The skinny on Washington Crappie fishing

[Debestuss]

Hey Yall,
I'm a transplant to Washington, namely Ft. Lewis. I've done Crappie fishing in the South but I used minnows and I understand you can't use minnows up here. I've never done alot of jig/slip bobber fishing, I like spinners and rooster tails. Now that's how I did it down south. How do you guys do it up here?

[FroggerZack]

No Minners? Get a rope!

[whitebassbum]

I have lived hear for 8 years and have only spoke with one person that fishes for Crappie. I think he lives near Lake Stevens. I hear they are small. I live in Whatcom County and the nearest Crappie lake is 75 miles away. good luck Jerry

[Arkie John]

Welcome to the forum~~~

Hope someone can chime in and get you goin' up there.

aj

[Debestuss]

LOL. Wow. I've read that Crappie don't get fished much up here but didn't put alot into it until now. That just gives me hope that I'll be raking 'em in. Well, I'm gonna start with a beetle spin close to the edges and shoot for whatever is biting. Then I'll ease out to whatever structure I can find or ledges with a jig/ slip bobber. I'll use a rooster tail out in the open water and let it swim and drop. If anybody has any good advice, chime in!

[Corker]

If you can't buy or seine real ones, try some Gulp minnows. I've caught a few crappies with them & others claim they work great in certain lakes.

[whitebassbum]

Try washingtonlakes.com. The Columbia River has Crappie. WDFW may be willing to share some info. Get on their website and find the local office or just call Olympia. Also read and re-read the Regulations, the rules can change from day to day in SALT WATER, not too sure about Fresh Water good luck Jerry

[SlabKing]

I like to use jigs (1/80, 1/16, 1/32) under a float, tightlining with jigs over structure, trolling crankbaits, or tossing small spinnerbaits. Depends were you're fishing but sometimes you will have to tip your jig with bait to get hits (Berkley Maggots work good). On lakes with a large population of crappies you don't need to use any bait at all. they will hit 2-3" crankbaits, spinners, slider grubs, whatever you want to use. The key is find a lake with a fishable population. You'll have the place to your self for the most part. The spawn is kicking into high gear right now. Any lake that has crappies should have a hot bite going. I'm right up the road from ya Debestuss. Got an open seat for some crappie fishing next weekend if you're up for it.


We do have some decent slabs up here:






Nice bass as well:






The Sunfish are so-so. We get 1 to 2 pounders every now and then (mostly in Eastern Wa). Most of the Sunfish will be on the smaller side though:

[Jubs]

Nice looking fish, SlabKing! I am new to the site and I live in the Ellensberg area. I am trying to find a good lake to fish as well. I think I am going to have to hit up Moses Lake and see if I can get access to a good hole.

I caught my first crappie the other day in a local lake that I had and apparently none of the regulars knew held crappie. I was messing around with the sunfish that were on the shoreline in schools in the hundreds. I started tying my own jigs and figured I would give them a shot and I did really well with the jigs caught at least 100 sunfish a crappie and even a trout on my jigs.

I think I am going to plan a trip to Silver Lake this summer for some fishing I am originally from that area but have never fished the lake. Anyways, good to see there are a few of us from Washington not just going after Salmon and Steelhead even though they are fun as well but anymore it's more of a combat sport and I don't have the temperament for rude people that have no fishing etiquette.

[Fatman]

Not from there but a really good fishing writer by the name of
Stan Fagerstrom is. He wrote a book called catch more crappie and it's still a good one, try and find a copy and it will give you some tips on where you could go.

Fatman