Setting up Boathouse for Crappie

Hey all,

I'm new to Crappie.com and hoping to now learn how to crappie fish after years of fishing for everything else. Most of the crappie I have caught have been on accident. My main goal is to get my two young girls (10 and 12) catching them. I have a newly built boathouse and thought getting it setup right for catching crappie would be a good start. I have read a lot about brush pile opinions, real vs. artificial etc. I missed the opportunity to grab Christmas trees this year. So any advice on brush piles, bait, lights or anything that will attract a lot of crappie to my boat house is greatly appreciated. Water depth is 5-12' deep in clear, rocky Arkansas water. I'm in a decent size protected cove near the main channel with a decent amount of bass and bream. Gotta believe there are crappie in the area too. Thanks in advance for any tips you can offer!
:biggrin

Send a PM to Andrews...he is THE guru on what you are asking. He catches a phenominal amout of crappie from his boathouse. He hangs out on the Louisiana forum.

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks!

If you have a bunch of bamboo or willow trees, use them for brush. Both are excellent!

Stakebeds last longer with fewer hang ups . The less hang ups is a big deal when fishing with kids .:fish

Depending on the size of the dock .... I'd have at least one "brushpile" UNDER the dock and/or one tree hanging off the side of it. You could also consider placing a couple of brushpiles out in front of the dock (if deeper water is present there) and within a short cast's distance from the front or front corners of the dock.

Where you place these "attractors" would depend on depth of water, and whether or not water level changes (if applicable) would put those attractors in the way of your boat (or possible swimming area). Another factor could also be whether your dock is on poles (stationary) or floating.

Clear water and those depths are not real conducive to Crappie hanging around "often" ... but, the additional "cover" you intend to place may help draw them in. They'd certainly take notice during the spawning period !!

My dock is 150 feet off shore. Along the walkway to the floating dock is "stuff". In the winter time the water draw down exposes the "stuff". I have brush, wood and pvc stakes everywhere. In the winter, I move "stuff" around to irritate others who may benefit from my "stuff".

Remember, brush is your friend. Let kids learn how to deal with it early in life. The only thing kids learn from you changing their diapers is that they can fill 'em up again free of charge.

Thanks for all the advice. Sounds like variety is the key and see what works.


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If I were setting up a boathouse for crappie fishing, I would try to make it as user friendly as possible. I would have the brush pile setting on the bottom with PVC sticking up. With this set up you would not be getting hung up a lot, all you have to do is fish just above the brush and you won't have to worry about hanging your jig in the PVC. These are some post from the past of some PVC fish attractors.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...crappie-condo/

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-...-built-condos/