Fishing Bushes for Crappie By Brad Wiegmann

It's the same old song and dance every spring for crappie fishing guide Kyle Schoenherr. The crappie waltz up shallow and Schoenherr hustles right into the bushes with them. Like a well-choreographed dance, the crappie preparing to spawn and Schoenherr is trying to catch them before the two tango.


"The process of crappie moving up shallow all starts when water temperatures gets in the upper 50s. Once the temperatures hit the lower 60s, the crappie will consistently be up shallow around the bushes. Normally here on Rend Lake in southern Illinois, the end of March and till the beginning of June crappie will stay in the bushes," said B'n'M Poles pro staffer Schoenherr.



Schoenherr relies on his Lowrance graph to locate bushes where the crappie are hiding. "There are hundreds and hundreds of bushes on Rend Lake, but not every single one will have crappie in them. To locate the ones with crappie on, I put my sonar unit on SideScan with the frequency set on 455kHz and set the distance to 60 feet out because I'm in shallow water. If the boat is in deeper water like six feet, I will set it farther out," said Schoenherr.

His sonar might show crappie echoes, but mostly it indicates if a bush has a depression around the root. A depression is a key area for crappie to spawn in during the spring. Schoenherr prefers the small bushes to the big, larger bushes have less space under them compared to the smaller bushes thus making it better for spawning.


"Ninety percent of the time the crappie will be dead center in the middle of the bush. So, I always put the lure in the center on the first cast. I might work out from the center a couple casts, but then I move on to the next one," said Schoenherr.


Rend Lake is blessed to have an abundance of bushes everywhere on the U. S. Army Corp of Engineer reservoir. However, not every bush has a crappie in it. "You have to treat each bush separate, the ones located on or next to structure like channel banks, ditches or points traditionally will be the ones that produce crappie. Also, isolated bushes like three or four by themselves will hold crappie," said Schoenherr.

Catching crappie out of thick, gnarly bushes requires a unique technique. Schoenherr referred to this as vertical jigging. When vertical jigging, Schoenherr doesn't cast into the bushes, but drops the lure or minnow right into the center.



"I use two different rigs when fishing in the bushes. The first is a single rig set up with a 1/16-ounce Blakemore Pro Series Road Runner jig head tipped with Muddy Water Baits Glow series lime/chartreuse or black/chartreuse," said Schoenherr.


When fishing the single rig set up in the bushes, Schoenherr uses a B'n'M Poles (www.bnmpoles.com) Original Buck's Graphite Jig Pole (BGJP) in the 12-foot model rigged with B'n'M' Poles Buck's Ultralight Crappie Reel.


His second rig is a slip cork set up. Schoenherr will put on a rubber stopper on the line then a 2-inch cigar shaped float followed by two bullet shaped weights, two TTI-Blakemore Target Beads and a #2 red Tru-Turn hook (www.ttiblakemore.com). The bullet shaped weights are slipped on with the points on opposite ends. "The cylindrical shape makes it easier to get through the thick brush and a plug knocker to get the hook loose if it gets snagged," said Schoenherr.
Fishing a slip cork set up requires a heavier, stiffer rod. Schoenherr uses a 12-foot B'n'M Poles BrushCutter or the 12-foot B'n'M' Poles Pro Staff Rod (PST). "You need the heavy backbone these rods have to lift and get the crappie out of the really heavy bush," said Schoenherr.


For fishing line, Schoenherr rigs his reels up with braid. He likes to use 15/4 high visibility braid with both of these rigs. Braid allows Schoenherr to lift the crappie straight out and over to the boat without the line breaking.


Braid has its advantages, but also disadvantages. "If your lures get snagged with braided fishing line it can be challenging to get out. I built a homemade retriever that has a big catfish hook on the end of a frog gigging pole to reach in and pull the lures free. I also use it like a gaff to reach in and grab a crappie to land them sometimes," said Schoenherr.


While fishing in thick, gnarly bushes can be challenging, Schoenherr knows to catch crappie, you have to get in them to catch them. It's the same old song and dance for Schoenherr, but one he enjoys every spring.