Crappie fishing 101...

Hey guys, I am a "new" crappie addict. Have very little knowledge of the procedures used to procure a boat full of these heavenly creatures. What I would like to do is tap the resources this board and its members have to offer. I don't want any "secret information". I would just like "tips" I can use to locate and catch these things here in the central AR area on a somewhat consistent basis. What I ask of you is to post just one or two tips you can give to a beginner like myself that I can apply to my extremely limited crappie fishing tactics.
Maybe one day I can post pics of my "slow day" limit of two pound slabs. ;)

Thanks in advance. :D

Call in sick and go fishing, A LOT!!!

So Hungry - What areas will you be fishing?

Start off with a good 11' crappie pole. Get a light plastic reel. The lighter the better you will have it in your hand all day. Get some good line. I use big game 8lb. Buy some 1/32, 1/16 and 1/8 jig heads. Lead head. Dont worry about color yet. Believe me the day will come you will have all colors. Start with tube body jigs. Black & chartreuse, red & chartreuse, white & chartreuse and blue & white. Get a boat seat and a paddle - find a lake. Find a top and go fishing.

cwalt-I fish every chance I get, just not always productive. (sigh, I should probably change my screen name to "Skunked".
Midsouth- I fish Conway (Palarm, Gold Creek, Greens Lake mostly) also Peckerwood, Pickthorne, Harris Brake for the most part.
Billy E-Pole, check. reel, check. I use braided line in heavy cover, stained water and 6# flourocarbon (spelling?) trilene when its clear. I almost always fish with 1/32 jigs. Have built up a pretty good collection of tube jigs. Have a flat bottom, graph, trolling motor, marker bouys and empty livewell. I have the "stuff" just short on talent and experience.

Keep at it Hungry!!!...Sounds like you are well on your way. Just keep moving, deep, shallow,slow, fast....Maybe someone in your area will offer you a trip. We all have our good and bad days. Well most of us...Oh, and stay off of gold creek, I hear it's PRIVATE!:eek:

I suggest a cheap depthfinder with transducer on the foot of your trolling motor. Cheap etrex gps to locate your spots so your not wasting time looking. I use 12' bucks jig poles with 8' line and nothing but 1/8 oz leadheads using large umbrella tubes. You will either hate or love big jigs. Here everyone I fish with is swaping because we all verticle jig cover (brushpiles, pallet beds, and bamboo). Those heavy jigs have bigger hooks to hold slabs. the weight gets them down into the cover and easy to keep in contact. Also if you don't set hook into cover alot of times we are able to just shake them loose from hangs.

I have a decent depthfinder. (depth, water temp, shows fish I cant catch) GPS is on my "list" (that way I can go back to the exact location of the last time I got skunked...hehehe) I will try the larger jig heads. I'll just have to get used to the way they feel. After fishing with the 1/32 the 1/8 feels like an anchor.

You might want to start trolling. Now that another story

I think one of the most important things you can do is take these forum guys seriously...there is no "silver bullet" (IMHO) for crappie fishing...like the man said go a lot...for me, any fish is easier to catch than a crappie...it gets frustrating, but it also keeps me trying...I feel your pain...

Try to go with someone you know that has some success on your local area lakes. Most of these guys have normal fishing buddies but occasionally will have an empty seat.

A guide is well worth the money if you go to learn techniques and some of these guys even do this service when they are not chasing the spawn or the tournaments.

Knowing where crappie are during the time of year you are fishing is the ultimate key! When you learn this piece of the puzzle, the rest is easier to figure out in my opinion like jig size, color, live bait or not, line weight, etc.

Gold Creek private huh? That explains a lot. Every time I fish there I just try to keep my head down and my nose clean. Theres one pile I'll fish hard then hit a few blank spots on the way out. ;)
I know what you mean on catching everything but crappie. I cant keep those crumb snatching, bait wrecking, green carp off my hook. I know there is an art to this crappie fishing stuff. I know there is a time and a place for different techniques. Just not sure what to do and when to do it. Not looking for a "silver bullet". Just would like to be able to know what I should do and when under such and such conditions. My current fishing technique consists of: 1. find structure "deep". 2. drop jig (normally white, yellow, chartreuse or pink) to bottom. 3. hold still for a min. 3a. jig it slowly a little. 3b. jig it quickly. 4. move up a foot or so and repeat #3. 4. continue moving up about a foot at a time until I run out of water. 5. curse crappie and the wind. 6. tip jig with minnow. 7. repeat above. 8. tip with crappie nibble. 9. repeat above. 10. move around the pile, top, brush or structure. 11. repeat above 12. change jig color/skirt color. 13. repeat above. 14. move shallow and repeat above. 15. go home, lick my wounds, eat a hamburger. To me I don't understand how that COULD NOT catch crappie. :D