Need slap help!!!

I need help finding big crappie! every time I go out on big water I have this problem. I can catch a mess of dinks, but im tired of that. what do tournament anglers do differently to catch slab crappie? do big fish relate to different structure? do they have different feeding habits, are they even in the same area as the small ones??? im guessing years of experience helps too. but I need some tips. iv only fished perry a few times but I want to start fishing it alot more b/c its the closest crappie lake to me.( so any tips for perry would be appreciated.) :dono

The lake you fish has A LOT :ThumbsUp to do with catching dinks/slabs. Perry has a gazillion small crappie & dats what yer gona catch:banghead the most of.. Try your same tactics at Clinton or Pomona or Melvern. You just might be:yikes surprised. Ifin ya wanna slab,,,,, well Glen Elder:fingerdance has a bunch of dem. <*)}}}><

Okay that all sounds good but i saw some tourney guys catchin the heck outa 1-2 pound crappie yesterday at perry. what are they doing different??????? there has to be a secret. unless they tied up a stringer somewhere lol just kidding just kidding.

They got lucky???? LOL

1.5. Was the big fish for the tournament. But they all caught there share of Dinks. On the lake side of slough creek bridge I caught about 10 10-11" fish and about that many dinks working 10 ft of water off the rockie bank on a brUsh pile about in the middle of the rocks. Just dropping minnows (small ones at that). Keep after them, they will come. Not the largest fish as Chatt was saying, but. Good place to learn as brush is every where and trees in the creeks.

Our biggest was 1.45lbs and we use only big baits. We were using 3 inch curly tail grubs working them slow in the rocks and that was our ticket. We also caught tons of 6-8 in fish.. Most of the top groups were using big baits. Keep your head down and the the biggins will come... If you come to a tournament, the winners will tell you how they caught them and where.

thanks for all the great advice guys! Ill just have to keep after em! I was using pretty small jigs. that could of been a major factor. thanks again!

what size of jig head were you using with them grubs?

1/4 oz

An old tourney secret, if all you are catching is shorts, do something different! Change depth, location, bait size and type and even the type of structure. Just one of my old superstitions. :yikes

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Originally Posted by Crappie Chatt

The lake you fish has A LOT :ThumbsUp to do with catching dinks/slabs. Perry has a gazillion small crappie & dats what yer gona catch:banghead the most of..

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So does that mean that Perry will have small crappie for a long time because there are too many or that it will be a great lake to fish in a few years because they all grew up? Just curious because I have the same deal going at Hillsdale as sliferk does at Perry.

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Originally Posted by kopper36

So does that mean that Perry will have small crappie for a long time because there are too many or that it will be a great lake to fish in a few years because they all grew up?.

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Well,,,,,:dono but my :twocents ,,,, now give this some real thot,:o:tongue,,, you would catch bigger:fingerdance fish ifin,,,,, dem little ones would QUIT,,,,,:yikes spawning and restockin like crazy. But the liklyhood of dat happin',,,, :crazy:rotfl:HandsClapping Since the blackbass population at Perry has increased,,, maybe they will help balance it out. <*)}}}><

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Originally Posted by Crappie Chatt

Well,,,,,:dono but my :twocents ,,,, now give this some real thot,:o:tongue,,, you would catch bigger:fingerdance fish ifin,,,,, dem little ones would QUIT,,,,,:yikes spawning and restockin like crazy. But the liklyhood of dat happin',,,, :crazy:rotfl <*)}}}><

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That is one aspect I had not thought of Chat. You bring up a good point about the little ones spawning and creating more little ones. I do wonder what the impact is on a lake the size of Perry.

Well out of 1 brushpile we caught about 20 small crappie(1-9" fish I caught about 6 or 7 times,tore his lip up!) and pulled 4 keepers off of it with 1 going almost 12".It was tough for Sarah and I.She told me I need to put her on better spots! LOL :biggrin

sliferk,
If you fishing big brush and catchin dinks try gettin your jig clear to the bottom and don't work it much. Heavy jigging will get you snagged anyway. Another option is to try to find small trashcan size brush. It is usually older and have less fishing pressure. At least 2 1/2-3'' baits should be the norm for this time of year. Switch colors often and don't be afaid to go wild with the color combos.

Al

If you get real ambitious and have access to a duck boat/jonboat...launch at Lecompton on the Kansas River. Run the river up to the Deleware. Work those banks of the Deleware...and you will find good fish crappie and saugeye both. Another great spot in your area is below the power plant just east of Topeka. 12+ fish hold there year around. Rivers below Kansas reservoirs are a great place to find trophy fish. Take some time to learn how to fish them and you will have great spots for years to come. With that said watch what you eat out of them. :biggrin

we boated ALOT of dinks sunday on 3" baits. If all your boating is shorts move what that move is depth ,in side the pile out side the pile top, bottom, type of cover ,location depends on what you know about the lake your fishing and what the fish are doing that time of year. My first move is depth second is location third type of cover.

Lots of great ideas on here. The one that works best for me is to stay away from the same spots everyone else fishes every day. Either find or make new cover and take the road less traveled. We have never really focused on the size of bait but may try that in the future. My 2 cents - fish the bottom of the piles or find structure no one else fishes on a regular basis.

On a side note, lots of great ideas here. If any of you guys would like me to, PM me your recomendation or favorite tactic with your name and I will build a best of for here and on the outdoorsman. I can put together a top 10!

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Originally Posted by kingfish387

Well out of 1 brushpile we caught about 20 small crappie(1-9" fish I caught about 6 or 7 times,tore his lip up!) and pulled 4 keepers off of it with 1 going almost 12".It was tough for Sarah and I.She told me I need to put her on better spots! LOL :biggrin

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Sounds like my wife!

Hate to start a debate, but for the last few years I've been wondering if the length and creels for crappie shouldn't be re-visited? I'm not sure I believe they are doing the fisheries any good, as alot of us believed they would.

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Originally Posted by Ozark88

Sounds like my wife!

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That's my 10 year old little girl , tell'n daddy how it needs to be!!:yikes

fishlessDan, I have also thinking the length should be changed for a couple years to 9 inches and more liberal limit on Perry Lake. With that being said I feel T.J has a handle on the lake fishery and would not began to question his judgement.

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Originally Posted by fishlessDan

Hate to start a debate, but for the last few years I've been wondering if the length and creels for crappie shouldn't be re-visited? I'm not sure I believe they are doing the fisheries any good, as alot of us believed they would.

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Hmmm

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Originally Posted by Ronald Meeder

fishlessDan, I have also thinking the length should be changed for a couple years to 9 inches and more liberal limit on Perry Lake. With that being said I feel T.J has a handle on the lake fishery and would not began to question his judgement.

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Interesting

With that being said I feel T.J has a handle on the lake fishery and would not began to question his judgement.

The Kansas River below HWY 99 is pretty good as well for slabs