Late fall crappie madness

[DanS.]

What has been your experience with late fall crappie fishing? I have had mixed results. Sometimes they will take a moving jig, but most of the time I have to anchor and use a float and jig with a minnow. The bite as been more slow than fast this time of year. Any opinions?

[Matt Johnson]

Generally you're fishing a little slower than usual, but again, you're going to have your peak windows of activity where they will be active. I would drop down some of the new 2.5" or 3" Gulp Alive Minnows and slow hop those. The bigger profile baits are going to get you bigger fish in the fall...

[DanS.]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the tip. I guess I have to be more patient. I have gotten into some real fast biting crappies in deep water late last fall, but not this year yet.

[ozzie]

I just got some new baits in the mail......anybody use the Atomic Teasers by Berkley? The only thing I don't like is that they don't have an orange like they do the Atomic Tubes!

[Borch]

Had a pretty good deep bite a couple weekends ago. Power minnows worked very well on these fish.

[Big Tom]

Took lb. and a half limits the past two evenings. Yummy. They were in thick off shore from reeds in 10-20 feet of water 6-8 feet down. I caught them on small shiners and rainbows, (I was targetting Walters). The ticket was tail hooking the minnows. Water temp was 46 degrees.

[hydro]

I've been doing great the last few weeks working the basin area near a large flat. The fish are suspended where you would look for them in the winter and I have used a 1/8 oz plain jig head with a minnow. The trick has been to control the boat so that you are barely moving and the line is straight down to the jig. Working just off the bottom with a slow jigging action has produced the fish, often without any indication that they have taken the bait. The key is find the fish, work them slow, and keep a tight line.

[KTapper]

Catching tons of the bobber bug setup with a minnow.. crappies sure taste good!