The Things We Buy

[crappie cowboy]

I was at wally world today, and I was listening to a couple of guys looking and talking about fishing lures. One picked up one of those fancy type spoon lures, and said I'd bett crappie would eat that up....
I got to thinking we all do that at one time or another. The lure makers make them to look good to us, more so than to the fish [imo].
I bought all kinds of lures because I think if I was a crappie I'd eat that thing, I'd hate for my wife to know how much money I've spent on fishing stuff.
I remember 50 years ago when people would fill there coolers with crappie using 20 or 30 pound test mono line, with maybe a 4/0 catfish hook, or what ever they had at the time.
Man times have changed, sometimes I belive we are the ones that are the fish...lol
crappie cowboy

[xring]

Lol, we have evolved, I don't think the crappie have, lol I must be older than you, I remember when there was no monofiliment line,,at least in the world I lived in and braided line was the hot item, 30# test was the normal reel line and some how,,crappie missed seeing it...lol

Now I need a jewelers glass to see the mono its so fine and hook eyes so small that 6# won't double and go through it to tie a palomar knot...but lordy,,ain't it been fun!

[NIMROD]

We mostly fished with live minnows back in the day. Fishing pressure can make things tough and then most people only fished around the spawn.
I learned years ago fish with what you have confidence in. The different baits and multitude of colors are to catch the fisherman's eyes. I use one bait over 99% of the time Crappie fishing. Catch more limits than most here on my home lake, location & presentation can't be beat.

[creekslick]

Most baits are designed to catch fishermen, not fish.

[steve48]

Most baits are designed to catch fishermen, not fish.

What Creek said x2

[gabowman]

Yep, night fishing under bridges with lanterns over the side of the boat using whatever rod and reel you had. Nobody thunk about line size and we caught plenty of fish. Around here you didnt have species specific rods and reels....they were all the same in one.

[Roughneck]

I was told some wisdom by a commerical fisherman, "You don't catch the fish....he catches himself"

[wharfrat]

That's why I switched from bassin to crappin. 25-30 yrs ago, I was appalled that bass reels were over $100, and rods were approaching $100. Back then I could spend under $50 to outfit myself with a couple of ultralights outfits and a bag of jigs. The jig choices were white, red/white, and chartruse. But alas, crappie fishing is going the way of everything else. Have you seen how many jig color combos and styles? Same way with jig heads. Jig poles are pushing $70, and they say you need at least 4 different sizes; 8', 10', 12' & 14'. Look at how many different lines there are! Geez! I try to keep it as simple as I can, but I too have spent foolishly the last few years.

[CrappiePro]

Yep I remember the ole days, I also remember all the times I tied on something I thought was met to catch just fisherman and knocked there lights out. Some of The best days on the water is when im struggeling and try something new or a Diff color and I find Silver Glory with it. We live in great fishing times and it's truly un believable all the equipment we have presented to us to catch fish. Yes the Ole Days were great, dont get me wrong, but I will stick with my modern stuff. Other than My family I would rather spend my money on fishing equipment than anything else cos i know its helping the ecomomy and most likely going to other other good family's who enjoy fishing and working to make our fishing world a better place. LOL trust me im doing my part to put 100's of dollars into the economy every month and making sure other fishing family's will have a good Christmas.

[Fish Slapped]

I did a back of the envelope estimate of the cost per pound of crappie meat. I had to make a lot of assumptions. But I came up with $3.33 per pould of fillets.

Boat depreciation $600
Boat maintentance $100
Rod/Reel $100
Lures $100
Line $30
Gas (truck + boat) $390
Annual cost $1,320

Limits 30
Fish 600
Avg length (in) 11
Avg weight (lbs) 0.81
Raw Weight (lbs) 487.5
Fillet % 81%
Fillet weight (lbs) 396

Estimated $/lb $3.33

This information should be considered confidential and should not be shared with anyone not addicted to crappie fishing (especially spouses)! True cost per pound will vary based on how much you spend and how many keepers you bring home.