At about age 84 I switched from bass and walleye fishing to crappie fishing. Now, 4 years later I've learned a lot and still learning.

Public waters near Peoria are tough to pull numbers or quality crappie from. Recently I've been able to catch from about 10 to 30 crappies during a 4 hour excursion. Most are less than 9 inches. I just gained access to a small lake on private property. During first two trips I caught multiple crappie up to 11 inches and even one large mouth bass that was about 5 lbs. Last week about 4 or 5 days after a cold front moved thru I had a very good day on a public strip mine lake that is usually small fish only (except during the spawn). Down Imaging sonar located suspended fish. I caught about a dozen crappie, many 9 to 9.5 inches but also a 10 and 11 inch crappie. Also caught about two dozen very small bass that were pests.

Most caught with minnows 7 or 8 ft under a slip bobber. A few were caught on a 1/32 lead head jig dressed with a black and chartreuse jig.

I'm doing better at finding and catching crappie but having problems enticing larger fish.

Jack