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John's Journal... Entry 104, Day 5

DOG DAY CRAPPIE

Gant's 10 Secrets for Catching Year-Long Crappie

EDITOR'S NOTE: Roger Gant of Corinth, Mississippi, has fished Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River for more than 40 years. Fishermen haven't historically recognized Pickwick Lake, located on the Alabama/Tennessee/Mississippi border, as a crappie lake. However, Gant guides on Pickwick Lake more than 200 days a year and consistently catches good limits of slab crappie. Most crappie fishermen don't successfully catch crappie during the Dog Days of summer. But, Gant catches more crappie in the summer than any other time of the year. This week we'll look at Gant's secrets to catching Dog-Day crappie.

Question: Roger, give me your 10 secrets for catching crappie at any time of the year.
Gant:

1) Have the proper equipment for the time of the year you plan to fish. Many crappie fishermen don't take the time they need to make sure they have the very best equipment they can purchase for the time of year they plan to fish. If you use too-large a line, your jig will float too high in the water for crappie to take it. If your line doesn't have the strength you need, you'll break the line when you set the hook. I've found that I can set the hook hard on 8-pound-test Magnathin line, yet the small line will cut through the water so that my jigs run at the proper depths. You need an extremely-soft rod with enough backbone to hold itself upright. When sight-fishing for crappie, I look for the bite on the tip of the rod. So, I must have a sensitive rod to show me even the lightest crappie bite. I use a B'n'M 6 1/2-foot crappie jig pole.

I fish with Quantum's E 400s casting reels that have bearings in them and reel smoothly. I use casting reels on spinning rods because most casting rods have a trigger or a hump on the butt of the rod. But, a spinning rod has a straight handle. When the rod's on the deck of the boat, the reel faces down. I place my rod and reel in this position when I use my style of trolling. I also use casting reels so that I can count the line down to the proper water depth to catch the fish. I put a white piece of tape on the rod 1 foot from where the line comes out of the reel. My fishermen can pull the line off the reel out to where the line crosses the white tape. Each time an angler pulls the line to the white tape, he or she knows his jig will go down one more foot in the water. By having the jigs troll at exactly the water depth where the crappie hold or slightly above the crappie, then we catch more crappie. I believe you can pull line off a bait-casting reel easier and more accurately than you can a spinning reel.

2) Fish in the exact depths where the crappie hold to catch more crappie. By constantly watching your depth finder and searching for fish and structure, the depth finder will tell you at what depth you need to troll your jigs. Once I determine the depth of the structure I see on the depth finder, I know how deep to tell my fishermen to let their jigs down so they pass just above the structure. If I see crappie holding above the structure on my depth finder, I can tell my fishermen how much line to pull off so that the jigs will pass at the depth where the crappie are holding or slightly above them. If I see crappie 15-feet deep, I can tell my fishermen to let their jigs touch the water then pull off 14 feet of line. I know that when I slow troll, those jigs will pass about a foot above the crappie. If the fish don't take the bait, I may tell my fishermen to pull off a 1/2-foot of line. Because of the tape, the fishermen know how far to pull the line and can get the jigs down closer to the crappie.

3) Know where the crappie hold in the lakes you plan to fish at the time of year you plan to fish for them. Crappie will hold in different places at various times of the year under different weather and water conditions. By using your depth finder and locating a number of different spots in the lake where crappie hold during every season of the year, you can pattern crappie and always know their location. For instance, to catch crappie in the summer, you must pinpoint areas with heavy structure where you can fish regardless of the wind. Also, locate crappie to fish for during the three distinct times of the day. For instance, if you fish in the summer, you need to locate areas with heavy cover in 12 to 14 feet of water where you can fish in the early morning. Next, look for places in 14 to 16 feet of water that you can fish in the mid-morning. Then, find places with heavy structure in 18 to 22 feet of water that you can fish in the middle of the day. So, you not only have to know where the crappie hold at certain times of the year, you must locate three different places to catch those crappie throughout the day. During the summer and spring, you'll find crappie in different locations throughout the day. In the winter months, you may find crappie in deep-water structure all day long.

4) Recognize the fact that crappie that hold in different water depths bite at different times of the day. Therefore, if you plan to fish all day, you need to change the water depth that you fish as the crappie in the different depths begin to feed more actively. I don't believe that fish move. For instance, if you catch crappie for the first two hours after daylight, and those crappie stop biting, the crappie haven't moved to deeper water. I think those crappie have quit feeding in that spot, just like after working outside all day, you come in and eat large amounts of food. But, you will slow down your eating as you begin to get full. Then you won't eat again for awhile, regardless of how much food someone brings to the table. I think crappie act the same way. To continue to catch fish after they stop biting, go to another spot that has similar structure at a deeper water depth. After 1:00 or 2:00 p.m. when you've caught the deepest water fish, then fish for crappie in shallow water again.

5) Remember, speed determines crappie-fishing success. If crappie bite aggressively, troll the jigs at a faster speed. If the crappie act finicky or bite aggressively, slow down the speed at which you troll. The speed at which you troll often determines the number of crappie you'll catch in a day of fishing. I believe when crappie don't want to bite, I have to aggravate them into biting.

6) Don't fish with two jigs of the same color on one line. I always want to have two colors of jigs that look alike but not exactly the same. A crappie really doesn't care about the color of the jig. The fish makes a biting decision on the color he can see. A crappie can't distinguish colors. He can't tell the difference between green, pink or orange. But, under certain water and weather conditions, a crappie can see one of those colors better than it can see the other colors. The crappie usually will bite the color they can see the best. On the lakes that I fish, the water basically remains clear. The crappie can see the chartreuse and lime-colored jigs best in Pickwick Lake. If you move west of Pickwick Lake into Mississippi, where the water becomes more stained, the crappie seem to prefer orange and pink colors. The soil in those lakes allows the fish to see those colors better than the fish can the chartreuse and the lime. In the spring of the year, when the lake I fish becomes stained, I'll use gold, yellow and pink jigs to produce better in those stained-water conditions.

7) Learn to read a depth finder, and understand what you see on the bottom to have crappie-fishing success. The depth finder confirms the location of crappie, which means I can fish with much more confidence. The depth finder also tells me how the crappie relate to the structure. If the crappie are holding above the structure, I know how deep to let my jigs down so that the fish will take them. If the crappie are holding in the structure, I know that I'll have to troll slower and let the jigs pass just barely above the structure.

8) Use Bait Mate to cover human scent. I don't know whether the crappie can smell human odor as effectively as the white-tailed deer or not. But, I feel I catch more fish when the crappie don't smell me. I know that Bait Mate has oil of anise in it. I know that anise oil can and does cause fish to bite. So, I use Bait Mate, and I believe it helps me catch more crappie.

9) Put your rod tip in the water to help keep the crappie's head under the water so the fish won't get off the hook, when you fish for wintertime crappie and bring the crappie to the net. Anytime you set the hook on the crappie, you will tear its mouth some. With the water temperatures increasing in the summer, the crappie become much more active and are much more likely to shake their heads and throw the jigs. If they get their heads out of the water, they can shake their heads and throw the hooks easier. By putting your rod tip under the water when the fish come to the surface, you'll keep the crappie's head in the water, and he'll be less likely to shake the jig out of its mouth.

10) Use a rubber dip net. Jigs don't hang up in a rubber dip net like they do in the basket of a dip net made from plastic or braided line. If you don't want to waste a third of your day getting your jigs out of a dip net, then purchase and use a dip net with a rubber basket.

To learn more about crappie fishing with Roger Gant, call him at (731) 689-5666 or (662) 287-2017. To learn more about Pickwick Lake, where to stay, where to eat and nearby attractions, contact Tennessee's Hardin County Convention and Visitors Bureau in Savannah, Tennessee, by calling (800) 552-3866. For more information on B'n'M crappie poles, call (662) 494-5092 or go the website, www.bnmpoles.com



 

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about P-Arrow Plantation...

Day 1 -Hot-Weather Crappie-Catching Tactics
Day 2 -Slow-Trolling for Crappie
Day 3 -Catching Crappie Throughout the Year
Day 4 -How, Why, and When to Change Water Depths Throughout the Day
Day 5 -Gant's 10 Secrets for Catching Year-Long Crappie

John's Journal