Fly's. Chris has 1/32 oz. heads with Tripple Ripple Grub hooked on and we are both bumping bottom in 8 ft. water. Gradually I speed up until he clears bottom about 8 inches and I simply reel my 1/24 oz. Hal Fly's ina little bit. FISH ON. Chris reels in a 3/4 lb. black male crappie. He is now fishing about 8 inches shallower than me. WHOA! HE HAS TWO MORE: I can't stand it so, I simply watch my speed indicator and speed up a little more in order to pull my 1/24 oz. Hal Fly up to his level. I GOT ONE! Another black male. Chris got 2 more females. He is now fishing about 6 ft. deep in 8 ft. of water. I speed up a little more putting him 5 ft. deep and me at 6 1/2 ft. The depth drops to 9 1/2 feet deep. He has 3 on and I have 2 on. He got one NICE black male and the rest were 3/4 lb. and smaller. What are these black males doing this shallow? The beds have been prepared and the females are interested. In the following 3 to 4 weeks they will move in and out. A black crappie female does not lay all of her eggs at one time. All the females do not lay at the same time. A black crappie male will hang out while the female does her thing. He will be suspended in the same water depth as the beds are (i.e.: if the beds are 4ft. deep, he will be 4 ft. deep). He will usually be suspended over a hump or drop off no matter how deep the water is. He may be a 100 yards away, but you can bet that he is there. After the females lay out, the male will move back in to fertilize the eggs. The male will also stay to guard the eggs until they are hatched out.
This is a very good reason for you and I to release our males. They are the ones that protect the species. The water is now 11 ft. deep. We are still pulling 5 to 7 ft. deep and reeling crappie almost continuously. I am not going to go into shallow water and find the beds; however, I may have to do it Saturday during the tournament. One point I would like to make that I have forgotten is that we are casting from 30 ft. to 45 ft. behind the boat. Our sea anchor is 10 feet
back and my speed indicator is reading 2 1/2, the sea anchor is doing a wonderful job in this wind. The water is just about white capping and we are still catching good crappie. I always troll with the wind because it is my theory that a crappie will face the wind as he faces the current. We have probably boated 75 crappie and could have caught more if we just wanted to catch fish.
I wrote earlier that we had left Singleton Creek because we had learned what we wanted to know. Another reason is, you never want to catch all the fish before a tournament. Find them and then leave them alone. I have another reason. There were 10 to 12 other boats within seeing distance of us. I probably will never see that 3 lb. 2 oz. female again but, if they get into these fish, I KNOW I WON'T! You can try trolling if you'd like. If you want to catch 100 crappie,
this is the way to go. There's nothing easy about it and it can be expensive. The easiest way to catch crappie is pull up to a brush pile, drop your anchor, put out 2 poles with minnows, and hold one pole in your hand with a mini jig tied on and relax. I think that Chris and I will be able to weigh in 17 lbs. Saturday.That will be about 2 lbs. short of a winner BUT< who knows, MAYBE we will get lucky. We will at least place in good standing because we did our homework in a sportsman-like way. We enjoyed our morning and threw back the fish we did not need. Most of the fish that we kept were hooked too deep and possibly damaged the gills. Earlier in this article, I wrote that I sell everything that I fish with. I do, and I sell at a very competitive price. I deal almost exclusively in crappie fishing regalia. Any questions, comments or suggestions directed to: Crappielures@infoave.net Maybe next time, We can do Deep Water Crappie.

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Sam C.