Do crappie like poppers?

[thill]

was eating a sandwich one day in the timber at a different lake and had a blue cat that was likely in the close to the 100 lb range come take one right beside the boat , not just crappie will take them off the surface

I was catching some little warmouth and I was letting one run around while I did something, and a big catfish sensed the struggling. It came out of the depths like a submarine and KABOOM! He missed the warmouth, but it made all of us jump. The catfish chased him around and then something spooked him and he shot off toward deeper water. Impressive sight!

He was big, but nowhere near 100, maybe 30 lbs. Still, it was quite memorable.

[up2specks]

No where near as often as the Rockfish/Bluefish @Calvert Cliffs/RIPS/Cedar Point/St. Jerome's Creek Tony!! Even Supoerfish Pete would Whack 'em. How's the Striper action on Anna? My experience with poppers/Crappie = NONE...until the b/g's busted the popper head...then, the crappies started inhaling the slow-sink "wet-fly"! They were there the whole time!!

[bigjon]

I had a pond near my house when I was a kid and, in the summer, when there was a Mayfly hatch I would slay the Crappie on small poppers called Creepy Nitwits. They were cylinder shaped with rubber band legs. We fished a large lake at night in the summer for Sand Bass with lanterns hung over the side of the boat. The Mayflies would come to the light and the Crappie would boil the water all around the boat slurping the Mayflies. We would tie on a small popper and dab it in the water and cach Crappie.

[thill]

No where near as often as the Rockfish/Bluefish @Calvert Cliffs/RIPS/Cedar Point/St. Jerome's Creek Tony!! Even Supoerfish Pete would Whack 'em. How's the Striper action on Anna? My experience with poppers/Crappie = NONE...until the b/g's busted the popper head...then, the crappies started inhaling the slow-sink "wet-fly"! They were there the whole time!!

Okay... Who is this? You certainly know me.

Where in central FL are you? I grew up in Cape Canaveral. Fished and shrimped in the Banana River, fished Port Canaveral back when it was amazing, surfed the pier all through my teenage years.

Striper action in Lake Anna is very different than in salt water. The fish are very, very spooky, but when it gets cold they school up and a Bass Assassin will catch them, but they like metal in the lake, like Silver Buddies and other blade baits. More than anything, they like live bait. Still, I like keeping my jigging skills sharp instead of livelining.

I fished the Rips once last year and it was a desert. After everyone left, about 2 in the afternoon, I caught ONE striper, and it was 49". Big fish, but it was terrible fishing overall, not like the years before. Did not even make it there this year. Here is a pic of the big girl before release:


As you probably know, Superfish is gone, Daryl and Jason Bush are gone, Capt. Seigel is retired, and Walleye Pete is a guide. I hear from Francis and a few others from time to time.

Me, I don't fish much anymore, but like playing around in the lake, since it's close. I was out the other day, testing a project boat I picked up in the spring:

18' Starcraft on Lake Anna - YouTube



I love this boat for fly fishing. Flat decks and nothing to get wrapped up on. Caught a bunch of bluegills, greenies and warmouth, but not a single crappie. I mainly caught on a foam head that I tied up. Didn't try many others, as it was catching so well.

[SuperDave336]

Goodness what a big striper. Wonderful catch and awesome to release her. Thanks for sharing.

[up2specks]

Just knew your curiosity would overload! West-Central Florida(20 years), relocated from So, MD.(Pax River.) Captained 1st place in Brandon's 1st WWA Rockfish tourney @Rock Hall. Live-lining eels @Calvert Cliffs. "DJ Hooker" Brought 21'/175 Yammie Proline to FL for Offshore Grouper(used TWICE) Love inshore(<5 mi.) West coast fishin'. Boat sits as Driveway ornament! Yeppir Chesapeake/Potomac is NUTHIN' like it used to be...Trophy Sea Trout(OMG)!!

[NCkenner]

When the mayflies hatch and come to the street light at the dock, they are consistently picking mayflies off of the surface as they land. At that time, I'm very confident they would inhale one of your ties!

Chris

[thill]

Goodness what a big striper. Wonderful catch and awesome to release her. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, SuperDave. Yes, it was a beautiful fish. I hadn't fished that area in a long time, so it was just nice to get out. But some years ago, we would have caught a dozen in that class on a good day, and the "little" ones would be 30-32" or so. How spoiled we were!

Currently, I'd be almost as happy catching a 2 lb crappie. They have been eluding me this year!

[SuperDave336]

Wow!! That’s impressive. Sad it’s changed. Hopefully it gets a little easier to find some good quality crappie with cooler weather.

[thill]

Just knew your curiosity would overload! West-Central Florida(20 years), relocated from So, MD.(Pax River.) Captained 1st place in Brandon's 1st WWA Rockfish tourney @Rock Hall. Live-lining eels @Calvert Cliffs. "DJ Hooker" Brought 21'/175 Yammie Proline to FL for Offshore Grouper(used TWICE) Love inshore(<5 mi.) West coast fishin'. Boat sits as Driveway ornament! Yeppir Chesapeake/Potomac is NUTHIN' like it used to be...Trophy Sea Trout(OMG)!!

That's a nice boat. Prolines have a good ride.
I missed that tourney. Who else fished it? Gerald? Mike Benjamin? "Wild Bill" Schotta? Some of the B'more crew? That was over 20 years ago, right? Was it still Worldwide Angler, or had it changed to Tidalfish?

Lots of cobwebs in the old memory banks. I can see the faces, but not so many of the names. Still, those were some good times!

When the mayflies hatch and come to the street light at the dock, they are consistently picking mayflies off of the surface as they land. At that time, I'm very confident they would inhale one of your ties!

Chris

I'll have to remember that, thanks.

I just need to fish a lot more to figure it out. I've had a pretty dry year, crappie-wise.