Questions from a Saltwater Guy

So I grew up fishing for crappie on Murray with my granddad, but my dad and I were more into offshore fishing than lake fishing. Out of the last 20 years or so probably 95% of my fishing has been spent offshore whether it be trolling, bottom fishing or spearfishing. Fast forward and I now live about 2 miles from Wylie and am trying to get back into crappie fishing.

So last time out I found a brush pile and picked up two tightlining minnows. Then I couldn't catch anything but perch. My question is: Do crappie tend to hold above structure while perch tend to stay glued to the bottom? Or are perch just "frenzy fish" and when one bites they all turn on? (Sea bass are this way most of the time) The same thing happened at two other spots in the same creek channel. 2 Crappie and then nothing but perch.


Secondly, I'm used to trolling for mahi and wahoo at 5-6 mph and I love catching fish while trolling. How fast should I troll for crappie? And when you are trolling are you looking for shelfs and drops or more so trolling near structure and docks?

Any info is greatly appreciated.

Lots of perch in Wylie so you'll be attacked by them at times. As far as trolling...Start reading the thread about Longlining that is a sticky at the top of the SC page. Lots to learn there.;)

Stick and move on the brush. If they are there, they will bite. If not catching crappie, move to the next brushpile quickly.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

try trolling for stripers at lake wateree, I use umbrella rigs

Yep! You going to get perch almost every time when you go on Wylie. They are good to eat so don't think they are trash fish. As far as crappie go right now they should be transitioning to deeper water. The water temps are changing. You can get crappies by tight lining the channel ledges and points and open water. I'll send you a PM with some more info today! Hope you get into them soon and look forward to hearing your reports when you hit the honey hole!:highfive

I found most piles by having low expectations and choosing a certain small area of the lake i thought there would be structure and fishing every square foot. Now if no crappie on one pile, i move to the other. I have quite a few spots on wateree now i fish from march to october-november, in the winter i fish deep water. If you try a spot with no crappie move to the next. Last weekend was strange, i fished everywhere but shallow and struck out. Come to find out i shouldve fish shallower based on a report i got. For longlining or trolling, usually .8-1.2 mph is ideal. Tightlining is great for fishing brush, many times i have to get right into the branches, which means snags and retieing hooks. Thats why i will use a hook, splitshot, and minnow to limit the cost. I also order the hooks in bulk off ebay as i lose alot.

Thanks for all of the info both here and the guys who took time to send PMs. I'm looking forward to getting back out again New Years weekend and getting after them!!!