Fishing Blind (Almost)

[Gill Fisher]

Let's say you are fishing a new lake where you've never fished before. You know absolutely nothing about the lake. In fact, where you put in is a total guess. You pick a boat ramp and go to it. As you are putting in, you notice another boat coming in and you notice that they have some nice, freshly caught Crappie, so you know there are fish there somewhere.

The reason you're not totally blind beyond being able to see with your eyes is that you have a fish finder with you. You also have a contour map of the part of the lake where you put in. You've talked to a few people, but you don't know how open they are being with you.

OK, you're on the water, you turn on your fish finder and you start looking for a good spot to crappie fish. What are you looking for? I think the likely choices would be structure, depth, bait fish, what you identify as fish on your fish finder screen, and probably a lot of other stuff. What do I know?

Also, how do you know what bait to fish with? Will you use jigs? If so, what kind, what size and what color? Since you don't know what the Crappie are hitting, will you start with minnows?

What else goes into your thinking when it comes to finding Crappie on water that you don't know?

Oh, ok, Weather! It's clear, gentle breezes and the temperature is in the mid to upper 80's. A beautiful day to be on the water.

Thanks

GF

[scrat]

I look for bait ,structure, and the fish also. The best sonar is no good if you don't know how to use it and you must trust what you are seeing on sonar also. Time spent on the water fishing is the best way to learn
Remember this just because you don't catch them today don't mean you can't catch them tomorrow. If you are not comfortable fishing with artificial baits minnows will always work good. Watching videos such as Richard Gene the fishing machine on you tube will help also. Don't forget the slabsauce sold on here made by Slab aka Ed Moes

[Gill Fisher]

Thanks, Scrat. I’m learning more and more about the Garmin Striker 7sv all the time. And I have some slab sauce and use it. You said bait, structure and fish. Do you look for those things in that order? I’ve been using the Traditional sonar most of the time, but I’m going to use Side View and Clear View more when hunting for structure. The Garmin, as far as I can find, has a LOT fewer settings than the Humminbird and I can’t get it adjusted to suit me.

Thanks

GF

[Redge]

I’m always looking for structure with the right size Crappie on it.
Always jigs, as Scrat said time with your fish finder and it will tell you all you need to know.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

[skeetbum]

Electronics on, idle speed, at sunup, I’m looking for bait dimpling the surface. No bait, no fish. They don’t always dimple but in the early hours of the day they will be more visible and easier to find. Baitballs on the sonar are unmistakable. I fish under and around the edges of the schools. If that doesn’t work, I look for shoreline details. Points, ledges, rock changes, docks, riprap, down trees. By now something has shown itself to be interesting and I get busy. This should get you started.

[huntinslabs]

I look for baitfish first and foremost anywhere and anytime. Even headed to favorite proven holding spots, if I see bait in route plans change.

[scrat]

Thanks, Scrat. I’m learning more and more about the Garmin Striker 7sv all the time. And I have some slab sauce and use it. You said bait, structure and fish. Do you look for those things in that order? I’ve been using the Traditional sonar most of the time, but I’m going to use Side View and Clear View more when hunting for structure. The Garmin, as far as I can find, has a LOT fewer settings than the Humminbird and I can’t get it adjusted to suit me.

Thanks

GF

When I am looking I use the side image and the GPS system to find something like structure or fish then Mark the location and use the 2d or down image to get a closer look. Flopping crappie on you tube has some great learning video on how to use sonar.

[CrappiePappy]

If it's right now (ie early Summer season) .... I'll take a look at the map to find channels & adjacent flats, & Push jigs during the middle of the day, starting on the flats (looking for Shad schools) and working my way out to the channel edges. But, first I would have cast those banks with shade over the water, using weedless jigs/plastics around any obvious wood cover ... until that shade was gone ... then move out to the open water flats/channel edges & Push my jig rigs.

In other words ... basically the same thing I'd do on a familiar body of water (under the same conditions). If I can't catch Crappie casting or Pushing jigs, then I won't be going back to that lake ... and, in fact, I probably wouldn't have gone to it to start with if I knew that using those methods wasn't possible or productive.

I've even been known to be a little "sneaky" about asking locals Crappie fishing questions. I have my Crappie fishing garb on, and/or my equipment out in the open .... and I talk to the guys that are obviously Bass anglers. They usually don't care about me taking Crappie from their waters, as long as they understand that I'm not interested in catching/keeping any of their fish, and they'll spill the beans in a heartbeat about where they've seen Crappie anglers fishing on a regular basis.

[Central Minn]

Crank baits,jig spinners,...trolling...1.5-2.5 mph...cover lots of water at different depths fast...reaction bite...when you hook up make several passes over that area and watch the sonar screen,might been structure, could just be suspended fish.

[trypman1]

Many good ways to improve your catch rate above- good luck!