Thread: Age of Crappie Fishermen

45 here
Been fishing since I was 3 or so. Only been seriously crappie fishing since about 1999 since i moved to MS.

60 here , grew up fishing the Tombigbee river for catfish. Graduated to bass in the 70's . crappiethon's where they tag crappie on Pickwick got me exposed to eating crappie . the rest is history . Bream fishing with my grandpa with a fly rod was required by all males or be kicked out of family .

All I know is whether they are crappie fishing or not.....the parking lots on almost every lake I fish are too small on Saturday when the weather is nice. After Labor day it sure is better though.

37, started crappie fishing when I was old enough to hold a jig pole or a rod a reel with my pops. Got influenced in the late 80' to early 90's by watching the bass stars on television. Bass fished exclusively, for the most part from the time I was 13 to the time I was 30 (except for the spring spawn). Took me 16-17 years to get back to my roots. Now that I'm back, I can't ever imagine a better fish than the crappies to stalk.. I can say I truly enjoy it, even if I catch some fish or not.

64 and don't fish enough.

I am 29. I know a good many folks my age (and with no children) who say they just do not have the time to fish for anything. Well, I am in college taking my last few classes for my bachelor degree, and I am also a general manager of a company-and I am married. I do not have kids. With that said, the same folks saying they have no time will have a very, very hard time convincing me of such. I have plenty on my plate, but fishing will never be a non-possibility. Jesus, my wife and fishing are the only way I personally can deal with the daily grind.

I gave up bass fishing when I was in my 1st year of college for several reasons. The first was because Terminator buzz baits were the most expensive lure at the time and they were $7. That was 1 hour of work at Modern Pool & Spa where I was employed. I said, "That's the final straw, that's too much $." Now I laugh at that because a freaking scum frog is $13.

The other reason is because Joey Lowrey took me to the Tenn-Tom one winter day trolling. I fell in love because of the finesse-like nature of the method. From there I picked up my own techniques/way of doing things.

It has taken me years to build up to having a stockpile of rods/reels/terminal tackle, etc. I took a guy a few years younger than me to Grenada this spring who fell in love after we consecutively hauled in 3 16" fish at daylight. 3 weeks later his bass fishing rig had over $700 worth of trolling rods and all the tackle/rod holders to boot. I started off with 12 foot BnM west point poles (still use em) with metal tubing from an old pool skimmer net attached in order to make them 14 foot for fishing my home lake of Kemper (gin-clear water). So one reason young folks don't do a lot of trolling is because, in my experience, they feel that you must start off with the "complete" setup instead of working with what ya' got. Also, I think they are under the impression that crappie fishing is a meat-only oriented sport. To many people, that is true. Those same people usually fish the spawn and put the long poles up thereafter. But to me, when I snap up a trolling rod that has a sideways line in 25 FOW in early February only to have said rod feel as though a garbage can top is on the other end, then reel up and see a 16" fish break the surface...well, that gives me the same rush as putting a wad of mallards feet down in a timber opening or a tom gobbler drumming in front of an ancient beech tree flat. I like to fish for big crappie. And when a spawn fisherman sees a very large crappie break the surface of 50* water, they get a bit confused at the feelings they have about those lil' ol' panfish.

From my swimming pool rods, I gradually acquired 16 ft. trolling rods. I had my grandfather's fishing boat that I bought from he and my grandma because his Alzheimers had made it impossible for them to ever take the boat out again. I grew up fishing in that boat. In 2009, after getting my associates and failing to find ANY job of any kind, I fished all winter at Choctaw Lake because it was a few miles from my home. I pretty much made that lake mine and disproved the folks who said the crappie in there were hard to catch. Eventually I had to sell that boat to help pay to go back to college. That was not easy to do for many reasons.

I acquired a 12 foot jon boat and a trailer in a trade for a pirogue I owned. I fished several years in a 12 foot jon with no OB and a woe' out foot controlled MinKota. (Imagine seeing a 12 foot Jon on a trailer with 3 feet of bunks sticking out and five 16ft. trolling rods strapped onto rod holders- one of which was welded to the trailer.) I caught a PILE of fish in that boat. I loved being in the tin can because some ol' boy would pull up and comment about my cute boat and then say something about beginner's luck because I was hauling in 3 fish to his 1.

One of the best things that ever happened to me was owning that 12 ft. jon. I had no choice but to formulate a game plan on where I was gonna try em' that day. Once there, I HAD to stay in the general area and give em' a good go because I couldn't pull my set and motor off to another area. Forced patience.

I think year-round crappie fishing belongs to a group similar to the group who, year in and year out, turkey hunts (up until a couple years ago since turkey hunting has become another gear-oriented fad sport). The folks who will dedicate an entire boat to the crappie have a different way of going about things. It's like the warm water version of trout fishermen. I think that such dedication to a crappie comes with either genetic disposition, age or introduction and, with luck, a good day when said introduction takes place.

SlaterSlinger, I very much enjoyed reading your post. If you are near the fisherman as you are a writer, I feel sorry for the fish ! I felt like I was reading an article in field and stream. Maybe you should submit a version of your 12 foot jon boat lessons learned to a magazine and see where it may go. You have a talent for it !
Thanks for sharing, ds

Great read slater slinger.

Brought back some memories of early years of fishing for me also. Kinda makes me wonder why i ever changed to newer methods?? Caught just as many fish then as now??