Lily Pad Crappies

[Crappie15]

Do any of you fish for crappies in or near lily pads? In the summer, at a small pond I fish, the crappies seem to relate to them a lot, ecspecially on the really hot/sunny days. The best tactic for me is to cast a 1/16 ounce jig-spinner with a white, yellow or chartreuse curlytail grub right near the lily pad edges. The crappies just come out from under them and suck it in. Any other tactics for lily pad crappies you guys would care to share? Thanks!

[treepotato]

Hi Crappie15,
One method that works great for me is simply dipping a jig from a long pole into the pockets and edges of the pads. I use a 9' graphite fly rod with an ultra lite spinning real attached and spooled with 4lb fireline. The fireline is very strong and really lets you feel that thump when a crappie sucks it in, however there are times you must depend on sight because the fish will simply move off to side with your presentation so you will need to watch where the line enters the water for anything irregular in the line movement. Some guys prefer a bright colored line for this and claim the fish don't seem to be spooked by this, I can't say either way as I have only used the fireline because of it's sensitivity to the a bite. As for jigs I use 1 1/2 " tubes varying the colors till I fine what they,re wanting and I find that 1/16 or 1/32 oz. jigheads work fine. I will initially drop a jig into a pocket and let it fall till it hits the bottom , then reel in enough line to be at mid depth , example .. if my jig hit the bottom at 4 ft then I would lower about 2ft of line down keeping my rod about 4-6" above the water. Don't over jig your presentation , usually one or two subtle lifts on the rod tip and then letting it sit still a few seconds will attract a hit if they are actively feeding. Boat placement is critical with this type of fishing and if the wind is too strong it makes it really tough. Hope this helps and good luck to you.......treepotato