Crappie Fishing Tips: Locating Crappie Beds
Crappies bed up in submerged brush and trees, you can find them easily with sonar. After finding these areas rich in bait, you can find all the crappie you like.
Many anglers’ fish in the same area all the time after preparing them by building their own crappie beds, you can do it to in order to increase your catch.
If you have not the time or inclination to build your own crappie beds, of you enjoy fishing in different locations, simply look for natural bedding areas.
There are various means of building crappie beds; however, the easiest short-term, temporary use is by submerging brush, scraps of lumber, tree limbs and so on. Fill a toe sack or gunnysack with cottonseed meal or dog food and then bait the area. This type of bait lures in minnows and other small species of fish. The bits that seep through the fabric provide them a free meal. Eventually, crappie will find this baitfish.
In order to maximize your potential catch after locating a crappie bed you need to know a few things. Use number 1 or number 2 brass fishing hooks, because they bend more easily. The hook will bend when caught in brush allowing you to reel it in rather than breaking a line and then re-hooking.
If you can, maneuver the boat directly over a crappie bed. If you are unable to do so, use a bobber and simply cast the line in those areas you think your catch lies.
Finding the depth at which the crappies are suspended is the trickiest issue. You can reel in fish after fish once you locate a sweet spot and sit there all day.
Attach a small lead sinker approximately 1 to 1 ½ feet above the hook and allow it to sink down to the targeted depth, when you are directly over a bed. Occasionally change depths while searching for the area where the crappies are hanging out while you catch your limit. Place a small buoy marker to help track the spot while you drift. If you are not sure of where the crappies are, then cast in all directions. Retrieve slowly and then stop often until you find the area for which you are searching.
Crappies are very social fish; they enjoy hanging out in groups. If you fish in a specific area for more than a few minutes with no bite, move along to another location. However, after getting a bite, waiting for another bite for 10 to 15 minutes is time enough to consider moving along. Crappies love minnows yet will hit various types of lures and the best month to catch them is April.
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