I typically try to hit a spot or 3 a day , the way to stay on the crappie isn't a big secret , keep a jig in the water in lots of spots and you will find them at one of those spots sooner or later . Knowing your local waters and the seasonal travels is important and knowing when to visit them is the key .
I lost my lil boat a while back and am basically stuck on the bank , with the exception of my buds and invites here and there I have become a mostly off the bank type of crappie angler these days .
But don't fear the bank is what I have to say about that and no worries in those heavily fished areas in a large metroplex type of scenario . Some would say I am the king of the dinks and I have heard those words before and it bothers me none . Those same anglers saying that have advantages that are not in my bag of tricks and are not comparing apples to apples .
So here we go , I went to spot one ....one bite and it was a drum that bent my jig and bit my plastic in half .
Time to try spot two , 2 pitches no bites , third pitch thump and up comes a channel cat
Some would say well not today I suppose and toss in the towel due to the rough fish ketchn that has taken place up to this point , I don't give up easily though and continue at spot two a bit longer .
Spot two just wasn't on either and I finally got a few little pecks and moved the jig away from the spot thinking it was a bluegill , the rod loads up and the fight gets super serious right quickly . Low and behold up comes a super thick really nice black crappie close to the 2 lb. mark .
So I am pretty happy and at least i didn't get skunked is my thought and never got another bite there . Back to work I go lunch break is over and I bask in the glory of landing such a beautiful fish on a public pay dock.
Work ends and on the way home I see the catfisherman isn't under one of the bridges I like to hit sometimes , so I stop for a quick 30 minutes just to make sure the crappie are not there either ....
I take a few floats and take the walk and begin to pitch , nothing happening and then I get a slight peck , set the hook and up comes a crappie . Then a few pitches later a similar few pecks and up comes a slightly larger crappie . I move upstream a bit because I quit getting bit and a few pitches later the float goes down super hard and fast ......up comes a pretty nice crappie this time and things are beginning to not look so rough
Well about 3 or 4 pitches later the float does the same thing and is gone in a flash and fight begins and then up comes a jim dandy white crappie close to 2 lbs again !
So you can see that perseverance pays off and you can prevail if you keep focused on the task at hand, home I went with a smile and few photos and YES all the fish, rough or not went back in the water to hopefully make some other persons day .
stay tuned but don't stay thirsty yawl ....
p.s. one lil bass wanted in as the last fish of the day ....