3 questions

[jonny177]

first question. id like to know how i could find crappie from the shore. im from northeastern ohio.
second question. how does the crappie fishing get when out fishing in rain?
and last question. how could i catch crappie from the shore with a 2 inch crankbait?

[waterboy1]

Fishing for crappie from shore can be tuff unless you have the right body of water. It will be easiest in the spring near the spawn, because the crappie will move in and out from shallow water. But at other times they can be hard to find, unless you have shore line close to a river channel, or fairly deep water with lay downs or timber.

[CrappiePappy]

first question. id like to know how i could find crappie from the shore. im from northeastern ohio.
second question. how does the crappie fishing get when out fishing in rain?
and last question. how could i catch crappie from the shore with a 2 inch crankbait?

Q#1 .... tough to do, but try fallen trees on dropping banks or stumps along sloping banks, in the Spring & Fall. Creek mouth points during pre-spawn ... flooded brush/bushes during spawn ... pea gravel banks during spawn. Your biggest problem may be finding access for shoreline fishing.

Q#2 ... as long as it isn't storming, & you're safe from lightning strikes, fishing in the rain is OK. A light rain doesn't seem to bother the Crappie, and in fact does disturb the surface enough to provide them with enough security feeling that they will come shallow (much like a cloudy/overcast day can). Best bet is to be fishing BEFORE the rain comes to your local area ... especially if the front carrying the rain is dropping the barometric pressure.

Q#3 ... leave the crankbait in your box, and tie on a 1/16oz weedless jighead with a 1.5" plastic body of your choice of shape & colors, and cast it around any wood/weed cover that you can reach. You might also consider using a marabou jig & a float.

And to answer the unasked question #4 .... hook up with someone on the Ohio State Forum, that has a boat & would like to have a partner to share expenses/experiences with.

... cp

[deathb4disco]

Q#3 ... leave the crankbait in your box, and tie on a 1/16oz weedless jighead with a 1.5" plastic body of your choice of shape & colors, and cast it around any wood/weed cover that you can reach. You might also consider using a marabou jig & a float.

Agreed. Those treble hooks will snag something really quick, and you'll lose it, most likely.

[CatFan]

Finding the spots is harder from shore, but it can be done. I like to go with a jig below a slip bobber with a decent sized split shot 18 inches up from the jig. With a long pole, you can really heave this out in the water. Tip it with a minnow and you can entice some fish. This rig lets you maintain the jig depth where you want and ease it back in or pull it in spurts where the jig falls like a pendulum.

If they are shallow, use a 14' pole to dip the minnow out ahead of you so you don't spook them.

Best day I ever had on the water was in a steady rain. Took hours to get tackle boxes and clothes dry, but we had three guys in the boat and could easily have each caught a hundred fish.

Although I've caught crappie on a crank bait, I have better luck with baits that spend more time near the school. I slaughtered them on a red and white Lazy Ike once when they wouldn't touch anything else.

[no1son]

About all I do is fish from shore and from fishing docks. This is the time to search the crowds that are cashing in on the spawn AND LISTEN. You don't have to be nosey or rude about it. And be friendly. Most shore fishermen around here are a pretty friendly bunch and if you get some of the old timers talking, sometimes that is almost as much fun as the actual fishing. Once you learn how to discount the tall tales and separate the truth from the fiction, those discussions can be very helpful. Acquaintances can and often do point each other around to other opportunities.

BTW my partner and I occasionally need some distance in our casting, but far more of our crappies come from within 25' of where we stand than outside it. I cast 32nd oz jigs with plastic tails almost exclusively both with and without a bobber, generally without, and I use 5' poles. Look for overhangs, drain pools, wall faces, back water side pools, pay more attention to smaller bodies of water than huge ones. Fishing docks should not be overlooked nor should the side docks around boat launches. Fishing docks that span across the weedline out into 15 to 20 foot of water should get special attention. Pay special attention to getting right down into the dock shadow. You can jig directly to what the boat fishermen have to shoot for. There is usually a current running across the dock somehow, fish on the side where that current tends to carry your offering in under the dock. But always check both sides, for some reason one is always better than the other.

You should not be on the water in an electrical storm, but otherwise the crappies probably don't know its raining, except when street and road way drains and culverts start running. Those times and places can be bonanzas.

The little crank baits can be dynamite, if you have crappie biting at the surface or close to it. Then the floaters fished just fast enough to get the wiggle and down to just under the surface can be very productive. At other times the sinkers can be too if you get the depth right. For years we relied almost totally on the little jigs, but in the last couple of summers we have been giving the little cranks a closer look. Result: they have taken some of our largest crappies over that period. Jigs are still faster for us in numbers by a bit though; so we are more and more using both cranks and jig/plastics. Like in trolling it is probably easier to crank too fast than too slow for crappies.

We fish on foot year around and still take more than our fair share of crappies.