Thread: CJ BROWN 2019....

Welcome WVAMMO!
I'm a Bass Fisherman also...Why change your style to Crappie fish...just downsize lures and get a few brighter colors.
I start out in late Winter early Spring catching Walleye and Crappie for my freezer (my favorite freshwater eating)..then after the spawn I catch and release everything, and Bass Fish at night.
I use the same rods, reels, braid, for Walleye, Crappie, WB, Bass, and now Muskie....just downsize baits for Crappie.
You can use 1/16 jigheads with a #1 or 1/0 hook and 3" swimbaits or plastics for Crappie in shallow water, or 1/8 jigheads with #1 or 1/0 hooks and 3" plastics in deep water ...or small cranks, spinners, chatterbaits, underspins, craws, or jig/pigs.
After spawns Bass head to shallow water with cover, shade, or structures....Crappie head to deep drops, deep cover, and suspend. They will eat small easy meals in the heat of the day, but they come alive in the shallows at night...and feed BIG.
CJ is a very fertile lake with a HUGE shad population, so fish are well fed.
Crappie eat zooplankton in winter, then 2" natural minnows in early spring, then 3" shad pre-spawn, 3-6 inch shad post spawn and at night anything they can get in their mouths.
Big Crappie follow schools of shad and bust them at night, this is when Crappie have the sight advantage...and they'll hunt big and hit hard.
Since fish are well fed, to get bites when no one else can, you have to Bass Fish Crappie.....
You have to make it look unusual and an easy target...start/stop your lure, twitch it, lift it and drop, it has to look injured or dying.
Since Crappie are deeper in the day, you need bright colors instead of Bass natural colors. At night you need action and contrasting color.
Crappie have great eyesight and see colors in day and almost as good as Walleye at night.
I know others have preferred ways to Fish, but if I had to Crappie fish using live bait, troll, vertical jig, sit in a spot all day, etc, I would just quit fishing! lol
I'm glad to answer your questions or help out...Good Fishing!