Some newbie questions...

[nralover]

As I mentioned in an earlier thread, I am not a beginner fisherman, but I know nothing of crappie. I just bought a membership to my local conservation club, and was wanting to try bringing in some supper The weather here in Missouri has been BITTER for several weeks (highs in the teens and twenties, lows in single digits), with small amounts of snow. This week is supposed to improve considerably, with some sun and highs in the mid forties or so. The lake at the club is roughly 16 acres, and I am told there is a fair crappie population, so my wife and I decided we might try to snag a few this week. We will be limited to bank fishing, and will be fishing in the morning hours maybe nine o'clock or so. Can you gents give us a good starting point for tackle, techniques, etc? Any lure color advice, things to look for, and the like would be greatly appreciated, NRA

[jlaughlin72]

NRA, fishing from the bank limits you alot. The only way that i have been able to catch em off the bank is using a float(cork,bobber) with either a jig hanging under it, or with a buckshot weight about 4 inches above a crappie hook using live bait. Look around for some kind of structure in the water, old log on the bank running into the water, maybe an old stump or some limbs sticking up out the water, and sometimes around limbs hanging down into the water. If the lake doesn't have any of these maybe there is a grassline in the water. Try casting along or near any type of structure that may be present.
I don't know if Missouri allows the use of minnows or not, if they do try some shinners or rosey reds if you can find them. As for artificial bait, down here the black/chartruese, black/pink, blue/white, and red/chartruese tube jigs seem to work pretty well. Up north where you are at, most of the waterways/lakes are alot clearer than down here, so jig color may be different. Maybe some of the locals from your area can chime in and help you out on colors and the legality of using minnows. Some troll crankbaits, this may be something you can try also. I know you caint troll them, but maybe casting them with a slow retrieve.
If you haven't already, do a post on the Missouri board also. Good Luck.

[bugman]

jlaughlin gave you some good advice about the bobber set up thats exactly what i'd start with if i were in your situation,come over to the Missouri board and there might be some locals in your area that can be a bit more specific.

[GRIZZ]

A sudden warm spike can bring crappies in to the shallows to feed up here in the north, but I'm not too sure about your location. Places to look for are mouths of canals or streams. \

Use smaller than normal jigs or minnows under floats because the crappies will mainly be hitting stationary baits. Experiment with depths under your floats from very shallow, as shallow as 6 inched depending on water clarity to about a foot above bottom. On a real slow, cold bite your probably better off with minnows, but small jigs can really kill if you get the color and size right. Try 1 inch green/chart berkley micro sparkle tubes and grubs. You can even tip the tubes with the grubs. They make great combos. One particular combo I have done real well with early season is the dark green 1 inch berkley power tube tipped with the white power wiggler or grub. Use the internal type if tube jighead to keep the profile small. Just barely hook the tipped bait so that it flops around on the hook in the water. In general I have found this to be a great como anywhere, but it works especially well when they aren't hitting hard in the shallows or on slow bites.

This is not a time to use high vis line. Use 4 lb clear copolymer line like Pline or sufix promix. These lines are thin, but very tough for 4lb. Use a smaller float like a fly fishing strike indicator or the smaller thills so they won't feel the float, or build one of the 2 custom bobbers that have been mentioned here on crappie.com that indicate light strikes.

Ultralight to medium light gear works fine for this kind of fishing. You don't need anything real special unless you need to cast a long ways. Then I'd shoot for a 7 foot light, fast action rod that will really whip jigs out there on light line. Basically a very light walleye rig.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...=SearchResults
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...icro&noImage=0
http://www.fishusa.com/tackleshop/ca...CBB76FF4F&fx=1
http://www.fishusa.com/tackleshop/ca...022FFCBB76FF4F
http://www.bubbajackstackle.com/Sufi...ing%20Line.htm

I construct my own variation of bobber for crappie fishing. When I took it with me to TN 3 yrs ago, the locals liked it so much they dubbed it "Yankee Daves Crappie Bobber".




Just slide the foam float on the point of the spring bobber. Use some super glue to keep it there. The weight of the foam float makes the bobber lay flat on the water. When you get a hit it stands up. The fish doesn't feel anything because all its doing is tipping the bobber, not pulling anything under the surface. Its a very visable solution for those of you with bad eyesight, and its very hard to miss hits, even the lightest ones. If your jig or bait is heavy enough to make the float stand up, just clip off a small piece of a lead sinker with some plyers and shape it so it slips into the open end of the foam float where you would normally place the stick until it lays flat to the water again. The float will work with almost any weight jig or bait with some creative weighting. The actual size your seeing of the foam float in the pic is about right with a standard sized bobber.

You can get everything you need at walmart. It works best with the shape of spring bobber I pictured. They stay flat on the water better. I try to find all orange foam floats to use because they are easier to see. Its kinda fun waiting for that bobber to stand up. Its a bit like an ice fishing tip up for the open water.

[caseydrew]

Where in Missouri are you fishing? I might be able to help you out.

[nralover]

Where in Missouri are you fishing? I might be able to help you out.

Jefferson County, near St Louis...

[caseydrew]

You are a little far North for me to suggest anything....if you were in Sotheast Missouri I was going to tell you a few places to try.

[nralover]

Caseydrew- thanks anyway Hopefully this week might bring good luck. After three weeks of cold, it looks like we will be in the fifties and low sixties for a week or so...