Crappie Fishing

[Tony]

ah, ok... Finesse, gotcha. I can do that. But finesse for me is 2 medium 7foot rods with 10lb P-Line Flouroclear on em. Thats what I use for bass, If I go lower I start getting in trouble, cause I can dish out some wild hooksets. I dont got nuttin smaller unless I use my fly rod. (btw, what flies are good for crappie?)

I'll probably fishing in Okeechobee, out of Harney Pong, cause thats where I seen a bunch of people fishing for em, must be a good spot then, cause I seen quite a few people catching them. Also anywhere else in SW Florida that are really good crappie spots that I dont know about... Okeechobee is the only place where I actually seen people catching them good.

The canal there ranges from around 20-25ish feet in the middle to 15 then 5 on the sides, what depth range should I be looking for to find some crappie? And should I look for more hard bottom with rocks, or do they like vegetation better?

Oh yeah, and do ya know if those blakemore bubble belly roadrunner things work anygood? cause I used to watch a bunch of shows where Jimmy Houston would catch one crappie after another on those little things...

[GRIZZ]

You'll have a hard time casting crappie baits on gear that heavy. I've seen guys fish with 10 lb test for crappies but no one that knew what he was doing. You'll get many more hits on thin line. Crappie inspect what they eat unless they are really slammin.

[Tony]

Oh... then I guess Im gonna have to go out and get some lighter line...

Ah, and what colors should I get for the tubes and the grubs? what tends to work best?

[GRIZZ]

Personally I live and die by the green and yellow berkley micro tubes and for grubs depends on the conditions. Brighter colors for stained water and natural colors for clear like smoke and glitter or clear and glitter. I personally kill em on the 2 inch christmas tree berkley grubs. Southern pro and kalin triple threats are great. look here http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catal...varStartRow=24

I like the tripple ripples too. Color selections for conditions go for the tubes just like the grubs.

If you stick to chartruese, green, white , clear+glitter, pumkin+chartruese, black+white red+white Red+chartreuse you will cover most bases.

[roybuoy]

welcome,you will find what you needhere,ditto what Darryl said hook up withsomeone in your area that crappie fish

[Darryl Morris]

...crappie fishing is bass fishing except lighter, smaller, and harder if you want to be in the 10% of the fishermen who catch 90% of the fish...but if you follow the above instructions you'll have a great start and be way ahead of most. Good luck

Wow, that's very bold. It would be really interesting to know if that was just factual.

Tony, casting for crappie is certainly one way to crappie fish. Fun too. Takes alot of skill and finesse. Not much different from pitching a jig with a long pole and letting it fall into a verticle presentation. One thing to consider when using a cast presentation is you're only in the strike zone a limited amount of time unless the crappie are scattered and at all depths of the retrieve. I guess if you want to catch the "other 10%" of the crappie you can use a verticle presentation with jig or minnow and stay in the strike zone.

[DENNIS BOWERS]

Tony -Welcome from Tn.!!I for one USED to be A diehard Bass Fisherman. Started crappie Fishing Serious 4 years ago,i Fish an average of 225+ days ayear. Maybe 20 of them are Bass Fishin--guess that says it all!!

[GRIZZ]

If what was factual darryl? Do you mean the 10% - 90% thing? If so, in my experience thats just the way it works. Most people go out thrash the water or soak bait and get lucky once in a while and catch something. The 10% fishermen have knowledge and experience and a little something extra that makes them great fisherman and they catch the lions share of fish while the 90% watch and copy. Quality tourny fishermen are 10%'rs, and many amateurs are. I suspect there are several 10% fishermen that post here.

[GRIZZ]

Hey Dennis - Hows the walleye fishing on dale hollow these days?

[Bruce Carp]

Grizz, are with you on your 10% assessment! some find it strange that you usually catch limits or close to limits. But if do fish a lot you had better be catching fish are you will go to boredom. I am usually not bored!