John's Journal...

Going Deep in Hot Weather for Crappie

Fishing Big Baits for Summertime Crappie

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: Even with technological and informational advances in recent years, crappie anglers have tended to stick with three misconceptions about crappie fishing: persons who fish for crappie are bound to the crappie-holding structure they can see; crappie anglers have to stop fishing wheClick to enlargen the crappie stop biting; and when a crappie fisherman finds a good location, he has to keep it a secret from other fishermen. But by using new information available to anglers, these misconceptions don’t have to apply anymore. Today’s crappie anglers are catching more and bigger crappie than ever before by going deep for crappie, which takes planning, close observation and special lure techniques.

 “Some anglers believe that bigger crappie take bigger jigs,” expert crappie fisherman Gordon Elkins says. “Hal Barber catches plenty of really-big crappie using a 1/4-ounce jig and trolling it with a big, round cork in the mouths of creeks and along submerged rivers. Hal believes that the 3-inch grub on the 1/4-ounce jighead produces bigger crappie than little jigs do. Too, many live-bait fishermen have discovered that bigger minnows catch bigger crappie.” Click to enlarge

Andy Stone, who enjoys fishing for crappie year-round but particularly in the summer, uses big shiner minnows in open water on old creek channels in the middle of a lake to catch crappie. “The larger the minnow, the bigger crappie it takes to swallow it,” Stonereveals. “I prefer a little current or wind on a lake. When I’m fishing for big crappie, I try to anchor upwind or upcurrent along the ledge I want to fish. I set my big, round, red and white cork so that the minnow floats about 1 to 1-1/2-feet off the bottom. I like a big cork because it Click to enlargecatches more wind and will move the bait along the ledge. As the cork carries the bait along the ledge, I continue to feed-out line. When a big crappie hits, I set the hook and reel it into the boat. Using this technique with the shiner minnows, I catch bigger crappie and occasionally a nice-sized bass. Also, I can cover a good portion of the old creek bank while staying anchored. I can catch more crappie in a school before they move off, because I’m pulling the crappie away from the school and not up through the school. Furthermore, I don’t spook the crappie as badly as someone trolling through them or fishing on top of them, because I’m further away from the school. I’ve found that big crappie are extremely spooky. I can catch big crappie all year on creek channels using this method. Deep-water crappie are affected less by weather conditions than shallow-water crappie.”

Tomorrow: Steve McCadams Concentrates Crappie to Have More Fish to Catch


Check back each day this week for more about "Going Deep in Hot Weather for Crappie"

Day 1: Use Depth Finders to Find Crappie
Day 2: Finding Schools of Crappie
Day 3: Fishing Big Baits for Summertime Crappie
Day 4: Steve McCadams Concentrates Crappie to Have More Fish to Catch
Day 5: Making Homes for Crappie

 

Entry 567, Day 3