they are starting

[CrappieJohn]

For the last two days I have been fishing my local puddle and doing quite well. In spite of very high water, we are enjoying fairly clear water. There had been tons of flotsam on the lake and the water had been filthy until Weds, when the level began to drop a bit. The lake had retreated to 51-53 degree water, but has now approached the 58 degree mark and this temp is starting to go down a ways now. The fish we are catching are beginning to darken up nicely and some of the fin are showing evidence of fanning. And do they ever nail a tube now. They still want wood, but the depth that they are using now would indicate that the show is about to get on the road. Good fishing guys! Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[CrappieJohn]

I've been on a streak with my cousins and thier kids for the last couple days. We fished my favorite puddle and we did very good. The craps have moved inshore now and are starting to darken up nicely. Found a couple males that sprayed when handled so the show is rolling. Fins were starting to show some tattering as well. Water temps have come up real good and this next week to ten days should be wild here in the southeast corner of the state. Some big bull sunnies were also taken. The rellies tried minnows the first day and that mode was cancelled quickly as other people in the party caught fish on plastics....mostly 1 1/2 inch tubes. In three days the minnows drew a total blank for caught fish. The average size of the fish seems to have taken a bit of a dip, but as soon as the water levels drop a little more the larger fish will begin to be more readily available. Good luck to all and remember to keep fish selectively...put the biggies back and enjoy a meal of the midsized fish. Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[CrappieJohn]

The cold front and wind this morning really put the fish in a funk. Couldn't buy a hit, but then couldn't keep the boat in one place long enough to get the lure down either. Winds were coming right down the pipe on my favorite puddle at about thirty mph. I did not have to muscle a cast to get distance today though. Maybe tomorrow. Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[Skeets]

Hey buddy, do you ever work??
I wish I could fish every day... I only get out once or twice a week.

[Try Too Fish]

CrappieTom
Good reports.Question:What kind,color tubes do you like??
Thanks

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Try Too Fish
Forced Too Work!!

[CrappieJohn]

Hey guys... I am self employed Skeets and one of the bennies is that I schedule my own work. And this is one time of the year that I do not do much of it.
Try to fish... I get all of my tubes fromC*****s or from G*****s at the Tamarak Mall. You may be able to find the same at GM. They are southern pro tubes, 1 1/2" and without fail have some chartreuse in them. I lean pretty heavy on those tubes with a "heavy" glitter head end....colors are arbitrary.Always with chartreuse, though. And I use only the slip in heads of 1/32 ounce with tubes. I also tip the hook point out a hair on a new head. This gives the hook a wider gap in which to bite into solid mouth parts, seldom into the soft membrane. Hope this helps and good fishing...Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[Guest]

I went out today from about 6:30 until 9 in a shallow bay in about 2' to 5' of water and caught 2 nice (but not huge crappies), a couple of bullheads, and a nice sized sunnie.

I didn't keep any, but the bite is improved from about a week and half ago, at least in that particular spot. The cold snap probably didn't help but there are fish to be had.

This was in the DL/Ottertail area on an unnamed lake

[harvy56364]

was in the Orr area this past weekend, water temp 60, couldn't keep em off the hook. Good luck.

[CrappieJohn]

The picture that is being painted here is amazing: here is an instance where the bottom and the top of Minnesota are being reported on with basically the same results. The water temps here got into the 60+ range for an afternoon, but got trashed by a cold front and 60 degree water being reported with lots of fish over 300 miles away. Try and imagine how many fish (crappies) will hit the fry pan tonight when things are clicking like they are now. Amazing! Good fishing Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[This message has been edited by CrappieTom (edited 05-21-2003).]

[Walleye_GFA]

Hey Crapster...

Ive been at Leech for a week, before I left I was nailing the crappies... should be just post spawn now and out of blues ???

Wally

[Guest]

Bump...

I am also interested in how to tell crappie gender. As for Raps I have had great luck with #5 or #7 countdown or husky jerks, snap beans and also love to use #0 or #1 mepps spinners. Natural colors have worked best for me since I mainly fish clear water. You can also pick up some other nice bass and bluegills fishing with small raps. One trick I have picked up recently which I think has put a lot more fish in the boat is to tip one of the rear hooks with a berkley powerbait crappie nibbler for an added scent trail and attractant. Best of luck to you and great posts.

[united jigsticker]

Male Crappies turn dark black, the females do not. Also, the males will typically appear skinny, as they do not have eggs, as the females will have a slight bulge to the belly.

After the spawn, look for Crappies to be adjacent to the spawning areas in about 6-12 feet of water on the cabbage, candle stick, coontail, and milfoil weed edges.

Right after spawn a bobber approach with a jig and minnow combo might be best as the fish need some recovery, but after a week or two, freecasting a 1/32 oz feather jig to the weed edge and counting down will produce some fantastic fishing.

The Crappies will stay around these weed edges until aorund late July or early August before they move to the deeper breaklines in 12-20 feet of water.

Crappie fishing in my opinion is thee best it can be from the mid part of July through August and Septemeber, when the fish are in open water and feeding like crazy.

good luck.

[CrappieJohn]

Jigsticker pretty much defines what one needs to look for in defining the sexes of the black crappie. One other thing would be the bulging belly. Another could be the spraying males do....if you pick up a fish that is unusually dark, try gently squeezing the gut part of the belly. If it sprays a stream from the vent, it is a male. This particular behavior is noticeable only immediatedly prior to, during,and immediately after the spawn.
In the lake I fish, weeds are not around much. We will see crappies on a bed for a short time, with the females usually the first to hit the bricks. Here they scatter and orient to the open lake to feed. I usually wait until the water is in the 70 degree range after they leave the nestsites. The thermocline is easier to locate on the lcr then and it is important to follow and read that if you want to stay in consistant fishing. Good fishing guys.....Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[CrappieJohn]

Finally got back to the crappie fishing after a long weekend of unsuccessful laker fishing on Superior. Here in the S.E. corner of the state fishing is wild and the craps are still on the spawn cycle, but I think that within a couple days that will be over. The water temp this mornins was at 65 degrees and of 138 caught crappies, only 18 appeared to be carrying spawn yet. I kept ten for the table- all males- between 10 and 12 1/4 inches. Within a couple weeks we will be trying to find them when they scatter and hang over deep water...an interesting time in crappie fishing until a solid thermocline is established and then fishing will again be more consistant. Gonna do it again in the morning for a couple hours. for the note... I released four fish that were 16 inches plus this morning....all taken from vertical wood in deeper water. Others all came from shallow shoreline and wood. Good fishing, Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[Dano2]

Crappie Tom?
This was discussed a little in a different part of the forum but no one seemed to be able to give a definite answer.
How do you tell the males from the females?
I've filleted a few females so far this year and would like to stay away from that this time of year obviously.

also, when the crappies start to scatter about after spawn,
what are your fishing tactics that seem to produce?
I've read that pulling small raps seems to produce since the crappies like to suspend anyway.
have you tryed this tactic? and if so, which raps seeem to produce crapps,

thanks, from, some what inexperienced but obssessed crappie person

[CrappieJohn]

Did our local lake again this morning and had moderate luck, but probably would have done better with some wind on the water. The high skies didn't help either. The hens today were running spawn when handled. Many have already spawned out. Water really has warmed...67 today at 7:30 this morning. Are other areas witnessing the same conditions? If so, drop a report. Will do it again tomorrow. Good fishing guys....Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[Guest]

I was out last night and did fairly ok - caught 8 and kept 6 of those. I was only out for a couple of hours but I had a lot of bites during that time, as did my partner.

Frankly, last night was so nice out I would have just been happy sitting there in the boat. Taking a few home with me made it even better.

[united jigsticker]

still seeing 60-64 water in central Minneeeesoooota

[Rainman]

It is a lot of fun to catch fish on plastics. I am still gaining confidence in it though.

[pikehunter]

Absolutely crushed crappies yesterday here on a south-central lake. Caught 50 in about an 90 minutes and kept a few males for the table. I owe you huge thanks Tom. Due in part to your urging on these forums I finally gave up my live bait reliance. These fish were nailing jigs tipped with twister tails, but not much else. Once I figured them out it was a fish every cast! Awesome!
Again, my thanks. I urge anyone who has a problem steering clear of live bait to give plastics a try now to develop some confidence in the approach. Happy fishin!

[CrappieJohn]

Pikehunter....I was to the drink again this morning for a couple hours and the catching was unbelievable, the releasing even better. The water is sitting at 67 degrees and with the wind we have today, I clobbered them. At one particular tangle I anchored up and caught 42 fish in less than half that in minutes. Many of these fish were very larger females showing loose spawn when handled and all went back. I did keep 10 for thr fry pan tonight, all male fish, five of which were at or over 12"...others all over 10". I ended up with a two hour total of 162 fish. An interesting thing I have never looked at other than with disdain is the wind. I always log in the wind direction, but really haven't ever paid much attention to how hard it was blowing except to cuss it a bit. ( that seems to be a regular thing with me) On Wednesday and today we have had radical winds 25-45 mph, gusting higher. Both of these days were also bluebird, but I had unreal catch rates on each. The amount of diffusion must be incredible while the water has a hard chop. Another note...the tubes were cast to wherever, allowed to settle for about five seconds and then retrieved. All of the hits on both days were darned near instant and the five second wait was only if nothing responded by then. And hey Pike... the plastic is something that once you have some confidence in will out perform bait at just about all times of the year...even winter. The key is to downsize and slow down the action/retrieve. Glad to hear you have met the "plastic challenge". Trust me, you will not regret it at all. Good fishing Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[united jigsticker]

Try all 4 ways (yes all 4)

Feather jig and minnow...Plain feather jig, plastic with minnow, and finally, the fave of Crappie Tom, a plain plastic lure.

If those don't work...it's still better then working.

[Guest]

i love those "plastics".....really hard to beat em overall...favorite is a 1/32 ounce white maribou(tend to stick with 1/32 because they fall down to the crappies slower as in nature )... either cast by itself and retrieve slowly(ultralight of course)...or..drop it over the side of the canoe(or boat)and drift ever so slowly (barely moving kinda slow).....or...i hang that 1/32 ounce jig under a pencil bobber a few feet .......or as little as a foot and a half depending on where those crappies are hanging at the time... another "favorite" crappie producer is a silver "beetle spin" type setup only i remove the original factory beetle spin plastic and replace it with my own "black" (gotta be black...lol)"mr twister" type curly tail (1-1/2")...i cast this set up and retrieve it until i can feel the "blade "turning(watch the tip of the rod vibrate)...this is the set up i use when i look out on a calm lake and see the crappie "rings" from surfacing feeding crappies...i paddle out as to approach those feeding crappies without disturbing them and cast that black plastic next to those surfacing crappies......9 out of 10 times a crappie will hit that beetle spin....great way to fish crappies as opposed to just bobber fishing next to the reeds ...jon

[united jigsticker]

sixmile knows his stuff

[CrappieJohn]

I am a staunch promoter of plastics when fishing for just about amy kind of fish...especially craps and waldos in cold water.BUT, I always have a back up plan. I have a jig making business and one of the jigs I make for the crappie is very similar to the Flu-Flu, only much less hair. I use feather shaft on my version and only three or four strands of it. It gives me a very low-profile offering. I always carry three rods, sometimes up to five depending on how the fishing has been. The tougher the fishing the more rods.There will always be a tube or two on rods and always a twister/jig on another. If, as stated, the fishing has been tough, I'll have one of these feather jigs on another rod. Should I get a few a of these "tick-pop" hits that I know are crappie or if I am on cover holding crappies but they have slowed to the tube, I'll use the rod with the twister to see if I can tease them into a stronger hit or pull a few more from that cover. If that does not work. the hair comes into play. The reason? Crappies are notorious for liking very tiny profiled foods. The tube ,for me, replaces the maribou jig and is the largest profiled lure in my arsenal, then the twister, then the hair. I can keep going down in profile size until I find something they will take, often times having to change color combos 8 or ten times. I always have said, "the fish are there, we just have to find out what they want and then feed it to them". The last statement is perhaps the biggest reason you will find me fishing the same water two, maybe three times, in a morning even if it is only 200 yards long; the first trip will be with my stand-by tube color, the second trip using an alternative color tube, a twister, or even hair. My recent luck has been in such a stretch of water and it takes me about an hour to fish it each pass. Gotta remember, you are not fishing if you are running the boat all over the lake...you are wasting fishing time!
The plastic is my mainstay, but hair is also in my program. And if I absolutely have to, I will resort to bait, preferring waxies over minnows. But as a rule for me,if they will not cooperate on an artificial, I'll go home. Good Fishing Crapster

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Sure life happens- why wait

[This message has been edited by CrappieTom (edited 05-31-2003).]