After looking at the title of this article, you’re probably thinking I’m about to tell you all about a lousy day I had last week — not, so; I’m actually talking about a crappie day and, more specifically, the business of catching crappies.
I know everybody is kind of hung up on catching trout right now but believe me; I find it just as rewarding spending a day on a lake pulling in crappies at a regular pace. Not only is the catching fun, but crappies, when prepared properly, make an excellent meal.
We actually have two species of crappies, but to be honest, many people, including those who fish for them, probably can’t tell the difference between the two.
They look very similar, but a white crappie will show dark vertical bands while a black crappie has dark blotches scattered randomly.
Also, a white crappie will have five or six dorsal fin spines and rarely seven, while a black crappie will have seven or eight dorsal fin spines.
In addition, the distance from the eye to the dorsal fin is equal to the length of the dorsal fin base on a black crappie, but on a white crappie, that distance is greater than the length of the dorsal fin base.
Now that you can tell the difference let’s go catch some.
To be honest, the differences don’t mean a whole lot since the two species often hang out together and behave in a similar manner, and it’s not unusual to be fishing over a school of crappies and catching both species.
The thing about crappies is that they can be caught all year around, and some of our biggest catches actually come through the ice in the dead of winter.
Clearly, though, one of the best times to go after crappies is in the spring when they head into shallower water to spawn. During the pre-spawn days and after the spawning period, it’s best to seek crappies in deeper water since they are more sensitive to light than most other sunfish species.
The spawn will not be underway just yet, so I have been concentrating my fishing efforts in depths of 12 to 18 feet, where schools can be located near the bottom and suspended at various depths in between.
Without a doubt, if you plan to go after crappies when they are located in the deeper water, it’s a big advantage to have sonar equipment on board. My brother and I were out last week, and when the sonar indicated fish, we caught them, but when they disappeared from the sonar screen, so did the action. Sure, you can find them without sonar simply by fishing at various depths until you hit fish, but it’s a whole lot faster with sonar.
It’s best to keep your lures small; small lead-head jigs tipped with a one to two-inch plastic worm, grub, or tube in any number of colors will likely produce. We used chartreuse, white and black and green, or black and white, but I have even seen pink, or blue be effective.
Small minnow imitations are also good choices.
Certainly, any number of live baits will produce, but we usually find that artificials seem to be all you need.
Keep your equipment geared down to the fish you are after; ultralight spinning outfits spooled with no more than a four-pound test line.
In the next few weeks, once the spawning is underway, it’s time to head to shallower water — no need for sonar equipment here. I fish the same lures but cast around wood structures, rock piles, and even weed edges. This may also be a good time to attach a bobber to help prevent hanging up in wood, weeds, and rocks. Again, there is a good chance no bait is needed; that same small jig with a small plastic grub beneath the bobber can be very effective.
Don’t get me wrong; I haven’t replaced my trout fishing with crappie fishing — I’ve just combined the two.
Oh yeah, bass fishing is getting underway; I guess I’ll have to combine the three of them.
