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Hey everyone,
I'm new to targeting crappie. I was wondering what is the best way to locate and catch crappie from the bank or a kayak. On the kayak, I have no electronics, so I have no idea of underwater structure or depth. However, most of the time I will be fishing from the bank. I prefer to use artificials. What is the best way to present a jig from the bank?
Thanks.
Justin
I'm going to be honest with you, since I fish the bank half of the time.
You need to do ALOT of learning, and this is a good site to do it....get maps of the lake, and then scout it...you need to see what areas you can get to, and see if there is any downed trees in the water, huge rocks, or any other cover that you can see. Crappie will use this throughout the year if there is a lot of shade, and it's close to a feeding area or deep water...the maps will tell you that!
If you can reach a feeding flat, that area will be good in the early morning or at night....Other shallow areas with gravel and a few larger rocks are good areas during the spawn.
If you have a 'yak, you need to save up and get some electronics on it...then you can cruise around with your map and see exactly what you are fishing, and learn the lake better.
READ AND LEARN ABOUT CRAPPIE...LEARN the water temps that determine their PATTERNS, and what they look for during the Patterns!
You can jig from the bank under a bobber, just cast, and slowly twitch and move the bait...you can also cast out w/o bobber and slowly retrieve back, etc....it helps to know how deep the water is (Map) and where the fish are (Patterns) plus what depth they are suspending (Both).
You can also cast a curly tail grub, swimbait, or other lures, from the bank...cast out, slowly retrieve back...cast out, slowly retrieve with a couple twitches...cast out, let it sink to the bottom, retrieve then stop, then twitch...vary retrieve and depth until you find them and get bites!
If you have Bass fished before, just think of a Crappie as a smaller Bass, you can downsize you lures and fish the same way from the bank!
Good Fishing!
Thanks for the reply. The body of water I usually fish is a 109 acre public lake managed by the state. However, there are no maps that I know of available of the body of water. I know there is tons of fallen timber and near shore structure from bass fishing there. The lake is stocked with black crappie and I've heard reports of people catching good numbers. I have not tried for crappie yet though.
Justin .... I suggest that if you are fishing from shore & casting to shoreline cover, that you should get some weedless jigheads to use with your choice of plastics or minnows. Otherwise, all you're going to do is decorate the cover with your lures :Doh:
I'd also suggest having at least a 6.5' rod or longer for jig casting ... and a 8' rod or longer if a float is being used. That will help get your bait out farther, and in the case of using a float ... allow you to take up all the slack and get a good hookset at any appreciable distance.
You can "guesstimate" the depth by casting out a 1/16oz jig w/hook bent closed (or lead sinker) and counting down from splashdown to slack line. A 1/16oz jig will sink at approx. 1ft/sec. on slack line. Retrieving slowly will also show you whether or not there's any underwater obstacles along the path of your retrieve.
Also of note : Black Crappie have a tendency to eat more than just minnows/fry, so that opens up a greater choice in live bait, lure color, and plastic body shapes.
... cp :kewl
:welcomeWelcome to the crappie.com site. You came to the right place to learn more about crappie fishing. They are some good fishermen here that will answer your questions. Just about the time I think I know how to find and catch crappie they throw me a curveball and I am sitting out in middle of my lake thinking what has happened this time. Just keep going and trying different things and ways. It will all come together and you will be hooked on crappie fishing the rest of you life like the rest of us.
1. Cast outQuote:
Originally Posted by justinh384
2. Count down to desired depth ("one thousand one, one thousand two ...")
3. Slow, steady retrieve back
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you find fish, but alter the depth in #2.
Justin
If you go to the GDNR site, they are doing maps right now for all Georgia lakes....so you need to check back and you'll have one soon.
without knowing more about the water body its difficult to say what or how you might need to present your bait and a lot of it depends on the seasonal patterns as well . I would most likely depend heavily on a float presentation of some sort until I understood those particular fish .I fish from the bank a lot for crappie on several different waters and most of the time I use a float and start out by NOT moving my bait to much .....
keep in mind crappie like to ambush prey and not chase and follow quite as much as say a bass .and sometimes they like to just look at an intended target for a bit before the commit to actually biting it . I would keep my bait size on a water body with just black crappie rather small as well . in the southeastern united states they prey on "ghost shrimp" quite heavily and them things are quite small most of the time . and I have read and heard and seen very small sunfish on the larger specimens as well .try to figure out what the predominant forage is and emulate that forage .....
one thing for certain when you do ketch a few try to repeat whatever it was you were doing as exact as you can .they tend to be very much depth oriented and cadence oriented as well ...so if fast and deep worked ...do it again ..if slow and shallow was it do it again ....and remember the spots and the time of year those presentations worked .
and keep in mind this ...in the spring EVERYONE can ketch from the bank quite easily on most lakes ...
so if all else fails ...about the beginning of march start fishing shallow under a float around shoreline cover on the north end of the lake near or in any creek on that lake ....
another thing you might want to keep in mind is they have very fragile mouths and get off quite easily ,so reel fast and don't let them have slack and jerk them up on the bank quick ....unless you like to tell stories about the one that got away...LOL
good luck to you ,hope you find them
p.s. if there is a public fishing dock in deeper water it might be a great spot to drop a jig to the bottom in the winter and hold it about a foot of the bottom super duper still like a statue ......and maybe use a feather jig in the winter like this .....
a Berkley gulp brand crappie nibble on the tip of the hook if you use a jig is pretty much a must in my book as well .....:ThumbsUp
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll try to put these tactics to work the next time I get to get back onto the water. It may be January with Thanksgiving, Christmas. and New Years approaching fast and a busy work schedule.