Fighting a crappie? Why bother!

[Spoonminnow]

A couple of days ago I discovered something about bringing in a caught crappie. Like most, I always pumped the rod, reeling in line during the pauses and crappie would fight. Instead try this:

1. hook the fish no matter the distance
2. put the rod tip close to the water and retrieve the line steadily like you would a crankbait or spinner.
3. When the crappie is close enough to see, pull the fish out of the water by raising the rod tip high.

You can't do that with any other species, but crappie swim in the direction of the steady pull of a retrieved line without a fight.
Less fish lost because the hole where the hook pierced its mouth can't get any larger.

Amazing I never knew this before this week!

[Crestliner08]

Good observation. Yep....works just fine. You can either keep them down in the water or keep the coming at you on the surface. If you let them jump, most cases result in a lost fish for whatever the reason.

[Ketchn]

been cranking em in like that from far away for many moons and use the forward momentum to swing them on shore or in the boat .
I NEVER LET a crappie fight as its the best way I know to not hold the crappie you hooked in your hand

[shipahoy41]

Very informative post.

[Spoonminnow]

Good observation. Yep....works just fine. You can either keep them down in the water or keep them coming at you near the surface. If you let them jump, most cases result in a lost fish for whatever the reason.

That's what worked for me. Plus if you want to release the fish, less stress and fewer die from the delayed mortality more common in hot water.

[Redge]

Astute observation. The only time I let them fight is when bringing them up from deep water. I bring the deep water fish up slowly, to avoid the bends.


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[SpeckledSlab]

Good tip and technique. Always good to share info that protects the resource. With the amount of new members coming onboard monthly, it is probably a good thread to refresh every so often.

[jackie53]

Depends on Size of crappie! A 10-11 in Yes
A 2 lb- 3 lb Better have some good fresh line and a good Rod With Back Bone and A good net with long Handle.My Two Pennies.Just sayn

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[Slab]

Fishermen that don't want other fishermen to see they caught one have been doing that for years. I've even done that when fishing in a crowd and you don't want the attention.

[CrappiePappy]

Fishermen that don't want other fishermen to see they caught one have been doing that for years. I've even done that when fishing in a crowd and you don't want the attention.

.... yep, my ex-roommate used to do that all the time, but he would actually quit reeling and just let the fish swim around when another boat passed by (most notably on Ky/Barkley back in the 70's).