Gave up, reeled up... and caught fish.

I'm a newbie to Crappie fishing. I've mostly been a bass fisherman most of my life, but grew up catching anything that swims - saltwater or fresh. I've hung out mostly in brackish water - VA, FL, LA.

Anyway, I just recently started purposely targeting Crappie. I've caught them before on accident, while fishing for other fish. But since I moved to my current location and found there are several "electric only" lakes around me (and kayaks, etc... just no gas powered boats allowed), and found they are good for Crappie fishing, my interest in them has peaked.

I've struggled though. Followed lots of advice online, got some great suggestions, tried a bunch of different things.

The other day, I had all but given up. It was my 11th Crappie trip out this year (specifically trying to catch Crappie), and I had once again come up empty handed. As I was fishing lures that had added scent on them, plus some Gulp minnows, I didn't want to pull them completely out of the water, so I reeled them up to just below the surface, and started moving along the bank, casting a little Beetle Spin, trying to catch some small Bass....

.... and that's when it happened. I got a bite. 12" Crappie that hit my lure that was inches under the surface. I left both rigged lines out and caught two little yellow Perch like that as well. Then caught a Crappie super shallow on the little Beetle Spin.

I have been fishing too deep. All my fish were inches from the surface. Someone told me Crappie "don't look down", so the lure has to be above them for them to strike. is that accurate?

I don't know why the picture is sideways. It's not like that on my phone or computer.

All the best,
Glenn

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Crappie don't make a habit of "looking down" (because of where their eyes are located), but they will "go down" after food if they see it first. Even so, it's best to always try and keep your bait above or level with them.

One thing a lot of people do is --- start shallow & gradually move deeper. Not a bad strategy IMHO.

As far as your picture being sideways ... some phones seem to do that, but it's not entirely their fault. Every picture has a orientation code assigned to it, and sometimes the site doesn't read that code (for whatever reason) and tries to "correct" the orientation, which ends up turning the picture 1/4 turn to the left. My best advice is to download the Crappie.com app to your phone and post your pics from it. If you're not wanting to hunt/punch your message on your phone's keyboard, then take the pic and post it in the Testing Area forum, then use your computer to post your message and then go to the Testing Area forum and copy the pic & return to your message box and paste the pic under your message. *Note : click the Enter Key once or twice after typing in your message, THEN paste the picture ... that gives it some separation.

On the phone app : open it and then click on "More Forums" .... then on "Miscellaneous Forums" ... then "Testing Area". (on your computer, the Testing Area is at the bottom of the screen) Play around with it & see how the pics turn out before posting them ... that's what it's there for. Any and all pics you have on your phone or computer will likely be turned if you use them, but any pic taken after downloading the app & posting them thru it will likely come out oriented exactly how you took them.

Best we can tell ... sideways pics are a product of many updates/upgrades to the phone and/or the site, over time, and they sometimes conflict with what the actual orientation code is supposed to be.

Good job on being patient and not giving up. Funny what works sometimes. I had a similar experience just the other night; I was in deep water of about 25' and had my line hanging off the back of the boat from one pole while I changed baits on the other lines. Maybe a foot deep. I caught the movement of the tip of the rod out of the corner of my eye and a big bluegill had inhaled that lure and was just sitting there with it.
But now you've just added a new wrinkle in your brain for your future crappie catching and I'll bet your next one comes quicker on the next trip. If you have a 1/32 oz. Roadrunner in your arsenal, thread on a small plastic and toss and retrieve that in that same depth of water and see if you don't get a few strikes. That Beetlespin is also good for that; I should use it more but the RR has been working for me.

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Originally Posted by 6poundtest

Good job on being patient and not giving up. Funny what works sometimes. I had a similar experience just the other night; I was in deep water of about 25' and had my line hanging off the back of the boat from one pole while I changed baits on the other lines. Maybe a foot deep. I caught the movement of the tip of the rod out of the corner of my eye and a big bluegill had inhaled that lure and was just sitting there with it.
But now you've just added a new wrinkle in your brain for your future crappie catching and I'll bet your next one comes quicker on the next trip. If you have a 1/32 oz. Roadrunner in your arsenal, thread on a small plastic and toss and retrieve that in that same depth of water and see if you don't get a few strikes. That Beetlespin is also good for that; I should use it more but the RR has been working for me.

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Yeah, I'm in the Road Runner camp, as well. Beetlespins work OK, but I've fished against people throwing them & smoked them with a 1/16oz marabou Road Runner.

I generally trim the marabou on RR's out of the package, cutting the tail off halfway between the hook bend & the longest feathers of the tail. Mostly I do that so that Bluegill & other panfish species don't just nip at the end of the tail. Usually, if they're committed (or big enough) they'll suck in the whole thing. I've found Crappie seem to prefer the short/stubby appearance of the trimmed RR, as well. Plus, there's less feather length, so it doesn't get tangled in the blade swivel as often.

Congratulations sir! Pappy has a wealth of knowledge for sure! I use his methodology of shallow to deeper waters myself. Once you find them the THUMP is addicting!

Road runners will typically wear out beetle spins on crappie , if you are unsure of where to begin your crappie hunt a tandem jig set up is a thought.
I would suggest staying close to cover in the water that has lots of depth transition . Berkeley glo brand crappie nibbles on each jig and keep it slow , sometimes they will chase a bait , but like to ambush from cover more often than not .
Lots of spots don’t have adequate cover , so bridges and docks are a great start and fallen trees as well . As stated you will ketch lots more of them with your bait slightly above them .
Luck to ya ,,,

I have some tiny Road Runners, but they have little grub tails on them, vice marabou. I threw the grub tipped ones the other day, but the blades weren’t turning at all. The bait just kinda came through the water like a dead weight. I’ll look into some with marabou though.

They seem to like the brown / greens and dark lures where I was. They didn’t hit any of the white lures I threw earlier in the day. Carmel Apple Berkley Atomic Teasers got the most attention. Wonder if they make RRs in green…. ��

All the best,
Glenn

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Originally Posted by Cajuntec

I have some tiny Road Runners, but they have little grub tails on them, vice marabou. I threw the grub tipped ones the other day, but the blades weren’t turning at all. The bait just kinda came through the water like a dead weight. I’ll look into some with marabou though.

They seem to like the brown / greens and dark lures where I was. They didn’t hit any of the white lures I threw earlier in the day. Carmel Apple Berkley Atomic Teasers got the most attention. Wonder if they make RRs in green…. 😎

All the best,
Glenn

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Sometimes, when the blade isn't turning, if you push (bend) the swivel forwards towards the head of the RR just a smidge ... it helps.

And, I haven't seen any marabou RR's in any dark "green" versions ... mostly Limetreuse (greenish chartreuse).

Nice fish and welcome aboard.