Casting for Crappie

[Darryl Morris]

I read through the thread about line. Sounds like some of you guys cast for crappie. I've never had much success with this presentation. Would like to know more details - bait/jig types used, presentation, location (what are you casting into). Sounds like you are aware of some cover or structure, then you keep the boat off of it, then cast into it. Are you casting into shallow water or deeper water using a count down method?

I ask because I usually tightline or use slip floats over specific cover or drift slow trolling. However, this sound like something I might want to try on Lake Charles.

[crappieseeker]

Darryl , most of the crappie fishing I do is casting I'd say 95%. I have tremendous success. During the winter time in the areas I fish, the crappie move up the creek channels under bridges and around other structure. They move in and out of there and stage while waiting for the right time to move shallow and spawn. When they are deep, I cast for them without a floater and usually try many different methods until I figure them out. Most of the fish I usually catch by bumping bottom. I have however at times caught them as close to 1 or 2 feet from the surface in 18 feet of water. Thats why I dont wanna get too close. When the fish move shallow and start spawning, I fish by casting with a float. I have success with this also. I just use a little stop and go twitch of the rod tip. Speed up or slow down your twitching till you figure out what they want. When the water gets colder, try fishing as slow as possible if you cant get strikes and fish as close to the structure as you can. When the crappie move in under the bridges, I can alot of times catch them by the hundreds by casting and I catch them two at a time sometimes. Good Luck to you.

[Roberta]

The lake we fish most often tends to hold crappie along the entire length of the channel. This is about fifty feet from shore and they move back and forth between the deadfalls along the bank and the deeper water. The weedbeds extends into that deeper water as well. We'll cast along the ledge and experiment with retrieval speed until we find the strike zone. If we see a lot of surface feeding, we start the retrieve right after it hits the water. I like to turn the handle three times, stop to let the jig fall, then turn, stop, and so on. I also do wide lateral sweeps with my rod tip. We use the same method fishing over submerged trees and other structure we find that holds fish.
We pick up a lot fo channel cat doing this, too.

We use all manner of small plastics. I prefer tubes with insert heads and Doug likes painted heads. We usually tip with something like a waxie, crappie nibble or minnow. If we're fishing shallow and risk a lot of hangups, we'll clip on a bobber to keep the jig from dropping into the cover and do a controlled depth retrieve. Sounds odd, but it works for us. - Roberta

[Moose1am]

Darryl:

Frank Ison and Brian Estridge showed me their winning system for Patoka Lake. They won the Crappie USA Spring tournament there in 2002 and 2003. So they must have a good system for that lake.

They use long poles similar to Richard William's 10ft Graphite Pole and the Sam Heaton BnM Graphite Poles. Then they used small open faced spinning reels with 6lb Trilene XL line on it. They used Thrill Bobbers stops with the little red beads included. Then they use the small foam red and white floats that are only about 1" long and 1/2" in diameter. Bets floats is the brand name and they are sold at Wal-Mart. Then they used the Bass Pro Shop 1/16oz minnow head lead head jigs. They put the Squirmin Squirt White Lightning jig bodies on these and topped it off with a chartruse colored Berkely Crappie nibble.

With this system they can fish the submerged forests of Patoka lake and fish in the 10ft depths in early April and well into the prespawn. They go slowly into the wind with the trolling motor mounted on the front bow of the john boat. One hand on the trolling motor and the other casting the slip bobber rig out in front of the boat. With this rig you can cast out to a snag that sticks up above the water and fish the jig 8ft down in 10ft of water. That puts the jig right about 2ft above the crappie in this stained spring time water. The crappie can't resist if if they are there. And you can slowly reel the bobber back to the boat and then let it rest when it gets near the next snag. The area they fish used to be a bottomland forest near a creek channel. The depths range from 12ft to 10ft in the spring depending on the lake levels. They don't start raising the water levels in the lake until after the first week in April. During Jan Feb and March they will let water though the damn fast if need be to keep the lake levels at winter pool which is about 532/3 ft asl.

I in the early spring these submerged trees (about 10 to 20 ft tall) are either just below the surface of the water or sticking out above the water level. Some guys tie up to a snag and fish that way. But most will use the trolling motor to move around slowly though the underwater forest and cast to each tree sticking out above the water. Find a spot like this with a big flat at the mouth of a big bay in the spring time and try this system.

Now Frank may have a secrete brush pile buried in and among these submerged trees which he didn't tell me about. If I were him that is what I would do. I would put some brush at the base of certain snags and then make them somehow so that I could return to them. That way I could tie up to a nearby snag and be about 20 to 40ft away from the brush pile and then cast to it with the long poles.

With the longer poles that have the bigger inside diameter guides (fugi type with ceramic linings) you can cast out a long ways from the boat. Those big Patoka Lake crappie are growing slower these days according to the latest 2003 fishery biologist report (Dan Carnahan district 7 biologist State of IN) and a big fish is likely to be 6 years old or more. By big I am talking about 17" or so. They should hold a tournament on Hovey's Lake sometime and see just how big those crappie are these days. LOL

This system works. The only thing I would change is the type of line used and maybe add some reel magic to the line.

The one main problem with casting is the line may come uncoiled from the spool and form a loop under the other fishing line. That may cause a loop to form in the line and prevent the line from going out. Often the loop will catch other line and multiple loops will form and get into a hard knot. Then the best thing to do is either call someone with a hell of a lot of time and patience to untie the knot or cut the line and tie on another bobber stopper, bead, bobber and jig head and start over again. It might pay to have a few extra rods and a few extra spools of line for each rod too. Especially if fishing in a tournament where money is involved.

Frank and Brian fished a 100 yard stretch of timber the entire time and won using this method. Frank was good enough to share his fishing knowlege with me. I won't tell where exactly he was fishing as I promised him not to tell. But other's have found this spot as he remarked to me last time I saw him at the Weightin that there were three other boats fishing where he was fishing. Word got around fast that he won and I guess they were following him and brian. But they still won that tournament even though three other boats were fishing in the same area.

Timing is everthing though. I know that the first week of April 2003 the big slabs were in this area. Now I had boat problems that year and almost didn't make it back home. I fished two days and camped out at the modern campground. My motor had a bad carburator and it was not running good. I almost could not get the thing started to come back into the boat ramp. Luckily I made it back to the ramp and back home and got the motor fixed. I didn't get to fish Patoka anymore that year until well into May and or early June. We went back to this spot and caught about 100 smaller crappie one sunny day. The water was up to about 536ft asl which is normal summer pool for Patoka Lake. The little crappie were in there in swarms. The bobber didn't have to sit still very long before it went under. But they were all under 8" long and we threw them all back in and didn't keep any. I was looking for those big 14 to 15" long 1.5lb and 2lb White Crappie. My biggest crappie caught at Patoka Lake was a nice 1.5 lb White Crappie that I caught along a log that was laying horizontally in the water. Most of the submerged trees in this bay have been in the water now since 1977. They are getting softer and more rotten. Tying up to them can tear the tops off the trees. And navigation in this part of Patoka Lake is Hazardous. You can easily run over a tree that has it top just under the water's surface and tip your boat over if not careful. And if you speed in this area you are likey to loose a motor or prop as I have seen some huge stumps that are about 4ft in diameter right under the surface of the water at summer pool. During winter pool you can see this big stumps as they are on the mud flats in the upper regions of the lake. So go slow up in these areas if you don't know where the river channel is located. And the river channel is not very wide at all. The Patoka River is a small river and only about 100ft wide in some spots. It also is very meandering and makes sudden and sharp u turns. Now at winter pool you can see the channel much better and stay in it but even guys that have fished this lake for years can get stuck on a mud bank if they are not paying attention. You will find a twenty foot deep channel and the flat next to it will only be 6" deep or maybe less than that. I would like to see them lower the lake down to about 525ft asl and then go up river to see what things look like. But that is not going to happen.

Bottom line is this. Casting is a good method but I would not recommend it for new fishermen. People that you take out and that have not ever fished before should be given the setup that you have now. Save the casting outfits for those with a lot of patience and experience. They are not for the novice.

You and Jerry Blake have a good system going. Richard just tightlines on KY lake and that is even simpler to do.

But if you guys take out some people that fish a lot and have experience with the open faced spinning outfits then casting to the brush pile may help you catch those more wary bigger slabs.

I do believe that the crappie can hear the trolling motor and they also may be able to pick up the transducer's sounds. I don't know this for sure but they can hear people banging stuff on the bottom of a boat. That will spoke them for sure. And in shallow water the long casts will pay off and let you search an area around the boat for more fish.

I read through the thread about line. Sounds like some of you guys cast for crappie. I've never had much success with this presentation. Would like to know more details - bait/jig types used, presentation, location (what are you casting into). Sounds like you are aware of some cover or structure, then you keep the boat off of it, then cast into it. Are you casting into shallow water or deeper water using a count down method?

I ask because I usually tightline or use slip floats over specific cover or drift slow trolling. However, this sound like something I might want to try on Lake Charles.

[whizkids]

I fish in Western NC. Lakes Rhodehiss, Hickory and Wylie. All those lakes have numerous blowdowns ( trees laying in the water still attached to the bank) It is very common practice to cast to those trees using 1/32 jigs tipped with some sort of plastic. ( Lil fishee etc.) As these are river impoundments virtually any depth tree can be found. As more houses are built this habitat is disappearing but a lot of dock owners sink brush close to their dock and bass and crappie fishermen sink brush in every sheltered cove.
I use a 1/32 round head jig modified with some 40lb test as a brush guard, ( use a small drill and drill a hole near the line tie, super glue the 40lb test and cut too length, a little experimentation and you will get the correct angle for the hole), 6 lb green line. It is important to rig the plastic on the jig so the jig does not roll sideways on the fall or the retrive.
I cast to the outer edges of the limbs and count down depending on water temp and season. Watch the line carefully, this rig falls slowly and they will hit it on the fall. A little twitch or sideways move in the line will be all you see.
I work inward with the cast. casting into places it would seem impossible to keep from getting snagged. Slow and easy will allow you to work the jig over the limbs.
If I know a tree has been producing I will anchor a good cast length away.
For sunken trees, I have a line points on the bank ( or with the modern GPS I will gps my casting position having made a note in which position to cast). When casting I always stay away from the structure.
I have a friend that keeps six sunken trees on the lake every year. He fishes every Monday and Wednesday year round. Starts just before daylight. Visits each spot every day, anchors and cast to the trees. this is a clear deep water impoundment, very hard to catch crappie, the limit is 25 per person. he catches his limit virtually every trip. he uses 4 lb test line and a chartruse and red jig. No minnows, no attractant, no other color or type jig.
In the coldest months ( now to Feb.) he may not fill his limit. If the bite is slow for the first two hours he will change and jig for walleye.
I read about all the different tactics and tackle and I always think of him and wonder how we have made it so complicated.
Casting in specifc situations can be very productive.

[bentpole]

I also cast 100% of the time.The places I fish, I have sunk tree's, also natural cover.
I locate them with my depth finder then back off from it.depending on the wind most of the time I anchor the boat,& cast to the cover counting down until I locate the depth they are holding.I use jig's mostly tubes.although in the winter some time's I will use a hair jig.When they are just barely hitting I seem to have luck with the hair type jig's because they don't have as much action as the tube's (JMO)
I also use 1/16 lead head that I paint myself & the hair jig's I tie my own.
I go against the flow (hehe) as far as equipment. I mostly use an Abu 4500 & 4600c's.with 10# line because I'm in cover most of the time & when I get hung I can pull the jig loose.even with the heavy line I use alot of jig's.>>>>Bentpole

[Darryl Morris]

Thanks for the pointers. I will try to perfect this style of crappie fishing. I really enjoy slow trolling, etc. But, that will never beat the thrill of feeling the thump. Just call me a thrill seeker, I guess.

[CrappiePappy]

That's what it's all about for me too, Darryl :D

I'm a converted minnow dunker, from many years gone by. I use 4lb-6lb test line - 1/32 to 1/16oz weedless jigheads - tubes, grubs, sliders, and other "plastics" .... about 95% of the time. If I can get away with it, and not get hung up very often, I'll also use "hair/feather" jigs and Roadrunners. I favor using "weedless" heads, simply because I can probe the timber without much chance of snagging up. I "cast" about 90% of the time ... and "shoot" when fishing docks. I don't much care for trolling, drifting, or tightlining ... but, will use these methods when necessary.
I also use what I call "Vertical Casting" ... basically dropping a jig straight down thru the cover, to the bottom, and slowly reeling it back in. I employ this method when circumstances dictate (like, when I can't cast due to location or obstructions). This method works very well on fallen trees that have lots of branches, or a lot of the tree branches are above water (and casting "into" the heart of the tree is impossible). It also works on submerged brushpiles that are in water too deep to cast to.
I use two different weedless jigheads - Oldham's Surelock Weedless Crappie Jig 1/16oz (only size it comes in) and P&S Tackle weedless jigheads (ball head/brush guard) in 1/32 and 1/16oz. Both of these jigheads work fine and rarely hang up.
I even "named" a method for keeping them from hanging up, which I call "Bowing to the jig". Occasionally, when dragging the jig over some branches, the jig may hang ... since I am usually reeling in at a dead slow pace, the jig may "roll" over as it comes up on the branch. This may cause the wire guard, on the Oldham's jighead, to pop open (rarely, but it does happen) ... or, the P&S Tackle jighead's hook point may find a piece of bark or part of the branch to stick. In order to avoid these things - as I retrieve, I am watching my line - when the line stops coming towards me, but I've had no hits and the line can still be reeled in with little to no tension ... then I am instantly aware that my line is draped over something. I continue to reel until I start feeling tension, or the line starts straightening out between the rod tip and the point where it enters the water. I know the jig is right at the branch or "whatever" ... so then I "Bow" towards the jig, which is to say that I lower the rod tip about 1ft towards the jig, then lift the rod tip about 1.5ft back away from the jig (all in one smooth motion ). This causes the jighead to fall away from the obstruction (1ft) and then come towards the obstruction (1.5ft) and bounces over it - the jighead doesn't have time to "roll" and the head hits the obstruction and bounces up and over it. (and I've had many "hits" once the jig clears the branch/obstruction ... so I'm even more vigilant in watching the line, after I've gone thru my "bowing to the jig" act). Lots of people just "snatch" or "jerk" the rod when they think they're hung up (or getting hung up) ... and usually end up burying the hook into the branch, requiring breaking off - straightening out the hook - pulling a piece of the "cover" loose - or some other disturbance. I'd really rather not - so I "Finesse" my jig over the potential hang up spot. ......luck2ya ...cp

[Gary Harlan]

Darryl, I noticed you are from Paragould...One of the best trips i can remember was @ Dacus several years ago during late feb. We killed them casting ...the lake was very clear for that time of year and we were casting 1/32nd ounce jigs to the ends of the laydowns and ditch mouths..we would count them down to 5 or 6 feet and start a slow retrieve back used 4lb test green line while doing it...very much like you would trout fish...good luck...GH<><

[Darryl Morris]

Darryl, I noticed you are from Paragould...One of the best trips i can remember was @ Dacus several years ago during late feb. We killed them casting ...the lake was very clear for that time of year and we were casting 1/32nd ounce jigs to the ends of the laydowns and ditch mouths..we would count them down to 5 or 6 feet and start a slow retrieve back used 4lb test green line while doing it...very much like you would trout fish...good luck...GH<><

Dacus? I'm unfamiliar with that body of water. Where is it from Paragould, AR?