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.
What Color Lures Are Best For Crappie Fishing?
The right color for lures is something people disagree about. Some think it’s completely irrelevant while others will tell you that it can make the difference between a successful day’s fishing and one which sees you bringing in little to no fish.
Choose the color of your lure depending on the weather and how clear the water is. The light the fish have available to them determines how the color of a lure will perform on a given day. On an overcast day, there is little light below the surface while a sunny day and clear water is quite the opposite.
When fishing clear waters, you’ll want to match your lure to the colors of the natural prey of the fish you’re trying to catch. Lures which mimic the light, translucent colors of baitfish in silvery white hues generally work well for crappie fishing; if you’re going after bottom feeders, then shades of green and brown are the way to go.
In murkier waters, then the important thing is that your lure be visible to fish. You can use lures which vibrate so that fish can find it that way, but what you really want is brightly colored lures which will be easy to see in low light conditions. The darker the water, the brighter the color is a good rule; try orange, white and yellow. In extremely low visibility (2-4’), you’ll want to go with bright fluorescent colors like hot pink, hi-vis blue, lime green or chartreuse. With brown or dark green water, try combinations like black with chartreuse, pink with yellow or even something glittery.
Muddy water calls for live bait. Under these conditions, crappie use odor, sound and vibration to find food more so than visual cues. With live bait, they can follow the scent of the bait. If you’re using jigs in muddy water try attractants like Kodiak paste or Berkley Crappie Nibbles. Colors to try include dark blue, dark red, brown, black or yellow/white combos.
Check the weather before you head out and decide which colors of lure to bring with you. You’ll generally do the best on sunny days with chartreuse, silver or sparkly lures. These lures will catch the sunlight and draw crappie. Cloudy days are more of a challenge, but lures which combine light colors with darker ones are a safe bet. This contrast seems to work well to get the attention of crappie and get them on the hook.
Categories: Crappie Fishing Lures Tags: Crappie Fishing Lures, Crappie Fishing Techniques, Crappie Fishing Tips
What Size Hook Should I use to Catch Crappie?
This is a question that is commonly asked by novice anglers planning their first crappie fishing excursion. Unfortunately, there is no single right answer to this question, which is why it is almost invariably answered with another question: What are you using for bait?
Minnows call for a #2 light wire Aberdeen hook, since you don’t want to kill the minnow before it can attract crappie. This smaller hook also allows for more movement, ideal for slow trolling for crappie. I almost never use a #4 or #6 with minnows, unless I’m just dunking the bait in brush piles to see if there’s any response while trying to avoid getting snagged.
If you’re using minnows with a jig, I still say a #2 hook is the answer. If you want to use a jig with spikes or waxworm though, then go with a #4 or #6 hook instead. With Roadrunner jigs, a 1/8 oz jig with minnows, 1/16 for tubes, grubs and other smaller baits.
I should also mention that hook gap is actually more important than hook size. A live bait hook with a bigger gap lets you go with a smaller size like#6. A small hook is easier for your bait and reduces the odds of losing a crappie by tearing off their lip! Crappies have very soft, easily injured mouths. If you’re doing catch and release, then a smaller hook is better since it causes less damage and gives the fish better odds of surviving the experience.
00 sizes are good for Roostertail, Mepps and other French type spinners. You can go as high as 0 or even 1 if you have especially large crappie in your local waters. 1/8 oz Roostertail or Panther Martins are fine, but anywhere up to ¼ oz works pretty well.
With a Daredevil, go for size 0. If you use crankbaits, you want ultralight models (Rapala or Heddon are good ones); but something like a 1/8 oz Lazy Ike is murder on crappie.
Finally, for all the fly fishers out there, I recommend Clouser Minnow flies and Crappie Candy sized 8-12 depending on your local stock. Tied on a straight-eye streamer hook, these are about as good as crappie fishing gets.