Hey everyone,
It seems that alot of people switch to other species after the crappie spawn so I was wondering, do you continue to crappie fish through the summer and if so, where do you find them and how do you catch them?
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Hey everyone,
It seems that alot of people switch to other species after the crappie spawn so I was wondering, do you continue to crappie fish through the summer and if so, where do you find them and how do you catch them?
Summertime Crappie Fishing is my favorite time of the year. If you can stand the heat. Crappie will be hanging out in standing timber and shallow stumps.
I use to fish for whatever was biting. A fair weather fisherman! Now, I primarily fish for Crappie and Catfish.
I'm trying to learn how to catch Crappie year round. One of the best thing I ever did was start hiring guides. You'll learn a lot by watching what they do and asking questions.
EB said something the first time I went out with him. It has stayed with me ever since. He probably doesn't recall saying it, but it stuck with me as one of those simple truths in life. It was an "Aha" moment! He said
"People fish for Crappie during the spawn because they know where to find them. If they could find them at other times of the year, they'd fish for them then"
"Finding them" has been my problem, but the learning curve has been flattened out a lot by hiring guides at these times and then taking what I learn and applying it to lakes I fish.
Brian showed me how to catch Crappie along ripraps and standing timber in Summer and I've been able to replicate those patterns on other lakes. The really cool thing is that the fish are shallow usually, even when it's in the 90's or above. I'll catch them in less than 5 feet of water. Now that's some fun :D
This year, I look forward to trying night time fishing and also giving longline trolling a try. It seems to be a popular technique in other states (here's a thread on the main board) Longlining for Summer Crappie
Let's make this a Sticky until the end of the Summer. WTG Meatdragger, good idea!
Thanks Reaper, good idea to make a sticky out of this. My learning curve has certainly steepened thanks to this board as well as, Lip Rippers, EB, Chatt Martin, Odie and others. I never would have tried fishing shallow for crappie during the summer until now. I am indebted to many of you. Thank you again.
I have to go to Tenkiller for my wifes family reunion on June 17th and I plan on fishing the shallow stump fields in Sallisaw Creek on Kerr. I have heard reports that the water temp already is around 80 degs in that creek.
I used to be a spawn only crappie fisherman and a bass fisherman the rest of the time. In the last 7 years I have been bass fishing less than 10 times. I forced myself to try and learn how to catch crappie year round. I did that by reading every article I could find on summer, fall, and winter crappie fishing and fishing every time I got the chance. The summer and winter are now my favorite times to fish. There are a lot less people out fishing and it is a whole lot like hunting. If you know me, you know hunting deer is my other passion. Since this thread is about summertime fishing, I will talk about the pattern I have found during the summer. When the water temps approach the mid 80's and the water becomes still (no current) the thermacline develops. The fish will not go below the thermacline due to low oxygen levels. If you have a good quality locator and turn up the sensitivity the thermacline line is visible. It is a solid line on my locator. On Oologah, on the main lake, that usually is no deeper than 16 feet. Brushpiles in less than 16 fow are what to look for and the fish are usually suspended above the brush. My son and I caught them on brush in 6- 8 fow last summer. My favorite summetime piles on Oologah are in 12- 14 fow. I also have found fishing during the summer on Oologah that minnows out perform jigs. I am a die hard jig man but fish with minnows most of the time when fishing summertime brushpiles on Oologah. Dipping standing timber can be fun, with early morning and late evening being the best for me. If you can find them during the summer, you can load the boat in a very short period of time. Hope this helps and everyone else weigh in and give us some tips.
Odie
We fished up in the creeks during summer years ago to escape the boats and weekend warriors, and to our surprise found the crappie as well. I love to vertical jig timber and laydowns in the summer. The weather and water levels are stable and once you pattern them it's very predictable every time out. I'm like Odie...hate minnows but late summer / early fall sometimes that's all they will hit. One year in early Sept. we fished Rock Creek and a dead minnow is the ONLY bait they would hit, we finished the day with 90.
Odie, your experiences with fishing them on brush during the summer are the exact same as mine although I like to go a little shallower and seem to catch less small ones when I do. I believe what you say about the thermocline to be true and I began to explain this in the Oologah thread when Peke asked me about the summer pattern on Oologah but until you confirmed my thoughts, it was just a theory of mine and my fishing buddies. I'm glad to have someone else confirm it for us.
I will say this, once things settle for the summer, if you can find them you will probably catch them there ALL summer. It's a great time to fish for them.
As I said in the Oologah thread, I would like to try dipping some timber as well. I think I might catch bigger fish dipping timber than I do fishing brush.
It seems strange to people to catch crappie so shallow during the summer. I see people trying to fish deep piles because they figure the fish want to be down in the cool water but that isn't the case.
It's good to hear most of us are still out hunting them. The forum just seems to slow down duringthe summer so I assumed alot of people were moving on to catfish and sandies. It's just a busy time of year I guess.
Stay after them and good luck everybody!
Meatdragger, It is getting close to time for the summer pattern to start. Once the lake stabilizes it will be on. The water temp was 84 last Thursday. I'll PM you my phone number, call when you are coming up this summer and me and my 13 year old son will meet you on the lake. I absolutely love the summertime fishing on Oologah. I'm going to experiment with another new pattern this summer and will report the results.
Odie
I've had days that the only thing that would get bit was a dead minnow. Is why I stopped chumming the water with them.
My best days have come in the heat of summer. Usually fishing standing timber in 12-20 fow with the crappie suspended anywhere from 4' down. I have found that the better ones are usually huggin the bottom. Just a note on winter fishing, when I was first starting to get into crappie fishing, a lady who was an avid crappie fisherperson (?) told me the best days are the ones that are so cold and bad that you have to convice yourself to go. I think that applies to summer time also, the hotter the better!
Now all the Ham&Eggers are gone and the true crappie men go to work you can still fill the boat just like spawning time if you got good electronics and know how to use them its no secret to catching them just dont stay in one place to long if the bigger ones arent there and as Odie said ya better have a bucket of minners with ya might save ya from a wash out If I can help any of you let me know
Absolutely have minnows with you. I caught more last Thursday on jigs than I had in my entire life!! about 10. Minnows, don't leave home without them!!
minners...they do best!:p;):D
Summer crappie fishing can be extremely fun when you find them. The pattern can fall on two planes: one being deep brush piles, and the other being shallow timber. When you talk about deep brush it depends on the lake you fish. We normally fish brush no deeper than 15ft. on Oologah. In the timber I simply bounce around until we find a pattern. You would be amazed how shallow some of them slabs will be. I waste very little time when timber fishing, it's more of a dip and rip. If they are there you'll know it, plus I'm trying to fish as many trees as possible, and I'm looking for Big Momma or Daddy. I have found that the warmer the water temp the better the timber fishing. That means in the dead dog heat of the day you can be out there killing them, but you have to be safe. Don't be afraid to try different techniques for summer crappie. Trolling cranks on Oologah can be deadly. We have loaded up a ice chest on numerous trips trolling bandits (200 & 300 series). When trolling cranks remember you are fishing for crappie not sandbass, so slow down. We watch many sandbass fishermen trolling around us catching sandies while we are moving slower catching crappie. Summer crappie will let you know how fast or slow you should go. Slow trolling is also a method i use during the summer once we locate the fish. Don't put up the rods, but if you do that means I have a better chance a catching that Big one.
The consensus seems to be that minnow work better during the summer. Just curious, do you all typically rig minnows on a jig head or with a hook and split shot? Or does it depend on how your fishing it?
I never use jigs with minnows. I just hook them up thru the bottom of the lips with a minnow hook and a split shot about 6 inches up. I used to put the split shot about 12 inches up but I found this gives the minnow too much line to roam around and get caught in the brush. Also, the deeper I'm fishing , the bigger the shot I use.Quote:
Originally Posted by schifendecker
#2 circle hook the same way. If I find they are holding out from the tree or brush I still put the split shot a little higher but if they are tight, just like you said, you have to put them on a little shorter leash!!Quote:
Originally Posted by meatdragger
It's no secret that day in and day out, minnows will out-produce jigs on Oologah, due to water clarity. However, I've found during the summer, jigs can produce some good fish and nice stringers buy changing jig colors during the day.
If the bite slows down on a particular color, change. I usually keep several rods rigged with different colors, and switch back and forth several times during the day.
Gman.
Gman, can you elaborate on your water clarity theory? Is it the murky water that makes minnows better than jigs? I can't see the reason in that since Eufaula is just as murky and jigs far out produce minnows, at least for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gamblinman
I'll guess I'll just ask a general question to everyone. What do you think is the difference between Oologah and Eufaula that makes minnows better at one and jigs better at the other?
I think it's what your best at or what's triggering the bite that day. Post front bites here on Eufaula....big shiners always catch more & bigger crappie than do jigs. E.B. uses both when spiderriggin and the numbers back that up. Huckabee is jig only, and I suspect so is Barry. Speculate on this theory....a moving/swimming bait vs. a stationary bait? I believe on days they wont move to get a bait you have to slow WAY down. But on the peak feeding times your catch rate triples on jigs because there's no hook baiting downtime? It's been a while since I've fished Oolagah and we did good on jigs most of the time. And falling water levels present a tough day for jigs on any lake.
Has anyone had any luck on the summer patterns yet? If I get a chance to throw the boat in this weekend I'd like to throw out a minner and see what happens. Fishing report this week had Hugo water temp at 73, for some reason I think it is higher than that, but I am pretty sure in the shallows on the north end and river channel it is more. There is a good stand of timber that is 6 -10 fow off the river channel before it goes into the lake that I would like to try out some of these guerilla tactics. Any thoughts?
I'm having good luck catching fish on the summer pattern in brush as shallow as 10 feet. I would look for brush or timber in the 10 to 15 foot range and drop minnows down beside it off the bottom a little. You should catch some fish. Good luck and let us know how you do.Quote:
Originally Posted by mudcreeker
I fish all year round, and use the same pattern unless it is spawn. I fish structure in 8-14 ft of water depending on the lake level. The crappie are always just off the bottom around this structure, and when I say around I mean that you don't need to fish right in the structure. I think the crappie cruise around and and around the structure, because sometime you can get a bite and then nothing for a few minutes and then another. This can go on for a while and then you may catch several fish before the pattern starts again. So i don't know, but it seems to me they are either going around or in and out, what ever. I have caught fish at Tbird in the same structure in this same pattern all year round. I have caught them in 104 degrees and 36 degrees out of the same spot, sam depth. So all my ideas from years ago about how to fish crappie i threw out the window about 10 years ago when I put my fist structure in the lake.
Man I have enjoyed reading this thread. I love to talk patterns and techniques. Here is some summer patterns: Shallow dippin' pattern (jigs) 1ft visibilty or less in 1-5ft of water, Deep brush piles (without a doubt Minnows)8-20ft and deeper (clearer water), Crank baiting pushing or pulling (Muddy-clear). Night fishing with submersible lights (Minnows in clear water), and the Huckabee pattern(jigs, 3-12ft stained water). With all these patterns we fish lets remeber the most important things. The Therma-cline and bait fish. I spend the majority of my trips teaching people new techniques the most popular one is spider rigging jigs and minnows. In the summer I spider-rig very little simply because I haven't had much success with it like I do in the fall, spring, and winter. I love to get out try new things, that is what makes our sport awesome. EB
Brian, You know were fixin to get some major current through the bridges this coming week? Whats your take on a current pattern?
Get on the rip-rap there will be tons of fish around the bridges. The rule of thumb is when the water is high fish the rip-rap. When the water is low find the wood! EB
What about all of that red, muddy water this week.....Hwy 69 bridge near Hwy 9-A bridge? What a muddy mess! How long do you think it will last? We went camping for 4 days this week and it got gradually worse. We left Eufaula today. Is it coming from OK City's flood?
This has been a tremendous read and help. I'm really looking forward to trying this out myself now in the very near future.
yes...it's coming from the North and South Canadian riversQuote:
Originally Posted by peke
Don't crappie prefer muddy/stained water?
Hey Peke,
After vacation you should check out Oolagah cause the bite has been pretty good there and real close to home. The water is fairly clean below Winganon. And this is off topic but do you raise pekes? We have a cute male thats just over five weeks if you know anyone interested. He'll be ready for a new home in July.
Sorry...off topic.
Well I wouldn't say we raise them...they seem to be in charge. We are just there because they can't reach doorknobs and open dog food containers! :D We also have two collies....all dogs have been fixed. My first peke lived over 18 years. We have two pekes inside with the two collies outside...except when the heat gets over 95...the collies come inside.
Our vet says she wants to be reincarnated as one of our dogs! :D
So you breed pekes? We've never had a male before. Can you PM me with a picture. I love pekes personality.
Peke
Froggie,
I will check out Oologah when I can get some time and talk my husband into going. Had some trouble with my boat last week so I have to figure it out first.
Peke
Peke
I'll work on sending you a pic. Sorry bout the boat. Mine's given me an issue this year but I think I got it resolved.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crappieguru
CrappieGuru,
I was wondering if you weigh down your cranks? I've seen people use a 3way swivel rig to be able to use like a 2-3 oz lead to get the crank down deep. Just wondering...I am green around the gills and oologah is my home lake..trying to get as many tips as possible.
Thanks
As EB said "Great Read"
Thanks to all who replied. I have a lot to learn.
Okfishing,
I typically don't weigh down my cranks. The only time I've done it is when I fished a tournament up at lake stocken. The only reason we did that was because the lake is clear which caused the fish to be 20 plus feet deep. Plus we were using 14ft slow trolling rods to push them not pull them.
Great read. I've been the Mississippi River in WI for Crappies. This thread has opened my eyes to try some new things. But I have found Crappies in the evenings hanging out is mid to shallow depth weed edges near break lines/drop offs. Usually using plastics or minners.
Great information from all.
You really know you're addicted to crappie fishing when you fish for them year around. Without a doubt fishing during the summer is the most predictable for me. The way I look at is, how does the weather affect me while I fish. The winter has deadly conditions and is by far the worst conditions that affect how well I can fish. On the other hand the summer is tough too but I can always fish from daylight till noon and be off the water before it gets too hot and I'm totally comfortable while fishing. It's also a lot easier to jump in the water and cool off if I need to. The crappie are really predictable in the summer time too. The crappie want shade and they get that from brush piles and standing timber. I know where my best brush piles or standing timber are and I know they will be there. There are several methods that almost always work and all I have to do is find out what they like best or do several of them at the same time. On a normal summer day I will try to get to my brush pile before the sun comes up. I'll position my boat 10 to 15 yards away from the brush pile and I'll cast a 1/16oz weedless jig past the brush pile and drag the jig as slow as I can back through the pile. I can usually catch the biggest fish off the pile casting because the big crappie rule the pile. Casting usually works for the first 30 minutes to an hour after sunrise. After that I'll move in a little closer and pitch a jig with 10 to 12ft of line out and let it pendulum back to vertical straight under the rod. When the early jig bit slows I'll go to minnows. I set up 3 or 4 rods with a splitshot a foot up from a minnow hook and start at a depth of 8/10ft and fish those straight down. After I have those rigged and in the water I use another rod to drop shot another minnow. I use a small bell sinker and a hook on a 2/3" loop knot 18/24" above the bell sinker. I cast this rig all around the pile and slowly drag it along bottom and let it set for 15 to 30 seconds after each drag. I try to leave enough slack in the line to not spook the fish when they pick it up. Usually during the summer I find it very difficult to fish with this rig because I'm catching so many fish off the other 3 or 4 rods. I usually go through a half a pound of minnows before noon and a normal day would be 30/50 keeper crappie on any given summer day on Oologah. That's why I say the summer is the most predictable time to catch crappie. A rule of thumb I use on my minnow rods set straight down is to change the depth deeper when I haven't had a bite in 15/20 minutes. Dropping the hook down another 2/4" works almost every time. I immediately start getting bites again. The fish move deeper into the pile as the day gets hotter. Fishing with minnows is not as fun as jigs, but at least you can usually catch some on jigs really early in the morning. Also, If you can be lucky enough to be there when a thunderstorm blows in, things can get downright outstanding.