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1st off I'd like to introduce myself. My is Ken and I fish NW PA. I want to thank everyone for letting me join your online community. I'm an avid cat fisherman and as of late have become very interested in a new fishing hobby, crappie. I'm a shore bound angler and want to learn as much as possible about catching crappie from the bank. I will take any and all pointers and share what limited knowledge I have. I look forward to to hearing from you all. Thanks
Well....if your unattached always a chance you could snag a rich woman with a nice boat.
Other than that the big problem bank fishing is finding a good place from the bank. And sometimes once you find them it's about how hard are they to get too.But hey walking a lot will make you healthy.
Lord knows I spent some time bank fishing.
Here's a couple tip's. Sometimes if you're just setting on the bank anyway. You can put out a minnow trap while you fish and catch some bait in the right waters. Night fishing around areas that have lights on the water in a good spot will yield some fish at times. If the fish are close in and spooky a lively minnow on a bare hook and unweighted line tossed gently in to them will make them bite when they are in a real skittish mood.
:welcome Welcome aboard from East Central Mississippi. You have sure came to the right place to learn what ever you need to crappie fish. There is tons of good information in the Crappie.com forums to read and learn from. You can also ask questions on all of the forums and there is a state forum to ask question close to where you may be fishing. They are also YouTube videos of how to fish for crappie from the banks if you don't have access to a boat. By the way we also have a catfish forum here on crappie.com also. Good to have you aboard and I will be looking forward to seeing your fishing reports and pictures. Here is a video of Richard Gene fishing from the bank for crappie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYyXISKFYXA
Thanks for the info. Sounds like I need to lace up my boots and do some exploring on bank. Especially out of reach spots that you have to break a sweat to find.
Thanks for the video link. I've only been an official member 30 minutes and folks are sharing info already. I'm glad I found this site.
I started from the bank many years ago. I would go on government land that bordered the Lake and haul a bucket of minnows almost a half mile to tree blow downs I knew about. Look on google earth. It a great resource to find things hidden in the water. As the passion for crappie grew I purchased a used very cheap kayak. I had to save up a dollar here and there to buy one. Took a lot less time to get to my spot and haul my gear. I eventually moved up to a boat. I still don’t know a lot but I can go out and usually catch a fish. Now I have a expensive boat and all the fancy electronics. I actually think I catch less fish than I did in that little kayak or off the bank. I think it is always best to learn from the simple ways. I think if a lot of us turn off our electronic devices and went back to what we learn as a kids we might fish a lot better. Good luck and you are in the right place to learn. These folks always answer if the craziest questions I’ve asked.
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Here is a tip for bank fishing. Looks can be deceiving. What is below the water can be totally different what above looks like. An example: A road bridge has rock riprap all over the bank. No trees, no blow downs etc. Most people would just drive past that because it looks plain and boring. Underwater near the rocks are minnows/shad. Crappie follow the chuck wagon so fish will be there escorting the food supply. It still doesn't look like a good spot from the road but the fish like it. Fishing spots are like some lures... attracts fishermen more than the fish.
I agree with the above. I too think I caught more fish from a 14' flat bottom boat than I do with my 17' with 2 depth finders and remote trolling motor. You could find a small flat bottom and a trolling motor for 2-300 used if you search hard. I also caught fish from the bank because I didn't own a boat until after I got married.
I think the biggest problem I'm having so far is finding the correct rod and reel combo to toss light baits. Coming from catfishing to Crappie there is a bit of a casting curve to overcome. I can launch 3-4 ounces of lead and bait a country mile but a crappie bait is like casting into a hurricane not to mention the minnow that likes to fly off when you want to put some real backhand into it.
Get yourself a 6.5 to 7 foot light or med light spinning rod paired with decent spinning reel. Makes casting small jigs, jig/float, minnow/float very easy. Also use light line, 2-6 pound test
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Any brands that your more fond of? I need to keep price in a reasonable range to satisfy my wife's record keeping, if you know what I mean.
If you go by popular brands .... you're probably looking at $100 for a decent rod/reel. Sims is correct about rod length .... as 6.5ft is probably the shortest you'd want to use, and a 7-8ft rod would be way better if you're considering using a float. The extra length in those rods will help you take up the slack on the hookset, without having to run backwards up the bank or cranking like a madman before setting the hook. :biggrinQuote:
Originally Posted by Kencamp
Whatever reel you decide to get ... and make sure it balances well with the rod weight/length ... get one with a long or wide spool. That will give you greater distance on your cast.
Whatever rod you get ... it would be better for it to have a fast or very fast action tip, rather than a slow-moderate action. They cast farther & put more power in the hookset, as well as also keeping you from having to jerk the rod back over your head to compensate for the rod bend (of the slower action parabolic bend rods have).
This is all just my opinion, and others may differ ... and that's OK, because different people like different things. :ThumbsUp
You will get all kinds of responses to that. But for me when I'm buying an inexpensive set, which I keep a couple in my truck at all times in case they were stolen or damaged. I go with an ugly stick or Shakespeare excursion paired with shimano sienna size 1000 front drag. Runs around 50 for both. Works well. Now, that being said, I usually use B'n'M poles and either shimano or pflueger reels but I'm fishing from boat 95% of time. Now my boat is small and nothing fancy. 14 foot Polarcraft from the 60's and mid 90's Johnson 15. Just remember you don't need big or expensive to catch fish.
Agree 100% with CP
Thanks for all the info guys. I feel I'm already behind the eight ball in getting started. It looks like weather in NW PA is finally going to break in the 7-10 days. I'm just chomping at the bit to get some kind of combo to at least start with.