About fishing Crappie on a fly

[thudpucker]

I've been fly fishing for almost 40 years. Mostly Rainbow, but some Steelhead and Salmon.
Now I'm in the south, and for three years off and on I've tried Fly Fishing for Crappie and failed on a regular basis.

I have two lakes to choose from. Smith lake (AKA the Dead sea) and Catoma in downtown Cullman. Catoma is reportedly a good Crappie lake.

From looking at your flies in some other posts I see you dont use the Upside-down hooks like a Jig. Your flies look like some Trout flies I've seen over the years.

So do you fish these on a Wet line?
Fast sinking, weight forward, like a #9 or #10?
I've always mooched the Wet flies in an inch at a time. Same for Crappie?

My current lines are all #4's. Is that gonna do?
I lost all my heavy stuff in a move from LA. to AL.

I saw the post on the fly that somebody wrapped a lead around the shank then tied on the body. Lordy I didn't want to go to those weighted fly's or lead line.
Tell me I dont need to monkey with that stuff!

Are we talking about long casts or fishing right under the boat?

C'mon back and chat with me a bit. I gotta learn how to do this before I get too old to fish.

[dixieangler]

I use two fly rods (a 4wt. and a 5wt.) for both bream and Specks. I like to use two wet flies (the Improved McGinty and the Improved Black Gnat) for my floating lines when the Specks are shallow or suspended. I like to use a Crappie Candy fly (sort of like a Clouser Minnow) when they are a little deeper. I use the Crappie Candy in two colors, fluorescent green and also in fluorescent yellow. I do not add any weight to the flies, only what the patterns calls for. I use my sinking line when the Specks are deeper than the leader of my floating lines can reach. My 5wt. has a spare spool with a slow sink full sinking line on it. The slow sink rate gives the Specks time to take the fly, especially if they are suspended. The full sinking line helps to keep the line level as it sinks so I can detect the light bites of Specks better (I watch the line for bites and feel the line for bites). I do fish the flies slowly. I typically don't cast out from the boat or shoreline more than 30 or 40 feet. Some links below.

Wet Flies for Big 'Gills and Crappies

Crappie Candy

From a Pond
On a IM (Improved McGinty)


On a Crappie Candy



From a boat on a canal

[thudpucker]

That was a great post Robert. Well done. You fill me with the kind of hope that would drive a guy to fish in a high wind.
I dont tie, but I'll come up with those flies from somewhere around here.

I have some Poppers from a few years ago. When do you use the Poppers?
Will Crappie come up for those Poppers?

Meanwhile I put together a sliding rowing seat in my Fly Fishing boat.
I'm heading down to the lake to try it out tomorrow.

That's the Fwd position.

And the hauled away position.


Even if I got it backwards, you get the idea.

[dixieangler]

I have some Poppers from a few years ago. When do you use the Poppers?
Will Crappie come up for those Poppers?

I mostly use foam poppers or foam bugs for LMB and bream throughout the year but here when Fall and Winter arrive, I like to be Speck fishing if I can and I am using those types of subsurface flies listed in the above post. If I am fortunate enough for Specks to be up near the surface (this rarely happens), then I use an MCF (Minnow Crease Fly) for them usually. The MCF also works well for lots of other warm water fish. MCF link below.

13 inch Pond Speck on the surface taken (foul hooked) on an MCF



The Minnow Crease Fly

I mostly just straight line fish. But Steve Gibson says that the beadhead Hare's Ear Nymph works well for him under a float for suspending Specks and even though I have caught lots of fish on this kind of rig, I haven't gotten a Speck on it yet. I have pretty much settled on hook sizes in mostly 8 to 10 (my wet flies and nymphs in mostly 10s) but occasionally I go to a size 12 if the area is heavily fished and the fish act like they may be fly educated (rarely the case). Sometimes even a scud or nymph dropper tied to the hook bend about a foot or two behind a popper on mono line can be productive but I hate casting this ungainly rig.

My ideal way to fish for Specks from a boat, canoe, yak, toon, or other watercraft is to use my 4wt. rigged with the small float Vertically Oriented Strike Indicator (VOSI) on the leader and a nymph, wet fly, or minnow type streamer (like a Cypert's Minnow) under it about 4 feet and then let this rig trail behind the watercraft on a "natural" drift (same speed as the water current) until I hit a school of Specks (my portable sonar unit is great for locating underwater fish holding structure and as a depth finder but I don't use it as a fish finder). When I find a school on the floating rig (I get a bite), I just anchor nearby and straight line cast to the school with my 5wt.

[thudpucker]

Boy, you filled my Hole with soap...er filled my soul with...uh never mind.

I was so excited to try your methods I took my little boat out yesterday AM
At 04:30 I was on the water.
Dark, winds out of the East, gusting to 10. Cloudy and a light fog on the water.

I have only two flies that look like Crappie Candy. I caught a Bass on one, and a Small Bream on the other. No Crappie.
I showed fish, but because of the wind I couldnt sit on or near them and cast to them.
I blamed it all on the "winds out of the East, the fish bite the least!"

The most unusual thing happend.
I have a 4wt and a 7wt. The 7 had a sinking line. The wind caused me some problems and while I was fooling with the 4 the 7 drifted down and got hooked on a sinker.
The boat was drifting pretty fast and before I could get to the rod holder, the 7wt broke! Snapped right up from the handle. It was a Sage Graphite.
Boy did that thing "SMACK" when it broke.
To say I was up-set with myself and the whole rest of the world would be an understatment.

Three years ago I lost ALL my fly equipment in a Move. It just dissappeared. Four Rods, a vest will extra spools etc. All of it just did not arrive with us.
Now I'm down to One Rod. A #4 wt and two lines. I guess that's what fate had me slated for at this late date.

Now I'm gonna have to find a sinking line for my #4.

One happy note. My Uncle is no longer able to tie, so he's sending me his whole stash!

A little more gossip on my Boat with the sliding seat.
That sliding seat helps with the rowing a good bit when you really need some performance. It add's in the legs and back to put a little more power into the stroke. That worked out great.
An added benefit I hadn't even considered is the ability to reach beyond the ends of my arms. I can slide fwd to get some stuff stored behind my back and aft to get the Rods in the holders and most importantly my Coffee cup.

Half way through the morning the Axle bent which left me kinda limited but I'll have that re-engineerd sometime today.

[dixieangler]

but because of the wind I couldnt sit on or near them and cast to them.
I blamed it all on the "winds out of the East, the fish bite the least!"

Yep. Good conditions help for sure. Too much wind or no wind is bad news for Specks here. I try to go on days where there is a 5 to 10 mph wind. Not only is the paddling easier, the fish bite better. When the wind comes up, the Specks can shut down and just stop biting. Early or late in the day is the best for me which I impart to low wind conditions early or late in the day. I never said it was easy.:p I have had days when the conditions were right and they still wouldn't bite. That's fishing. Otherwise we would call it catching. If you keep at it, I know you will catch some. You will probably even find some "hot spots" that you can keep going back to time after time because Specks tend to hang around the same areas. Finding them to begin with is the hardest part, second is finding a day when they are biting good. They usually are not too particular here about a certain kind of fly. The way the fly is presented is the key. I just want to get it in front of their face and that means finding the depth they are holding. Oh, and did I mention that you and the boat must be silent? No noise.......at all. No boat banging or bumping noises from oars, anchors, or whatever. Soft anchors can help. If Specks hear noise, they will either not bite or they will leave the area. Keep at it and best of luck.

The boat was drifting pretty fast and before I could get to the rod holder, the 7wt broke! Snapped right up from the handle. It was a Sage Graphite.

Check Sage. I think their rods have a warranty.

BTW, I have not found a slow sink full sinking line in a 4wt. that is "affordable." My 4wt. only has a floating line for right now even though I have a spare reel for a sinking line when I find the "affordable" sinking line I need. My 5wt. has a floating line and a spare spool with a slow sink full sinking line on it.

[thudpucker]

No noise? Amazing principal. Education bourn up by years of experience.

That makes sense now that I look back on it. For years I had a Metzler inflatable. I caught a lot of fish in that boat.
Now I have the aluminum skiff. It's crowed in there, I'm clumsy, the oars bump and thump, even my coffee cup makes a noise. Hmmm, I might have to re-engineer some Foam landing zones for those oars and some new oar locks to control that racket.

Someone else told me Sage might have a guarentee. I'll check it out this week sometime.
I've had that rod since the late 80's or early 90's. I sorta doubt...but I'll check.

[thudpucker]

OK, no noise.
I found some rubber insulation for pipes and glued it down where ever the oars would touch.
I moved stuff around in the boat. I put hangars for the rods so they wouldnt be moving if I didnt have them active.

My GPS said I rowed only 2 miles last night. You should see the trail on the GPS. Looks like a drunk was rowing my boat.

I got one hit on a large green long hackle fly. Nothing else.
Reletivly low wind. I put one rod up and cast with my heavy line. Even when I could see bait fish welling up to the surface, I didnt get anything at all.
Quite dejected about the catching. The Fishing was great though.

[thudpucker]

BTW, I have not found a slow sink full sinking line in a 4wt. that is "affordable." My 4wt. only has a floating line for right now even though I have a spare reel for a sinking line when I find the "affordable" sinking line I need. My 5wt. has a floating line and a spare spool with a slow sink full sinking line on it.

I searced for a #4 Sinking line too. I ran into the same thing. Big Bucks if you could find it.
I bought a sack of three Sinking tips that tied onto the #4 where the butt section went on.
Sadly it didnt work well for casting. For Trolling it was good, the line tip did sink but casting it was like the middle of the line was weighted.

That rod that broke was a Cabelas. I called them, and it's too involved and expensive so the rod is up on nail's in the Barn alongside my Fenwick with the broken tip.

This AM I was on the water at 04:30, fished till the Hi winds drove me off the lake about Noon.
Nothing. Thos 'Blue Bird' days are great for fishiing but not for catching.
someday.....

[Fatman]

Go to Fly Anglers OnLine, Your Complete Internet Flyfishing Resource. and look for articles by Rick Zieger. He fish's alot for panfish from shore and in a canoe and does really well. If you have specific questions you just have to ask him and he'll help you out real nice guy.

He also has alot of patterns for panfish on the site. It would be worth your time to register and search through the site for ideas and help.

Fatman