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Fancy electronics not required
You don’t have to have fancy electronics to catch crappie. I’ve got a livescope, and I love fishing with it. But it’s certainly not required to catch em.
I’ve got a buddy that has a boat, with no electronics. I took him out the other night, to show him how to night fish for crappie. Something he’ll be able to do now, all summer, and it doesn’t require fancy depth finders. It’s how I used to catch em during the hot months, before I had a livescope.
Usually June through the end of September is dynamite for me, anytime surface temps are around 80 degrees or above.
Picked up 8 dozen minnows, a large Hunt Brothers pizza and a few drinks, and away we went. Anchored up and lights set up by 8:30. Sit back and eat our pizza and let the lights do their work. Relaxing evening, and just enough time to finish our supper before the chaos started.
Got our 1st fish at 9:15, and put #40 in the boat at 11:45. Throw in 8 white bass along the way, just for fun.
And we never turned a depth finder on all night! Done that on purpose, to show my buddy it was possible. Never had to get on plane, just idled over to our spot, a few hundred yards from the ramp.
We ran 3 rods a piece, and it was all we could do to keep em baited and in the water.
If you haven’t seen an old article on crappie.com “Night Stalking Crappie” by Rango- then I highly recommend it. It helped me out tremendously when I first started night fishing. I keep a copy printed out in a folder, that I review periodically.
My basic setup & tips is this- 1/2 oz egg sinker on bottom, come up 18” & tie a 6” loop knot with a #2 Aberdeen hook, come up another 18” & tie another 6” loop knot with a hook. Minnows on both. Anchor up in 20-25 fow. Near a channel is preferred. A point, a ditch/slough, a flat, a bridge pylon- all will work- as long as near a creek or main river channel.
I put one anchor front port and the other rear starboard. Get em tight and a 45 degree angle in the ropes, and they’ll hold you, even if there’s a night bass tournament going on, and you’re getting waked every 5 minutes.
I count down my depth by pulls. From the reel to the first eyelet. So I’ll put one rod at 4 pulls, 5 pulls, 6 pulls, etc. Once I see what depth they’re hitting, set em all to that depth.
I prefer green LED lights for drawing the fish in. And also use a black light to illuminate my fishing line. I use fluorescent mono.
Clear lakes tend to do better than severely stained ones. And I catch predominantly black crappie. So, if you have a clear lake with a good population of black crappie- you might give night fishing a try. Hope this helps someone, and good luck.
Fixed some beer batter, some corn meal. A little loaded potato salad with cheddar cheese & bacon bits, and some hush pups...
