I am a bass fisherman exclusively. I love chasing smallies and largemouth. My crappie catches have all been accidental catches. When I was younger - we'd catch them around a creek bridge almost every cast. It just never excited me. They were just average in size.

One private lake I fish - I occasionally hook into some really nice size white crappies. This year - I've caught three which I feel were remarkable.

Just the other day, I caught a monster. I measured him against my rod, admired him and released him. It was the biggest crappie I had ever seen in my 50 years. It took a 4.5 inch creature bait on 17 lb flourocarbon line. I later looked up the state record. Looking at the picture - I feel the one I caught wasn't too far behind it. Of course - I had no camera and no scale to weigh it. I'll bring my camera the next time. So I am thinking my favorite bass lake might just have some crappie potential.

So...... I'm charged up and excited about crappie fishing. I'd like to get another shot at the big fish I released or it's mama. I may do a few outings soley to target big crappies. I have several panfish sized spinning outfits - but I lack lures and specific know how. Gonna do alittle reading here and then some shopping.

Mostly I will do searches before I ask any questions that newbies ask over and over. Looks like a great site for me to gleen some knowledge and shorten the learning curve. I'll be sure to post my successes. Thanks in advance for such a great site.

jocko