Read the fishing reports in your area and see what results are productive for others. Talk to local guides/marina owners to see what is working for others also. Offer lunch or coffee for their input. Good luck.
When I was 6, I became a cub scout, and got a subscription to Boy's Life magazine, filled with articles about fishing. I was fascinated, and read every Field and Stream and Outdoor Life magazine I could find. Learning about this was amazing! Armed with all this information, I made a deal with my parents, made the honor roll, and got my first rod, a Zebco 33 combo, a daredevil spoon, a plastic cricket and a pack of 3" pre-rigged Creme worms. On my first trip, I used the Creme worms to catch 4 crappie in short order. My research had paid off! My parents praised me and grilled the fish for dinner, and I was hooked.
In the 44 years since then, I have never stopped learning about fishing. From catching trout on the fly to running offshore for wahoo and tuna, I have enjoyed every bit of it, especially the process of learning something new, and then using it to catch the target species.
But I'm getting tired of the time and expense of big boats, big fish and traveling for hours to catch them. So about 3 years ago, I decided that I wanted to learn how to target crappie right here in Lake Anna, 5 minutes from my front door.
I cobbled together a jon boat and started by dunking worms and minnows. I mostly caught bluegill, catfish and an bass, but I would occasionally catch a crappie. I was told to fish various bridge pilings, and I started catching more. Then, I started reading this forum, and heard about jigging. This was how I fished for most inshore fish, so it came naturally. Same game, smaller tackle. And that really changed things. I caught crappie almost every trip jigging the bridge pilings.
But that is where things started going south. I tried trolling, and I caught plenty... bass, white perch and bluegill, but no crappie to speak of. I tried spider rigging, and caught plenty of everything but crappie. Mini crankbaits? Bass, and even catfish, but not a single crappie.
I'm stuck. The only way I seem to be able to catch crappie is by dropping a jig around bridge pilings in 30' of water.
How can I break this cycle? Any thoughts?
Read the fishing reports in your area and see what results are productive for others. Talk to local guides/marina owners to see what is working for others also. Offer lunch or coffee for their input. Good luck.
I lived in TN for ten years and from spawn time on through the warmer months I trolled crank baits. GPS helped keep track of where I traveled and caught fish. I had fifty plus fish days, and days when I got twelve. It also let me sleep later as they didn’t start moving til after sun up. 300 bandits got me going and it’s a color game with nnatural colors doing b tier on cloudy days and brighter colors on sunny days. The Mississippi board has days of info on this. Lots of LARGE white crappie came to my boat doing this. Brush piles in shallower depths this time of year too. Pay attention to the depth of where you find fish and that may also help. Keep us posted.
Creativity is just intelligence fooling aroundkycreek LIKED above postshipahoy41 thanked you for this post
electronics are a crappie persons best friend , even a really cheap 2d unit will put you on fish . you don't even need to change the factory settings on a hummingbird . scan around any areas you think might have cover on the bottom , look shallow to deep , these here fisheez can be a challenge , standing timber maybe , cypress root balls ,rock piles ,the list goes on .....and look for fry in the water ....fry present in numbers so are crappie .
hope that helps ya .
I personally don’t enjoy trolling, even though I am aware that I am “leaving fish on the table.” Fish your bridges, fish deep brush piles and lay downs...then record a waypoint. Try deeper water docks. Shooting a jig under a dock on a sunny day and watching the line jump, well that’s just fun! Set another waypoint. Spend a percentage of your time searching with your electronics, and set more waypoints of productive looking areas. Buy a lake map, look for potential “hotspots”, then check em out in person. If they are productive, then another waypoint. You’ve now built yourself a “milk run” to go spot to spot to fish. As you move from spot to spot that you use your trolling motor, cast your lures and troll to the next spot. We pick up bonus fish this way....our version of trolling! Good luck!
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.Rick W thanked you for this post
Can totally relate ET. Tired of hassle with big boat now days and have started kayaking nearest home in our Delta rivers. No fish finder on yak, so just plunking bait tipped jigs here and there. Lots of pan fish & few crappie,but still really fun. Hope to upgrade to yak with fish finder in future, but till then hoping to keep learning how too's on this site. I love this site and community. Just wish more Ca members post their advice and success. Good luck from another old dog trying to learn new tricks these days
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Jamesdean LIKED above post
Mr Skeetbum nailed it. If you want to learn about trolling crankbaits for crappie go the Mississippi board and read the trolling crankbait 101 sticky thread. It will take you a while, but there is a lot of good hard earned information contributed by the members. This will work for just about any lake in the country with crappie in it. That is my main crappie method nowadays and we really enjoy it. Here is what you need to get started:
1. Rod holders - get some good ones, I prefer driftmasters but lots of other good ones out there. They come up for sale used on here from time to time.
2. Rods and reels - use what you have for now, spinning or light bass setups. Upgrade to line counter reels and trolling rod setups if it lights your fire. 10 lb hi-vis mono is standard, but we use 25 lb hi-vis braid now and virtually lose no crankbaits. If trolling really lights your fire, get a set of planer boards and really cover some water.
3. Crankbaits - Bandit 300 in bright colors. Lots of other bailts will work, but nobody has the amount of fish catching colors as Bandit does. Start off with a dozen bright colors. Pink sparkle is a must have.
4. Decent depth finder with GPS and a map card. This will help you more than everything as following the right depth contours and marking waypoints is crucial to success. Bigger the screen, the better. If you have side imaging, even better.
5. 24V or 36V trolling motor with auto pilot and cruise control - this will be the easiest way to do it. Some folks use the gas motor or even a foot control motor. I did it for a couple years with a 24V foot control motor, but that pretty much takes a dedicated person to run the motor.
6. Bimini top for the hot summer days - the hotter it is, the better they seem to bite. Miserable without the top.
7. Cooler with ice to put all those slabs in!
trypman1 LIKED above post
Friends,
Thank you for the encouragement and good advice! For some reason, people here don't share info about crappie fishing. I think because it's pretty limited.
Went out early with the brand new Garmin 94SV and covered lots of water. Found some brush piles, marked them on the GPS, and tried to fish them, but only caught 2 small ones. Still - It's a start!
Tried pulling the edges of grass beds, and popped one good one like that. A first! Also jumped a number of small bass, which is typical, but still fun.
Then it got hot, so went for the shade under the bridge. Was slow, but steady. Ended up with 23 keepers total, with 6 over 12", which is very good for this lake, I think. Was very crowded today, probably because the crazy amounts of rainfall has flooded all the rivers, and Lake Anna is probably the only place around with clear water. One boat came in throwing a huge cast net, with no respect for the people fishing. They came up with 30-40 nice crappie on one throw, which was a bummer, as it shut the bite right down. We left, and went to another bridge, but it didn't have nearly as many fish as the first bridge.
Again, I really appreciate all the advice and the encouragement!
Now, I need to find some Bandit 300's, and more rod holders....
Thill,
Your turning it around already. Keep it up, friend.
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