Missy Suggestion/Tips

[theservicegroup777]

Welcome all, Newbie to the forum here just want to give out a big wave to everyone out there. I'm not expecting anyone to give up thier honey hole however are there any tips/suggestions in crappie fishing missy?? Such as general areas that may be producing more? Depth? I have a really old "crappie" LOL fish finder and spent 3-4 hours fishing with only 2 . I let them back in to grow up a little bigger Thanks again!

[RCookJr]

newbie here as well... what part of indiana are you from?

[river scum]

look for steep drops, into deep water, near shore, and search for bait schools. drop lights at night and haul them in.

[theservicegroup777]

I really appreciate the help! Its proving tough to find the steep drop offs, well at least where theres cover and my fish finder singing. I see a lot of people hanging out by the mississinewa road bridge on the north side there. Then it seems as everyone else is headed down the lake. I fished that bridge area in shallows and open water and didnt come up with much. I'm wondering if I should focus further down the river. Im just wanting to get on them at least once so my son will keep interest. Its hard when were both bummed headed in and throwing out the 1 or 2 keepers cause its not worth the time to clean.... Ive tried night and day both. I am wanting to head out there this weekend and was really curious about moving on down the lake. Seems like north is open water and less likely....

[colt1888]

Missy was a tough fishery this year. Probably the toughest i have seen since i started to fish it with any sort of effort. Lots of small fish this year. So don't beat yourself up if ya struggle, you are not alone this year.

[Tater140]

The two times I fished it were both tough bites and came home with just a couple of keepers. We did manage to catch a quite a few smaller ones though. I would think by next year they should start to be decent sized. I did see lots of shad balled up on the surface, so I have a feeling their eating well. Maybe too well.

[theservicegroup777]

Yea! There are a TON of shad on the surface at Dusk and Dawn which of course when they like to feed... Hope they are getting fat for next year.. Gonna have to stick to the drop offs and pull em in 1 here or there. Hows the fishing down around the 13 bridge area?

[river scum]

I did see lots of shad balled up on the surface, so I have a feeling their eating well. Maybe too well.

i had that thought the other night about too much bait. after about 2 hours we had so much bait under the light the screen was completely blacked out! there was solid bait and fish from 2-16ft down and swimming around the boat as far out as we could see. the guy with me was amazed at the amount of bait we had under and around us. we were using the green "reel lite" set a foot under the surface. at first we had tiny minnows under the light, then the shad invaded, big ones and small ones. the shad cluttered the screen to blackout. fish were popping all around the boat but bites were slow coming. i think we had that exact problem tater! they had so much bait fish to eat, they couldnt get to our minnows. maybe ill take a few 2-3" gills with me next time and try them in the bait ball. i have been finding 3" shad in the ones i've cleaned. i think we needed something to make our baits stand out. the one rod that was getting hit the most was the one with a ("forage minnow") glow jig on it.

[Tater140]

When night fishing whether through the ice or open water i've had the best luck with a glow jig of some type.