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Thread: Targeting Large Crappie Under Lights

  1. #1
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    Default Targeting Large Crappie Under Lights


    hey

    I went crappie fishing under lights for the first time Saturday night...we caught alot of fish....probably atleast 60 fish...they had to be 10" to keep and we only kept 18 or 19...there are some very big crappie in this lake...ive heard of some 3lb plus crappie that have been caught this year...but our biggest fish was 1lb exactly with no others even close to that size....we fished minnows and jigs...what do i need to do to target the larger crappie? or do i need to just fish more? by the way this lake is in southeast mississippi

    thanx

  2. #2
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    I am a big bait, big fish, fan. I know you can catch big fish on small baits. If you want to catch numbers of fish, or the bite is slow it's the only way to go. When the bite is on, and you don't feel like cleaning a bunch of fish, put a bigger bait on. These big crappie arn't shy. How many times have you got crappie when you were bass fishing. Part of that is that the bigger fish don't hang around with the smaller ones. But if you want to thin out the small ones, put a soft plastic minnow 4-5 inches long on. I like the Zoom "Flukes". If you can find the edge of the school, work it with one of these. Light color or dark color, that does make a difference, and work it as slow as you can. Works for me. I hate cleaning fish.

  3. #3
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    Do you fish dock lights or put them out yourself? On docks don't crowd it. Work all the way to the boat. I have taken my bigger fish on deep docks lately, right along the bottom or while bumping in the brush. If you run into a light with schooling shad use your cast net to get some natural bait.
    Putting out your own lights just be patient. The fish will move in and the bigger ones will come in to your light too. Some of my biggest crappie were caught at night using my own lights. Good luck. Hope this helps.

    DVD is right too. Big Bait Big fish.

    "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." ~Doug Larson

  4. #4
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    David so you fish with flukes for crappie? and catch them consistently on it?ive caught a few on flukes but it was while i was bass fishing....Falcon i am fishing docks but i am fishing them from a boat....we were fishing our jigs and minnows with corks....should we fish them another way? if so how do i need to do it?....if you set your own lights out how long do you usually have to wait before you start catching fish? and where do you get these lights?

    thanx

  5. #5
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    When we go at night, we put out our own lights. I take a seperate battery to run the lights. Iwould guess once you get everything set about 20 min untill you see large numbers of bait fish showing up.

    The lake we fish at night sits betwen 2 damns so once you figure the water movement you can almost figure the best time to fish. The more water that is pulled, the more aggresive the fish.

    Plan on going tonight and fishing for several hours.
    If I was better I'd be twins

    Official "Hippie" had my hip replaced August 2005

  6. #6
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    We here in Texas on Rayburn and Toledo have been trying these green fluorescent lights at night for crappie....I have gone out one time and we caught lots of fish but I was a guest on another boat and it was my first time.....I was so impressed that I bought me two of the 18 inch lights and one of the four foot light....have tried them on two different lakes over brush and under bridges for crappie....we have caught a few but havent' really torn them up....is there some kind of trick to get them in....we can see the bait fish under the lights but if you can give us some tips we would sure appreciate it....

  7. #7
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    I really kinda do fish the flukes for crappie. This pond has something strange going on that I don't want to mess up. My wife and I fish it almost every day from mar. to sept.. We've caught 5 or 6, 10 inch fish in almost 4 years. AND THAT'S IT. Average fish is 12.5 inches. Wife caught 11 fish in a row that were over 14 inches one day last summer. Hardly anyone else fishes there and most that do don't keep them. I hate cleaning fish so bucketts of fish means nothing to me. I have heard of 20 inch fish from there and thats what i'm looking for. Just over 16 is the biggst I've caught or seen caught. I probably could catch more fish using jigs but I get plenty on the flukes. I use the berkley 3 inch dropshot minnow a lot when the bites slow. Fish both the same way, offset hook, weedless. You can fish them a lot slower than a jig, and I think thats the key to big fish. All the crappie I have cleaned had crappie and bass in them. No minnows in the pond, they just eat fish.

  8. #8
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    We've caught 5 or 6, 10 inch fish in almost 4 years. AND THAT'S IT. Average fish is 12.5 inches. Wife caught 11 fish in a row that were over 14 inches one day last summer. Hardly anyone else fishes there and most that do don't keep them. I hate cleaning fish so bucketts of fish means nothing to me. I have heard of 20 inch fish from there and thats what i'm looking for. Just over 16 is the biggst I've caught or seen caught. I probably could catch more fish using jigs but I get plenty on the flukes. I use the berkley 3 inch dropshot minnow a lot when the bites slow. Fish both the same way, offset hook, weedless. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Very interresting. I also care little about the numbers and have recently gone to bigger baits. I fish reservoirs and my success with the larger baits has been limited. I am wanting away to not catch the 12" and below fish. Larger grubs, crankbaits and spinnerbaits have not worked for me trolling. I have used flukes very succesfully for smallmouth but not for crappie. I guess it is time to get out the dye and make some creative flukes.



  9. #9
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    I'm fairly new to the whole nightfishing game, but this past spring I have noticed that the bigger fish I have caught have been further into the dark along the fringes of the light source. Seem to stay a little further away from the light then the smaller crappie. And I agree with the bigger baits. I catch most of the bigger crappie on big shiners I have sitting in those fringe areas on a slip float rig. They are big enough that the smaller crappie won't touch them. Only big crappie or hybrids and other bass.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by crappster
    I'm fairly new to the whole nightfishing game, but this past spring I have noticed that the bigger fish I have caught have been further into the dark along the fringes of the light source. Seem to stay a little further away from the light then the smaller crappie. And I agree with the bigger baits. I catch most of the bigger crappie on big shiners I have sitting in those fringe areas on a slip float rig. They are big enough that the smaller crappie won't touch them. Only big crappie or hybrids and other bass.
    When your fishing during the day, what are ya looking for. SOMETHING. A tree, a lump, a dropoff. And what do ya do when ya get there. Find the edge. How many times have you fished a shaded tree line in the day. Your making the sun. Fish it just like you would during the day.

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