Gave up, reeled up... and caught fish.

[Cajuntec]

I'm a newbie to Crappie fishing. I've mostly been a bass fisherman most of my life, but grew up catching anything that swims - saltwater or fresh. I've hung out mostly in brackish water - VA, FL, LA.

Anyway, I just recently started purposely targeting Crappie. I've caught them before on accident, while fishing for other fish. But since I moved to my current location and found there are several "electric only" lakes around me (and kayaks, etc... just no gas powered boats allowed), and found they are good for Crappie fishing, my interest in them has peaked.

I've struggled though. Followed lots of advice online, got some great suggestions, tried a bunch of different things.

The other day, I had all but given up. It was my 11th Crappie trip out this year (specifically trying to catch Crappie), and I had once again come up empty handed. As I was fishing lures that had added scent on them, plus some Gulp minnows, I didn't want to pull them completely out of the water, so I reeled them up to just below the surface, and started moving along the bank, casting a little Beetle Spin, trying to catch some small Bass....

.... and that's when it happened. I got a bite. 12" Crappie that hit my lure that was inches under the surface. I left both rigged lines out and caught two little yellow Perch like that as well. Then caught a Crappie super shallow on the little Beetle Spin.

I have been fishing too deep. All my fish were inches from the surface. Someone told me Crappie "don't look down", so the lure has to be above them for them to strike. is that accurate?

I don't know why the picture is sideways. It's not like that on my phone or computer.

All the best,
Glenn