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John's Journal... Entry 184, Day 3

HOW TO CATCH PRE-SPAWN CRAPPIE

Feeder Creek Crappie

EDITOR'S NOTE: Some of the biggest crappie of the year are caught just prior to the spawn, because not only are the female crappie full of roe but often they are still carrying their winter weights. Since pre-spawn crappie can be in various places at different times of the year in reservoirs throughout the country, any writer who tells you exactly where to look for pre-spawn crappie more than likely is talking about where to search for them on the lakes and rivers he knows. Here are some examples of where and how I have found pre-spawn crappie in the past, and where you may search for them at this time of year.

Another productive place to look for crappie during the pre-spawn is in the mouths of feeder creeks. Many times large schools of crappie will move out of a river channel and hold in mid-water in the mouth of a creek. The fish may be holding there because the water generally is somewhat warmer than the water found on the river channel, and there are numbers of baitfish, too. By holding in the mouths of creeks, as soon as that creek water starts to warm up enough to trigger the spawn, the crappie will be ready to move up the creek channel and onto the spawning areas. There are several methods to use to catch these creek mouth crappie. Most anglers prefer to troll in the mouths of creeks using 1/24- and 1/32-ounce jigs on two and four pound test line. When you are trolling the open water and you do not have to worry about losing crappie in thick cover, then you can fish the lighter line. The smaller the diameter of the line, the faster and deeper it will allow the crappie jig to sink. To troll a 1/32-ounce jig eight to 10 feet under the surface, an angler may have to use two-pound test line and troll slowly.

Another strategy that produces slabs when they are in the mouths of creeks is to buoy the schools off and cast to them with either minnows or jigs. However, since these open water schools of crappie are on the move, the fisherman constantly will have to be relocating the schools and moving the buoys -- if he is using this technique. A better method is to utilize his depthfinder and trolling motor to stay on the top of these schools. Then either vertical jig or fish a live minnow straight down to the school to catch the crappie.

MID-WATER CRAPPIE

Most anglers know that before the crappie hit the bank, they usually try and move to some type of mid-water structure that is between the bank and the creek and river channel. For this reason, trolling crappie jigs between the bank and the edge of the creek channel can be highly productive. The crappie may be holding on little stumps, small brush or sticks that are almost invisible to the depthfinder. But by trolling, an angler can pick up these fish holding in these staging areas. Another advantage of trolling between the creek channel and bank during this time of year is that many times large schools of crappie preparing for the spawn will hold suspended in these regions not relating to any type of cover. But trolling will catch these fish.

SIGHT-FISH CRAPPIE

"I still find crappie the old way," John Hill of Town Creek, Alabama, a nationally known fishing guide on the Tennessee River, reported. "Before and after the spawn, you can locate crappie in shallow water, if you know how to sight-fish for them." Although sight-fishing usually refers to an angler's skill in seeing fish and then catching those fish, when Hill uses the term sight-fish, he is referring to his ability to read what is happening on the surface of the water to determine where the crappie should be. When you see diving and feeding coots or ducks along the bank of a point or in a cove before or after the spawn, you know a school of shad is in the area," Hill explained. Usually crappie will be under or off to the side of the school of baitfish feeding on the same bait the waterfowl are eating." Another tactic Hill utilizes when sight-fishing is to watch for diving gulls. When seagulls spot schools of shad swimming in open water and begin to dive on the baitfish, the shad will move deeper into the water where the crappie are feeding. As the crappie attack the shad and force them to the surface again, the gulls dive on them. The crappie in the water and the gulls above yo-yo a school of shad, as both predators feed on the bait. "Often shad feed along the top of the water with their mouths just out of the water," Hill commented. "When you see crappie hit in the school of shad, you can go to the school and catch crappie." Hill's sight-fishing strategies will help you locate schools of feeding crappie in open water where no one else is fishing in the pre-spawn.

To learn more about crappie fishing, you can contact Jackie Thompson at the Lake Eufaula Guide Service, (334) 687-9595 or e-mail them at info@ledgebuster.com.

TOMORROW: PLANTED CRAPPIE

 

 

Check back each day this week for more about HOW TO CATCH PRE-SPAWN CRAPPIE ...

Day 1 - Discharge Crappie
Day 2 - Stump Crappie
Day 3 - Feeder Creek Crappie
Day 4 - Planted Crappie
Day 5 - Shallow-Water Crappie


John's Journal