Summer crappie doldrums

[CrappieJohn]

I finally got out this morning and did not find much for activity with the craps...or any other fish for that matter. I hate to think that we are stuck in the doldrums here. Rather, I prefer to hope that a bug hatch is happening or that the pattern now is for the fish to fire up later in the day. The recent storms could also have had some influence...craps and thunder do not go well together. The lake was warm- 75 degrees surface to 8 feet- but I had trouble finding the thermocline and think the water got mixed with the wind and rain and all. I'm sure that once this slop passes one will make itself apparent. Fish were marked deep that appeared to be crappie sized and indeed, one dump was tagged within 5 seconds of seeing this school on the lcr. Several other taps came, but no takers. I didn't try tipping with waxies or anything and wonder if I should not have. My next trip will be later in the day and fish until just before dark. Like I mentioned, it may be a bug thing and if it is a hatch that happens during low-light the fishing might be tough for a while. It was good to be on the water though.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!

[united jigsticker]

Hey Tom,

I hate it when those Craps get a guys hopes high.

The locator lights up, ya' drop a jig down, and the line stops. Not because it hit the bottom, but because the old papermouth was hungary and couldn't wait for the bait to stop. Up comes a pound Crappie.

Anxious now, you unhook the fish, toss it back into the lake, and start to count.

One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, etc. etc. etc....one-thousand-sixteen, and you click the bail shut.

Jig-jig-jig-pause.....jig-jig-jig-pause....nothing. Well thats odd. These fish are active, right?

Maybe the count was wrong. So drop to the bottom and pull up about 4 feet to where the top of the school is. jig-jig-jig-pause....jig-jig-jig-pause....

Well what in the heck? How could one fish out of this huge school be the only active and feeding Crappie?

Yes, this has happened to me more times then I care to mention. So what is the deal? Did the one fish being yanked away spook the school? Or did this just happen to be the one and only hungary fish in the school?

I then go on to try every jig color and combo in the box, changing lures every 3rd drop. Still nothing doing. Frusteration hints to me, and I leave to find another spot.

What is the explanation for this? It's simple. It's one word. It's fishing. And sometimes they just don't cooperate.

All in all, it still beats working.

Good fishing,

UJ

[This message has been edited by united jigsticker (edited 07-12-2003).]

[CrappieJohn]

Sometimes I wonder if my reluctance to using live bait costs me more action than I get. The last trip out though, I had waxies and they didn't mean much as far as the fish were concerned. More than likely there was a "light related" bug hatch happening and the fish were filling up during the dark hours. Many insects will only hatch, or emerge, during periods of very dark. A good way to tell if the fish are on insects is to clean one and check the stomach content...dark muck= bugs, gritty muck=minnows or crusteasions. It didn't seem worth the loss the other day to kill a fish to see what it had been dining on. And ,again, it is possible that the storms the night before carried enogh thunder to put the fish off too. Nobody that fishes for these craps can say that they are an easy study...they are more of a challenge than any of the other game species in my eye. Knowing the seasonal patterns and fluctuations of crappies in a certain lake may narrow down your efforts at finding them, but teasing them into hitting is yet another story. Like the "sticker" said in the last post..."its fishing".

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!

[sloopjont]

Hey CrappieTom and jigsticker. Thanks to you for the great posts on this forum.

One Question: Do you really find that lightning/thunder bother the fish? I guess I've never found that to be true. Just this week, the family and I were fishing crappie/sunnies in the Blackduck area - when a severe t-storm came thru (Monday, I think and the storm had almost golfball size hail for a while). We were fishing before the storm and they were biting well. Got off the lake for an hour while the storm came thru (between 6 and 7pm). Went back out after it passed and the fish were still going. They were in pretty shallow water, too (7-9 feet).

Just asking for your observations and experience with these conditions.

Thanks!

[CrappieJohn]

Sloop...Yes, I think that thunder has a definite adverse affect on the fish. It may well be a disputeable issue betweenspecies and particular bodies of water, but where I am at if we have a thunder bumper come railing thru, you are better off cleaning up the do list Ma's got for you. That is lake-wise. On the Mississippi now, it will take some serious hammering to lay them up, but it does happen. And I think that rivers are less affected by thunder than lakes, especially deep one. Deep water may also come into play as to whether it makes a difference to the fish. I have shorecst Lake Superior at Two Harbors during some wild weather and caught fish when I was more of a lightning rod than smart. I will concede to variables, but do honestly think it is an issue bite-wise right after a storm...maybe up to a day later. Good question!

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!

[united jigsticker]

If Tom and I were in the same boat and the Crappies decided to take on a minnow bite, me and Tom would both hit the goose egg.

This time of year I save the money, save the stop, and fish without minnows just like Tom.

If I am seeing a lack in the action, I switch up my presentation. This time of year I am most likely bobber-less. I'll run from the marabou jigs to the plastics, and switch up the colors before I'd run to the store and buy bait.

Heck, I'd even put on a slip float and a jig more geared for ice fishing before I'd head off to the minnow market.

Don't get me wrong, minnows have their time and place, typically being early and late spring for me though.

For me right now, there are two ways of fishing Crappies. One is to hover over the school and vertically jig them. The other is to mark the school, back off, and cast to them.

At times you may find that the Crappies won't hit the vertically jigged lure. This would lead us all to believe they are not very active since they won't hit such an easy morsule. However, in some instances, once the school is backed off of and a free falling lure is presented and swam along, the fish go nuts.

In regards to the lightning and thunder issue: It's a play by play call. Some lakes it's indifferent, others it's as bad as the plague. I've hit em' good on lakes after big rumblers while others you might as well stayed at home and read the paper, mowed the lawn, and drank your coffee.

Good luck

UJ

[can it be luck?]

Well if UJ,Tom,and I were all in the same boat and the crappie took on a minnow bite,one of us would be catching fish. I primarily fish minnows or small pieces of crawlers for crappie. If there's a lot of smaller bluegills in the lake I stay away from the crawlers. Althuogh there's been a couple of times ice fishing a clear lake that I could look down my hole and see the crappie but not catch them, and my friend who fishes with a tiny 1/32-1-64 oz. fireball jig and a white skinny piece of rubber with a long whispy tail outfishes my live bait every time. Can't remember the name of the bait, I'm thinking Ratso or rat finky. Neat little jig, the long tail wiggles in a very tantalizing way. can it be luck?

[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 07-12-2003).]

[united jigsticker]

Well this afternoon we took a little trip to a muddy water lake on a little river system and fished the high water.

25 Crappies caught was all, keeping about a dozen for the plate between the two of us. Biggest fish was 12".

With the high water, we found most the fish in the wood and scattered. Didn't bring any minnows, and about an hour into the trip I was questioning if maybe it would have been a good idea.

Beautiful day to say the least.

UJ

[This message has been edited by united jigsticker (edited 07-12-2003).]

[can it be luck?]

I was wondering about a theory in regards to UJ's post about high water fishing. In the spring while fishing high water river walleye, Sometimes I've had good luck fishing the over flowed banks and shoreline,usually below dams. In the past my thinking was that the strong current pushed the fish to the edges to somewhat slacker water. In a few impoundments and lakes I fish, high water levels can push the water over the banks covering brush,trees,grass,etc. lasting into the summer. More often than not I've had decent luck fishing this "new" structure. After reading UJ's post, I started thinking. This structure being new,fertile,different to the fishes normal habitat, and perhaps filled with different scents and forage may draw the fish in for those reasons. What would normally be a somewhat structure free area has now been changed. Fish being scattered due to curiosity and deveation from the norm. Fish learn to use and relate to known areas for the presence of forage,temps,structure,etc. These "new" areas may confuse and excite the fish due to the lack of familiararity. Being out of their normal patterns the fish may strike at pretty much anything in this newly changed and different environment. Any thoughts? can it be luck?

[CrappieJohn]

I think that crappies tend to be creatures of habit and will, even during periods of higher water, seek familiarity: they will go to wood if that is where they were when the water came up, likewise with weeds or rocky shoreline. But we also have to consider variables such as cold fronts or very dirty water. Time of year will play an important part as well. So will water temperature. Case in point. A couple years ago the dnr emptied a reservoir upstream from the reservoir that I fish. Water temp, clarity , everything stayed static except the water depth. It was six feet deeper almost overnight, but the fish simply moved higher up into deep wood. They did not scatter all over like they do when the same puddle comes up from heavy rains and the water is running chocolate. The issue of current can be puzzling. Some times current will push craps into dense cover and other times it doesn't mean diddly to them. During the hard water period, if you were to fish the Mississippi River in a currented location for crappies, you'd be consider a fruit. But during the summer it is not unusual to hammer as many crappie as waldos or sauger while trolling in the same areas. For the most part I have to agree with UJ regarding craps...they seek to avoid current if they can with one exception: if they are born into a currented environment, they will from birth be acclimated to current and will be less likely to shun it unless it becomes hyper strong...such as during higher-than-normal water.
I went to the drink today and did not fare well with the craps, but we tore up the sunnies again and some were very large. On the down side, we had a ski boat come out of nowhere at 6:45 AM and commence to run a slalom course less than twentyfive feet away. They were running easily into the thirties and we were running on the electric in a 14' jon boat. I have a witnessto this activity this time, along with a description of the operator, the boat make, and the registration numbers. They went past us while we fished a sunken brushpile in open lake water. When we got to this brushpile, we were the only boat on the whole lake. Needless to say, the situation became a tense one...I finally moved off the brush and went to another part of the lake . Had they followed, the man with the star would be dragging for victims. There really are some inconsiderate punkers out there that call themselves "boatsmen". Dnr and the local law enforcement will get the data tomorrow morning so hopefully something can be done about these fools. But the fishing did prove to be good after we moved.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!

[sloopjont]

Hey CrappieTom!

It's always amazed me how speedboaters, waterskiiers, etc. seem to think fishermen are entertained or impressed by their boat, skiing, etc.

They need to show off to someone I guess. Good job staying cool and just moving away.

[united jigsticker]

My thoughts are the fish use the flooded territory so strongly because it provides a great deal of shade during the day and is natural prime Crappie habitat.

We found by fishing the shaded side of the lake (east side in morning, west side in afternoon and evening) that our success was better.

By fishing the sunny side, it seemed we needed to get as far up into the trees as possible to present our bait to any prospective fish.

The further it got into the evening, the further away from the wood and cover we were able to get fish.

In fishing this lake during normal water levels, the fish are typically in 7-10 feet of water. In some instances, this means the fish have to travel up to 1/2 mile away from the wooded areas. However, within 3-4 days of a heavy rainfall, the Crappies will be right back into those trees, timbers, and shade.

Hey, I know if I could sit under a big tent in the shade all day I probably would.

As far as current goes, yes the Crappies will seek the slack water. If the wooded areas provide enough "dam" to slow the flow, they'll be there. Logans and backwaters, especially those with submerged woods and banks though will still be main target hotspots for me.

Good fishing

UJ

[CrappieJohn]

Apparrently the craps have not just up and quit hitting during the day at my favorite drink. A neighbor and a friend found them in one of the larger bays with deep water by drift/ trolling 1/16 ounce black maribou jigs at about 12 feet. Numbers as well as size was there. Maybe have to give it a whirl if time will permit later this week.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!

[can it be luck?]

Sloop, I get the same impression from skiers also. They think your impressed. If they took a close look they would see that the constant stare you give them does not contain a smile but a scowl. Crappie sure love wood, especially birch. I thought of this but only a thought. When ice fishing on a lake void of cover such as Red make a small,removable,instant brushpile. Similar to the way an umbrella folds up the small but long brushpile would slide down the hole base up,pull a release,branches go up(artificial),pull it out branches lay down to slide out. Spray some atrractant on also to make it appealing to the fish,like cologne . Leave it slightly away from your fishing hole to avoid hangups. Red is the only lake I ever thought of this,thinking that any cover regardless how small could be a magnet. Call it Crappie Magnet or Insta-Brush. Sometimes I think I have too much time on my hands to come up with these ideas,but couldn't you see how this could work? Unlikely but there goes another one of my ideas to be patented by someone else . Mark Hoffmann/can it be luck?

[This message has been edited by can it be luck? (edited 07-15-2003).]

[united jigsticker]

Ahh yes, URL.

They built "Crappie Cribs" out of solid log timbers and planted them in various areas along the east side of the lake. (with permits of course)

The success around these cribs for summer Crappies can still be spotty, but does provide easier opportunities for anglers to locate a few slabs, providing you have GPS to help locate them.

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Good fishing,
UJ
[email protected]

[can it be luck?]

Fished Red a few weeks ago. No drops or breaks on the bottom any where,no vegetation either. I had my GPS but did not bring the coordinates with me. I motored around to find the cribs, like looking for a needle in a hay stack! Never found them. Went out to 14 FOW and marked very little to no fish. All fish we did catch were in 4-6 FOW. In winter I fish 13-14 FOW. Aren't most of the cribs in 12 FOW or less? I never hear much about the cribs getting attention other than open water fishing. can it be luck?

[CrappieJohn]

It has been a while since I have seen the craps finning like that, but I can be an awesome site. It is times like that that I wish I could operate a fly rod without hooking myself in the ear or eyebrow(it's happened!). This year I have notice that the sunnies are high up in the water column over quite deep water, like a foot deep over thirteen, fourteen feet. And the northerns have been right there with them. On the last outting, on four occasions I had northerns strike and kill these fish after hooking them. Again, I think that the bug activity must be in high gear right now and that is why the sunnies are so high up. These fish kind of remind me of an old friend's oscar in his aquarium...the fish would rise up and get his back out of the water and enjoyed a scratch on it once and a while. It really is interesting behavior.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!