crappie help :(

[fishin4life90]

hi everyone

i need major help finding some good size crappie.
where will they be this time of year? shallow or deep? what bait or lure?
presentation?please everyone i need help before this sunday. thanks

[Matt Johnson]

Depending on the lake, you will still find your crappies deep, and roaming both off bottom and suspended. These fish are opportunistics and will feed if the food is present. Finding these fish can be tough and might take some time. On the other hand, you could move shallow and see if the crappies are in the slightly deeper weeds, say like 7-12 feet of water. I've seen a lot of crappies in those areas right now, hiding amongst the weeds. Fish the pockets and sparse areas with a small minnow or a twister-tail. I would use a float of some sort too.

What type of lake are you fishing? Deep, shallow? Weedy, rocky?

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[fishin4life90]

hey MJ

im going fishing on silver lake in new brighton.it doesn't have to many weeds or rocks but alot of fallen trees.

[fishin4life90]

it does have a couple drop offs that go to about 42 feet. but there kinda in the middle of the lake.ive got one 91/2" crappie at the boat launch under a big log last sunday.

[fishin4life90]

hey matt

no im talking about silver lake near lake johanna. have you ever been to silver lake near johanna?

[Matt Johnson]

Ahhh, the one just north of St. Anthony, I gotcha now...

Yep, only one deep hole in that lake, and the lake itself is relatively small. Is there still a little bridge that goes out to the island? You might be able to find a few crappies just out from the bridge area where it starts to drop off towards the deeper hole. Find that initial break and fish just off it. Or else check the deeper water too, see if you can mark any suspended fish. Not a whole lot to the lake, I'd just keep moving until you find fish. What's the water clarity like out there right now?

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[fishin4life90]

hey mj

yea there still is the bridge.
we've been out on our friends pontoon a couple times fishing silver. we caught about five good size large and smallmouth there.
i caught a 25" 9lb carp on a worm near the boat launch by a fallen tree.the water is usually pretty green and scummy by the launch but it gets alittle better out on the lake.what would you suggest using for crappie off shore thats not live bait?and how to fish it?also what to use by the bridge and near the hole or on the hole lake to use for crappie including live bait?
thanks alot

[Matt Johnson]

I would bring some plastics. I suspected the water would be dark, so bring with some white plastics with a large profile. What I mean by that are plastics that appear larger in the water than they actually are. Twister tails work well for this, as do thumper tails. I would also pick up some Roadrunners, they have a spinner attached to them. Small Beetlespins will work too.

For the deeper water I would work a 1/16oz or 1/4oz jig to start. This jig will get down faster and if you mark fish you can find out if they want something smaller later on. You want to cover as much water as possible first, and once you find the fish then you can fine tune your presentation. Beetlespins and Roadrunners are good search lures. They provide a lot of flash, noise and vibration. I'd expect the water to still be pretty warm in Silver, so you will get the reaction strikes from the more aggressive fish with the spinner type baits.

For fishing the shallows I would rig up a float and a 1/32oz jig. Tip that with crappie stinger or paddytail type of plastic. Go with a pearl or pink color. I like to use a pink head with a pearl body, its been working lately. No sinker. Make sure that the float is properly balanced too, so that the slightest tug and the float will go under. So you might have to pick up some smaller floats.

For live bait I would bring with some small crappie minnows, as small as you can find. I would also pick up some maggots, waxies should do fine. You might have to go to a plain hook and minnow or waxie. A plain hook and a plastic might work too. I've had days where I've thrown a couple dozen different presentations before I found something that worked, and it might be one of those days.

Another method that might work for fishing off the bridge area would be to split-shot a plain hook and minnow. What you want to do is use a light split-shot and place it about 2 feet above a plain hook. No float. Hook on a minnow and cast it out there on the break. Slowly bounce it back to boat with pauses every couple seconds or so. A lot of times those crappies will grab the minnow. There is basically no resistance for the fish, and the bait is easily snatched up.

Good luck out there and let us know how you do. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

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Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson
Pro Staff Coordinator
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Matt Johnson Outdoors
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[This message has been edited by Matt Johnson (edited 09-30-2004).]

[Matt Johnson]

Silver huh, its a pretty shallow lake. There are a few deeper holes/pockets in the lake. Are you fishing from the pier? 42 feet? Maybe we're thinking of two different lakes. The Silver Lake I know doesn't get much deeper than about 18-20 feet depending on the year. Is this the Silver Lake just south of White Bear Lake?

------------------
Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson
Pro Staff Coordinator
FishingMN Sponsors

Matt Johnson Outdoors
[email protected]
Guided Ice Fishing and More...

[fishin4life90]

thanks for all the info you've been a great help and i'll tell you how it goes this weekend