Why Crappie?

[Meat on the Table]

Just curious why we as fishermen decided to focus on Crappie? The first fish I ever caught was a pond Crappie. I bought my first two cars and first motorcyle, and first boat, with funds from commercial catfishing, but even then I was a Crappie fisherman, when not trot(trout) lining. I still bream fish with a flyrod some and enjoy it, but Crappie fishing still is my obsession. As much as I love to Turkey hunt, I never go without my ultralight in the truck. The allure of a redneck surf and turf is too strong. My grandfather and Dad were Crappie fishermen, and I wonder if they understood why. I have run on and on but still haven't given the reason why I focus on Crappie, because I guess I really don't know. Why not Bass, why not Sauger, Why not Smallies, why not white bass? I don't know. Some one enlighten me please, my wife asked this question and I haven't an answer for her.

[Jerry Blake]

Tell your wife it's just one of those mysteries of life that we're not meant to understand.

If that doesn't work tell her you're going to quit your real job and start guiding for crappie!

[1weezer]

Yeah, that should bring you back into the real world. lol

[dsacalaitman]

my opinion is this,ipersonnally love the challenge. crappie inmy opinion are the most difficult fish to figure out.even though they are considered a pan fish they manage to packa powerful fight ,and then agaiain it may be that i am just a sportsman at heart. as a child my uncle introduced me to bass fishing and we used to catch our own bait(pot bellie minnows) out of a ditch .i allways can here him cuss darn crappie to him crappie were a nuesance so i too took his opinion, untill a few years ago and now id rather catch crappie than any species. dont get me wrong i do enjoy catching redfish,speckled trout,anything that bites but SACAULAIT is my personal favorite.
keep it wet
take a kid fishing

[Eager Beaver]

I don't know why anyone else like's to fish for crappie, but for me it is very simple. Here in Ne. it is either Cat or Crappie and I like to eat fish so the Crappie won very easily. Since I started fishing for Crappie most of the time I have gotten pretty good at catching them. In Ne. the State put such high size limits on the different fish that it is the same as catch and release, around Omaha, which is where I am located. I use to fish for Bass and then switched to Walleye when the State put a 21 inch size limit on Bass. Then after I switched to fishing for Walleye they put a 22 inch size limit on the Walleye in the best Walleye Lake around here and you could only keep one walleye, which didn't make it worth the trip to the lake. I ended up buying a lot on a private lake and fish it most of the time now. This Lake is a crappie heaven and the assoc. wants you to keep all the big Crappie that you can catch out of it. Several retired people that I take fishing have caught the biggest Crappie of their lives from it. So for me it is very simple as to why I like Crappie fishing best, along with the fight they put up on ultra lite equipment, it just blows my mind.

[Moose1am]

I used to fish for Largemouth Bass almost exclusively but would catch an occasional big crappie on a crankbait. I caugth some sauger also. Dad and I were meat fishermen back in the old days. We loved the taste of fried fish.

Back in 1986 I was given the book "Crappie Wisdom" as a Christmas Present. I had fished for crappie in the spring time like most people but never understood where they went after the spawn. So I read the book from cover to cover twice. Each time I read it I get more out of this book. But still I didn't start fishing for crappie exclusively.

Then they opened some new lakes near my house. The land was mined by AMAX coal company from the 1970's though the mid 1990's and then sold. The state of IN purchased about 2500 acres of this land and Tom Newmaster purchased the rest. Tom built a campground and sold some of the land to developers. They built homes near the F&W area. There are deer, beaver, racoons, geese, ducks, foxes, coyotees, and many other froms of wildlife in this area. It sometimes reminds me of the smokie mountains cades cove area. I heard lots of stories about huge bass being taken from these pits but the truth is that most have been caught now. The main fish in these pits are crappie. So I started going after the crappie almost exclusively in these pits.

But the thing that got me really going was about three years ago I got an old fishing magazine out of the closet and started to read about the Crappie Tournament held on Patoka Lake in Southern IN. That got me interested in doing some spring time fishing. The boat engine was not running very good and the tilt trim was messed up. After spending a few hundred dollars getting the boat ready I went up to Patoka to fish. Reading the article got me fired up to catch some crappie.

But the main reason I like crappie fishing so much is that once you find a spot the crappie will be there all the time. Where else can you catch 25 fish in a few hours and take them home to fry up and eat? I never caught 25 bass in one setting. Sure bass fight harder and jump etc. But man the taste of fried crappie can't be beat.

I only wish I lived close to a larger lake that had larger crappie in it.

So the bottom line is I got hooked on crappie fishing by curisoity and I continue to fish for crappie because I can catch a lot of them and they taste good fried up in oil.

[stray]

As a kid I fished for bluegill, catfish, bass, and trout, never really heard of crappie. My father didn’t fish, so I went when I could with my grandfather and uncles. All of the time fishing for these it was fun catching fish, but not enough fun to even learn to clean them. As I got older other things would come up and I didn’t have time to go fishing (or I thought). A few years ago a coworker, who has became one of my best friends, talked me into going crappie fishing. We spent the day, with him catching a crappie every few drops, and me hooking trees and missing other bites. All I caught that day was a drum (which put up one hell of a fight) and a small bluegill (maybe 2” long). But I had one of the best days I’ve ever had, and I was hooked ever since. I found that it wasn’t just catching the fish, but the challenge of catching them. There have been a few times this year I was even able to catch more than he did, but that is rare. I live about and hour from the lake and he’s a couple miles from the boat ramp, needless to say that he gets to fish a little more.

[jfraley]

This is my first year fishing for crappie and I am hooked. I have fished for bass, catfish at the dam, on jugs, trot lines, and I fish for panfish/bass with a fly rod in the spring. I have set on many bream bed and had a blast. My friend got me started on crappie and it has really helped me to better understand fishing in general. By that I mean where to look for fish before, during, and after spon. I know that not all fish follow the pattern of crappie, but it really help me. Finding an locating the crappie is a real challenge to me and when you find them, you can get ready to catch a few.

By the way, you guys on this website have been a tremendous help and I still have a lot to learn.

My 2 Cents

[crap-king]

I grew up listening to the tales of my Dad and his best buddies going to Santee to catch huge crappie and hooking big rock bass on cane poles while trying to catch crappie and how they would pull the jon boats around they were fishing out of - and then Dad started taking me fishing - we would catch crappie and bream mostly - and there was no better tasting fish out of the frying pan than crappie - he also took our family to the beach saltwater fishing 4 or 5 times a year - and I still do alot of saltwater fishing - but the chase of ole king crappo still intrigues me to no end - always wanting to catch bigger fish on lighter tackle - I want to go right now

[Roberta]

>> most difficult fish to figure out.even though they are considered a pan fish they manage to packa powerful fight <<

I'll agree that crappie can be hard to figure out, but the other multi-species fisherman I talk to agree that reeling in a crappie is like dragging a wet paper bag through the water. Maybe it's because we rarely find large crappie here or that they are white crappie, but I get a better fight out of a 6" bluegill than a 10" white crappie.
The main reason I crappie fish is because my other half likes to and he drives the boat. My dad and I fished for crappie and other fish when I was a kid, but he preferred other species, too.
Blasphemy!! I know. - Roberta