Do you really need a graph to ketch crappie ?

[Spoonminnow]

On waters you haven't been on, a graph is well worth checking for bait fish at least. No fish of any kind on the graph- less likely fish are in the area.
Fish locations change seasonally if not monthly and you got to find them and hopefully a pattern if you're going to catch them. My partner insisted we fish an area where we caught over 80 fish - mostly crappie and large sunfish. But that was two weeks ago. I told him we were going to a different area with different structure and sure enough we caught over 115 fish before 12:30 pm. I had found many baitfish schools in the area a few days before with the Lowrance and did very well.

Lure color a big factor? The lures Ketchn showed work - period! anytime fish are found regardless the color. Lure action and how he worked the lure is key. The same buddy I mentioned refuses to cast anything but a red body/chartreuse tail Crappie Magnet on a 1/24 oz jig. He catches just as many fish as I do playing around with many lure designs, sizes and colors that are different from one another.

General rule of fishing:
Find location / use any number of good lures with the right presentation = fish caught.

[Ketchn]

spoon you are spot on no doubt , i know a fella that ONLY pitches a red tube with a chart tail and he flat wears out the fish year round with that ONE bait !

[Ketchn]

I think that the influencing factor, was that the both of you were wearing the same kind of hat. Or maybe not.

this is also spot on , all 3 of us had the same basic straws on .....but sadly enough the captain of the boat just wasnt swinging fish . not sure why but he couldnt seem to fling them. he managed 2 or 3 but he mostly didnt ketch ?

[Ketchn]

Great job. I think it’s difficult to to be initially successful on a new lake without some type of electronics! That being said, me and my brothers spent the 70’s chasing walleyes around Ontario with only a flasher! We made detailed notes in a note book, ( ie line up blue cottage with silo at entrance to Hay Bay, 80 yards out). Sure was a simpler time!


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i would agree TOTALLY with new lake strategy and a lack of electronics , crappie can be one of the most difficult fish to find and ketch in my opinion and to go in on a new water blind would likely not be a good situation .

[Special K]

All valid observations no doubt. Perhaps one of the most valuable messages in this thread is the most obvious: Most fishermen tend to greatly "over-complicate" the very fundamental act of fish catching and on-the-water relaxation.

[Spoonminnow]

All valid observations no doubt. Perhaps one of the most valuable messages in this thread is the most obvious: Most fishermen tend to greatly "over-complicate" the very fundamental act of fish catching and on-the-water relaxation.

Funny though, when I fish I'm not relaxed: tense feeling for the strike, tense setting the hook and playing the fish until its in the boat. Only then can I relax. LOL But I agree, expensive electronics and equipment are no guarantees of a good day on the water. Simply believing that my lure and sonar (for depth, bottom composition, fish of any kind and weeds) are my fish finders is the first step towards increasing the odds of catching them. Fish location patterns are based on such things and many patterns can be present on a water on any given day.

[up2specks]

Although I have a preference for artificial only/ultra-light finesse fishing, I've never witnessed Panoptix forward scan. After pondering, I have come up with this analogy = Fishing w/o PFS could be similar to watching a movie(at a theater- big screen etc.) with blinders on...no see-ums!

u2s

[Bricks]

One lake I fish the Crappie population is suspended over deep water most of the year so in that instance yes electronics are a must have, unless you want to drift or troll aimlessly for hours with out a bite.

Another I fish they use deep structure 18 feet plus if you cannot find the structure you have problems Will Robinson.

[Ketchn]

in many lakes there are 3 distinct populations of fish .
one lives it life in the shallow end of the lake
two lives its life in deeper parts of the lake on cover
the third prefers the open water roaming
there have been studies done on this
it covered multiple species
i frequently target the fish in the barrel ...population one

[ezgoing]

spoon you are spot on no doubt , i know a fella that ONLY pitches a red tube with a chart tail and he flat wears out the fish year round with that ONE bait !

You mean Jeffery is right and I should switch from my black tube with chartreuse tail to his red tube with chartreuse tail as my go-to jig? That's hard advice to accept.