Crappie.com - In Between Fall and Winter Crappie Fishing by Brad Wiegmann

Ever been stuck in the middle and have no direction to go? Well, you are not alone. Crappie feel the same way in between late fall and early winter.

To catch crappie during this period, anglers have to become hunters in a way, however, it's not a tree stand anglers need to get up on and sit in. No, anglers need to track crappie back towards shallow water. "It's a good time to catch crappie coming into shallow water after staying in deeper water during the summer months," said Jarad Roper.

During this period, Jarad noted crappie will be following shad as they migrate toward shallow water. "Crappie won't be as shallow as they are during the spring, but very close. An awesome technique to catching crappie during this time is longlining," said Jarad.

Longlining for crappie allow anglers to cover lots of water. "My favorite lure to fish with when longlining is the Charlie Brewer Slider Double Action Minnow," said Jarad.

"When longing we like to run four rods out the back and two out of the side upfront allowing us to cover more water," said Jarad's Dad and tournament partner Tommie Roper. The bow rods mounted on Driftmaster Rod holders (www.Driftmaster.com) are 14- to 16-feet in length while the rods in the back Driftmaster Rod holders are shorter fishing rods.

Ropers utilize a single Driftmaster rod holder. "We like to use the individual holders because when a crappie bites or we catch one it doesn't shake the other holder or fishing poles," said Tommie.

When fishing for quality crappie, the Ropers fish with Charlie Brewer's Slider 2 1/8-inch Double Action Minnow. "Let's talk about the action of the Charlie Brewer Double Action Minnow; when crappie are active they eat up the paddle shaped lure like candy. However, when there are storms or a quick change in weather and the bite is off a paddle shaped minnow lure will still get bites because of the water displacement and vibration," said Jarad.

The Ropers even came up with their own color pattern for the Charlie Brewer's Slider 2 1/8-inch Double Action Minnow (www.sliderfishing.com). "The way we came up with this color was we had a dye that we were dipping it in to color the tail. It started with a white colored body and chartreuse tail Double Action Minnow that we dipped the body into a blue dipping dye and came up with this color. The crappie just slammed this color so we sent it off to Charlie Brewer's Slider Company to produce more in that color pattern," said Jarad.

Likewise, the orange body with chartreuse tail was one we developed for fishing in reservoirs with stained water. "One reservoir stands out when it comes to catching big crappie on in Mississippi and the orange/chartreuse Double Action Minnow would excel on a body of water like that with big three pound crappie," said Jarad.

Don't get discouraged when you are fishing in the in between season for crappie fishing. Instead go out and think like a hunter by tracking down where the crappie are moving to during this time. Put your rods out and start longlining, so you don't get stuck in the middle.

Check out these great videos. Try the Charlie Brewer Slider Double Action Minnow now. I know Danny ("D" on the forum) loved this new bait fishing Lake Talquin last weekend.