Thread: Crappie Gear Advice

I am not picking on Bait Casters above. I learned to fish without them for 50 years and there is not much I cannot do with a spinning reel and the right rod.

As far as rod/reels go, look at BnM products. Yep, I'm not a fan of bait cast reels, or super expensive gear. I just don't want to feel bad if I break something, which I know happens. This is supposed to be fun, not expensive. Read the forum, there are many different ways to fish for crappie. Figure out which meets your needs. I longline down here in Florida, and pretty much everywhere I go. Most down here Spider Rig. There is a ton of good information here. This article may be a good start for you: crappie-fishing-tips-and-techniques

Very interesting read. I'm sort of in the same boat no puns intended. I've been fishing saltwater for a long time most of it around the Saint Augustine area in shore just seems to be a zoo and there are just too many people fishing the intercoastal. 20 years ago I could come back with cooler full of trout and some red fish and maybe flounder. Today I'm lucky if I pick it up 2 or 3 skinny trout that release. I've just about given up on this and quit fishing. I have recently rediscovered my freshwater roots. I grew up bass and bream fishing.... but for some reason I am pulled in the direction of crappie. I'm just starting to dig in and research Rodman Dam , St Johns River and other places. I'm also looking for a new boat. I have a 12ft Jon Boat and we'll keep that but we'll probably do something on the 16 to 17 foot range . Tomorrow I'm going to Avid Angler to see if I can pick up some information and continue my research

I used to drive 1 hour 45 minutes to get to St Augustine to surf fish. Did that for about 20 years or so. There are all sorts of access to the beaches. I made a cart to carry cooler,, rods, spikes, gear, chair and umbrella. Caught pompano, whiting, sheepshead, bluefish, redfish, flounder, sharks of all sorts and a 100 pound tarpon. I was completely satisfied until one day I had loaded the truck and got to thinking…… thinking about that drive and I quit.

Long drives to get to the fish mean long hard drives back home. Many times I had driven to the beach only to discover it unfishable.

My advice is look on line for lakes. Look at the FWC site for public access lakes. Look for boat ramps and bridges. There are going to be a lot of places near you that will fit the bill. Consider surf fishing as you are in a great location. If I lived there I would have never bought a boat and would still be tromping up and down the sands.

Now days fishing is much more enjoyable because I can access the lakes nearby within 20 minutes or so. Which means I am home in twenty minutes. Good luck sorting through gear selection. I almost never make recommendations for rods and reels because there is no way to know how you fish. Catfishing from that dam sounds like fun.

Hi Vagente!

Avid Angler? I do a lot of shopping there, in fact that is where I bought my Vanfords las year. Good bunch of people there, but do not take any locals advice on where to fish! It is a running joke, every time a local gave me advice of where to salt water fish was a complete bust. I always say, go the opposite of what the locals say. When I say local, I mean the local salt water guys, they share nothing because the ocean is too small to share.

There is a ton of videos and information online about the Rodman Dam and the Rodman Reservoir, and the Ocklawaha river. Although I have not yet caught any, I have watched a few anglers at the dam tail water side bring in 10+ plus bass (several a day), large stripers, and lots of 5 to 6.5 lb. blue tilapia. It is a popular place for crappie too, I have seen a lot of those pulled in. I ha e spent the few times I have gone up there on the dam wall trying to lure fish largemouth bass with no luck. Tomorrow and or this weekend I plan to try my luck crappie and crappie only fishing. My luck has to turn here sooner or later.

I do not know the rules for giving out personal info, but I am open to meeting up with people at the Rodman Dam for a few reasons. First, it is a great place, peaceful, public and just a nice place to fish. Second, because there is a huge effort to destroy this dam and I would like to see more support from boatless anglers to save it. Lastly, it would be nice to meet other local anglers

Hi Micanopy !

I live in a St Augustine address, but am about 35 to 40 min from the beach. My wife and I used to fish the shore, the Vilano pier, and the Vilano boat ramp area. Our favorite place to saltwater fish, before we got the boat, was the Fort Clinch Pier. It is gone now due to hurricanes, but my wife and I drove about 90 min to get there stopping for bait along the way. Fort Clinch was the last step before the boat because the bridges piers and other places were becoming overwhelmed with the anglers that showed up with 30 poles, kept every fish they caught and had one evening a group of people showed up with stolen construction generators and lighting making the Talbot island bridge more of a disco that a fishing pier. So we moved to a boat fishing in the intercoastal and offshore. To be honest with $300 gas bills for a day trip it was not hard to sell the boat to get a new camper.

I do remember driving to get to my destination only to find a handful of people with more rods in the water than I could count and no room for me and my wife. Real bummer when that happens, not to mention a day ruiner!

We had a dam (locks they were called) where I grew up, and the catfishing was phenomenal!! Haven't tried for the cats there yet, but have seen a few 20"+ pulled out of the dams tailwaters.

Thanks, and good luck!

Originally Posted by N1X

I do not know the rules for giving out personal info, but I am open to meeting up with people at the Rodman Dam for a few reasons. First, it is a great place, peaceful, public and just a nice place to fish. Second, because there is a huge effort to destroy this dam and I would like to see more support from boatless anglers to save it. Lastly, it would be nice to meet other local anglers

For privacy reasons I would not post a phone number or address publicly, but a get together sounds great. Maybe make a separate post about the idea, title it Rodman Slabfest, and see what the interest would be. We do hold slabfests, which is nothing more than a fishing and eating event. We've held them on Monroe, Griffin, Harney... Includes sometimes a raffle, or some giveaways, and usually a big fish prize. They are grassroots organized. Food is pot luck style. Sometimes fish fry, sometimes simply DIY sub sandwiches. All depends on who organizes it, and who all participates.

Oh, forgot to mention, we do have PMs (Private Messages). You can always send someone a private message about anything you don't want to post publicly. Just an FYI

X2 on the BnM product, they are top notch ma have good customer service. Their prices won’t break the bank and like you I cannot pull the trigger on a $ 500 rod and reel combo. Mr. Crappie has some qualit rods and reels as well. I have four of the light Mr Crappie combos that are mad by Lews. I don’t go brand specific on fishing rods and reels. It’s what I can afford or am willing to pay more than anything. I enjoyed your write up, it was a good read. Good luck in your adventures this spring and beyond!