Tips: Bag a Limit of Big Crappie

As an avid crappie fisherman I sometimes find myself wanting to try new methods and angles towards catching my limit of crappie at various times of the year, and believe me the late Spring is my favorite time of year to crappie fish. As a local fishing guide in the Western area of Truman Lake I sometimes find that other people are in the spots I go to. There are various approaches I take to combat these types of situations, which can be extremely frustrating at times.

One thing I have had to learn is to Be Patient with the spots. My friend and I, have had several experiences where we got to our favorite spot and another boat is parked right on it, this can be extremely frustrating when it comes to tournament fishing when the day has been planned out as well. There was one time in particular last year where we headed straight to a spot first thing in the morning on tournament day and there was a boat parked right on it with another team fishing.

Pay Attention, after sitting in the area for an extended period of time and wondering what to do? I noticed that the guys fishing in the spot were not even fishing in the right area at the spot we wanted to fish. This was a spot where I caught 5 fish over 14" within 20 minutes the day before. I noticed that the other guys were casting towards the bank and reeling back towards the boat. After sitting and watching them not have any luck for about 20 minutes (did not see them reel in a fish) they left the spot. My friend and I, proceeded directly to the spot with our trolling motor as to not disturb the waters. We then tied up to the same tree and begin fishing directly under the boat dropping a bare weedless 1/8 ounce jig-head tipped with over sized minnows (Shiners) that's why my screen name is Shiner I always use over sized minnows (Bigger the bait the Bigger the fish). We both caught fish over 13 inches on our first drop in the spot where the other guys were just fishing. We caught 3 more fish 11-12 inches within 10 minutes.

Being Open-Minded, and using off time to improve your fishing spots can be a big advantage to when it comes to fishing a busy lake. I was talking with an older gentlemen, with a great deal of crappie fishing experience, this winter who taught me to tie rocks cedar trees and sink them, which I did and I also marked them on my GPS and in my head so I know right where they, which has drastically increased the numbers of crappie I am catching as well. These are the spots others don't know about because you make them yourself, unless they are paying attention and see you fishing there.

The main thing is keeping Crappie fishing the main thing and Being Persistent about Crappie fishing and trying new things.... My Grandpa always told me to never tell anyone where your best spots, which I still have a few of these today. Places where I just don't take anyone, ever, and they always seem to be the most productive fishing holes I have...