Guide To Fishing for Crappie
Tips, tactics and crappie lakes by state.
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Crappie Fishing
How To Fish For Crappie
Crappie, favored by anglers for tasty fish fries, present an easy challenge for anglers of all experience levels. These schooling fish offer can be caught year round. Understanding their habits and movements, is key to finding and catching them. Many lakes are often populated with both black crappie and white crappie.
Best Way To Catch Crappies
Use light tackle, with 4 to 6-pound line. Small hooks (#2 or #4) for live bait work ideally. Small crappie jigs are also productive and come in a wide range of colors, to work in varied water clarity. Experiment with colors until you find the one that works best the day. For drifting or trolling, speeds from 0.8 to 1.2 miles per hour seems to be an ideal in most conditions. For jigging, experiment with very slow, to aggressive action.
Crappie Fishing Options
Black Crappie
Black crappie, also known as specks, are typically found in deeper, clearer and cooler waters. They are known for their distinctive black mottled patterns and their preference for submerged vegetation or woody cover. Trolling, drifting, vertical jigging, or casting with small jigs, minnow imitations, or live bait, all work well around cover. The current world state record for black crappie stands at 6 pounds.
White Crappie
White crappie, also known as silver perch, are known for their silvery coloration and vertical stripes. They are more tolerant of warm and murky water, and can be found in shallower areas with less cover. White crappie are also found near submerged brush, fallen trees, or along rocky shorelines. Anglers targeting white crappie in lakes often use similar techniques as with black crappie, such as jigging or using live bait. The current world state record for white crappie is well over 5 pounds.
Locating Schools Of Crappie In Lakes
This is ideal crappie habitat, especially when the water level is higher, and the majority of brush is submerged. Generally speaking, warm-water lakes with submerged brush create the ideal environment for crappie. When crappie are deep, using a fish finder is the best way to locate them. They tend to be school up near brush (or other cover), and tend to stack vertically on the fish finder screen. Without a fish finder, use the old-fashion method of trial and error in areas with submerged brush. In spring, protected spawning bays are a great place to start.
Spring is the prime season for crappie fishing, as they hold in the shallows to spawn. During this time, they exhibit heightened activity levels, making them easier to catch. Crappies are particularly fond of cover, hanging around submerged brush, lay downs, stumps, timber, or artificial fish habitat. These structures provide shelter and ambush points, making them ideal hunting grounds for crappie anglers.
Top Crappie Fishing Techniques
Still-fishing, casting, trolling, and drifting are all viable methods for enticing crappie to bite. Each approach requires consideration of factors such as water depth, available cover, and current seasonal and weather conditions. Once a crappie is caught, work that area over thoroughly, as crappie hang out in schools.
In the early hours of dawn, crappies often venture closer to the surface in search of prey. As the sun rises, they gradually migrate to deeper water. Depth is dependent on water temperature, clarity, wind and other variables. Midday finds them seeking refuge in deeper waters, often retreating to depths of 25 feet or beyond. However, as dusk approaches, crappies may once again work their way to shallower water. They are, drawn by the fading light and the option of nocturnal feeding opportunities.
Night Fishing For Crappie
Fishing for crappie at night presents a particularly enticing option for crappie enthusiasts. The cover of darkness often enhancing feeding instincts of crappie. Warm-water lakes, in particular, offer fertile grounds for nighttime fishing year round. Crappie fishing lights, strategically positioned to attract insects and smaller baitfish, can serve as attractors for crappie prowling in the darkness. Live minnows or crappie jigs are the top producers at night. At night, anchor over deeper water nearby brushy shorelines and allow the crappie lights to draw the fish to you.
Ice Fishing For Crappie
When the cold winter weather sets in and the lakes freeze over, it's time to dig out the ice fishing gear. Crappie fishing through the ice can make a fun day for anglers of all ages. Visit the Ice Fishing page for details.
Top Baits For Crappie
When it comes to bait selection, crappies exhibit a voracious appetite for a variety of offerings. Live bait, especially minnows, are often the best bait, especially if the crappie are not active. In addition, worms and crickets are favorites among many anglers, enticing bites with their natural movements and scents. Artificial lures, including jigs, spinners, and soft plastics, also hold considerable appeal, mimicking the appearance and behavior of crappie's preferred prey.
Where To Find Crappie
As for the question of where to catch crappie, the answer lies in their penchant for structure and cover. Major lakes, ponds, rivers, and reservoirs all provide potential habitats for these versatile fish. Anglers should focus their efforts on areas with ample cover, such as submerged vegetation, fallen trees, brush, brush piles and rocky outcrops. In most crappie lakes, focus on areas with ample cover, and crappie are likely nearby.
Black Crappie
Promoxis nigro-maculatus
Prefers deep impoundments with fairly clear to slightly stained water with brush or trees for cover. Ideal water temperature: 66° to 76°
World record: 5 pounds, 7 ounces
This is the darker of the two species, has seven or eight dorsal spines, has spotted sides and is typically found more in the northern states. They prefer cleaner water, on larger, deeper impoundments.
White Crappie
Promoxis annularis
Prefers warmer, slightly stained to murky water with little or no current with brush or trees for cover. Ideal water temperature: 64° to 80°
World record: 5 pounds, 3 ounces
Lighter in color, it has six dorsal spines, has eight or nine vertical bands on its sides and is found primarily in the southern states, and prefers quiet backwaters. Whites are often found in murkier waters.
Best Crappie Lures
Baits which imitate minnows, insects, worms or small crustaceans will attract them. See a list of the top producing crappie lures. The more aggressive they are, the faster you can move the bait in order to cover more water.
Related Articles
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