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| Crappies like wood cover. The partially submerged piling shown in the foreground of this picture is often loaded with crappies in the spring of the year.
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The Keys to Catchin' Crappie: Part 1
By Stan Fagerstrom
It doesn’t take a book to cover the basics to catching crappie.
I don’t mean to make that sound like reading a book on how to catch these interesting panfish won’t help, because it will. That’s why I wrote my own book on crappie fishing. The book was published in 1977. Its title was “Catch More Crappie”. That book has been out of print now for years but I still get calls about it from time to time.
Why I say crappie catching doesn’t require a book is because there are only three primary keys to successful crappie fishing. I’m talking now strictly about fishing with artificial lures. I’ve never done any minnow fishing for crappies. Besides, minnow fishing is illegal in some states.
The three basics for using artificial lures are as follows: First you've got to find the fish. The second is when you do find where they are you must fish at exactly the right depth. And third, even at the proper depth you won't do much unless you are fishing your lure at the right speed. These three things----location, depth and speed---are the keys to putting more of these great eating panfish into your boat.
Since you've got to find them before you can hope to catch them, let's talk first about where crappie are most likely to be. That will vary somewhat depending on where you are fishing around the country. But regardless of the location, there are some spots crappies always favor.
Most of my own crappie fishing experience has been in the Pacific Northwest. I was still a kid when I discovered just how much fun crappie catching could be. I got myself hooked as solidly as the fish I was after and I’ve never recovered.
Early on I did most of my crappie fishing in the sloughs bordering the lower Columbia River where it divides the states of Washington and Oregon. Some of those sloughs were within range of my bike. Every now and then I came home from one or another of those sloughs with a stringer full of crappie dangling from my bike’s handle bars.
Later I had the wondrous good fortune to build a home right on the shore of Silver Lake in the southwest part of Washington State. Silver Lake has long been one of the best bass and crappie lakes in the Pacific Northwest. Having a boat in the water all the time about 60-feet from my front door provided a wonderful opportunity to look for and catch crappie as well as the other species the lake held.
Springtime and fall offer by far the best shot at crappies. Fall action can be excellent but my favorite time is spring. That period from April through mid-June always see some of the peak action of the year in the Pacific Northwest. Crappies are schooled up then and where you find one, you'll eventually find others.
But where are you most likely to find that first one? I learned wherever I was to look for crappie around wood. This wood may be in the form of downed trees, submerged logs, piling or abandoned docks, the underpinning of bridges, etc., etc. I also found that crappie like rocks. At Silver Lake for example, some of the best springtime fishing always came around the lake's sunken rock piles.
I haven't fished any of the Columbia River sloughs in years but I can tell you how I'd approach such a trip if I was to make one tomorrow. First off I'd look for cover like that I've described. Once I found downed logs, dead trees or any other possible crappie holding spots, I'd fish them ever so carefully.
I wouldn't expect to catch a boat full of fish right off. What I would do as soon as I caught even one crappie is to mark the exact spot so I could be sure of finding it another time. In crappie fishing on new water I often carry a few short yellow ribbons. Whenever I catch one fish, I pinpoint the spot by attaching a ribbon to the cover. That ribbon might not be where you can see it easily, but I'll know where it is. As soon as I get a half dozen spots marked in this fashion, I simply move from one marked spot to another and forget about trying to find fish anyplace else.
Remember, I’m talking about fishing in the spring. I know that crappies aren’t loners in the springtime. They like company. Sooner or later where I’ve found one there will be others---sometimes lots of them.
No doubt about it, you’ve got to find ’em before you can hope to catch ‘em. I’ll have additional thoughts to share in that regard in next month’s column. Watch for it beginning June 1.
To Be Continued
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| Crappies aren't in the tackle busting category of some other freshwater fish, but they are plain fun to catch and super in the frying pan. |
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