HOW TO CATCH DOG-DAY CRAPPIE WITH ROGER GANT

Editor’s Note: Roger Gant of Corinth, Mississippi, has fished Pickwick Lake on the Tennessee River for more than 40 years. Gant guides on Pickwick more than 200 days a year and consistently catches limits of slab-sized crappie. Most crappie fishermen don't catch large numbers of fish during the "Dog Days" of summer, but Gant does.

When the temperature climbs above 70 degrees, Gant tips his jigs with minnows. "I'll hook a live minnow from the top of its head just behind its brain to the jig," Gant explains. "By hooking the bait in this manner, the minnow stays on the hook longer than if I lip-hook it. Also, the crappie can hit the minnow several times without knocking the bait off the hook. Hooking crappie without tipping your jig may be easier. But, if I don't use a minnow in the summertime, I won't get many bites. Also, I'll catch two to three times more crappie fishing a jig with a minnow than I will fishing a jig without one." In addition to hooking live minnows to his jigs, Gant uses fish attractant on his jigs to entice hot-weather crappie. "I know from experience that I can catch more crappie on scented jigs than I can on unscented jigs," Gant remarks. "Fish attractant not only attracts crappie, it kills the human odor on the jigs. I once put fish attractant on a piece of cloth, hooked that cloth to a bream hook and caught several bluegills. The scent alone attracted the fish to that cloth."

To learn more tips and tactics for catching crappie in the spring and summer check out “Crappie: How to Catch Them Spring and Summer”, available in both eBook and print formats http://amzn.to/WGaJLT. Be sure to click on look inside feature to see table of contents and read 10 percent of the book free.