I'm seriously thinking about trying to learn the art of catching crappie at night. I've read some of your posts. High Rock is my home lake. Any advice, suggestions, or do's and don'ts would be appreciated.
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I'm seriously thinking about trying to learn the art of catching crappie at night. I've read some of your posts. High Rock is my home lake. Any advice, suggestions, or do's and don'ts would be appreciated.
Scout for fish before the sun sets. They won't move far from those spots.
Don't fall out of the boat.
I prefer hanging a Coleman white gas lantern about 2' above head high and 3' off the side of the boat. It will draw the bugs, they die, feed baitfish, bait fish feeding draws in crappie and every other species in the area. Plus the bugs bother the light, not you. If no one smokes in the boat, bring incense, mosquitoes don't like smoke.
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Find a brush pile or a drop-off and set up. I usually fish water 20-30 ft deep with lines 10, 12, 15 ft down.
I tried the night crappie thang on Tuesday night. Didn’t know there going to be fireworks a day early. Setup under the #8 bridge a tad early, then rose the waves as the party boat convoy.came through. Used minnows and fished from top to bottom with a green LED submersible. Caught 2 smalls and several perch. Always heard, “follow the bait”. Well I couldn’t have gotten any closer to the bait! Bait was swarming in clumps. I guess I’ll try it again, looking for some brush or other structure.
Attachment 309495Attachment 309496
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july/aug is my time out there at night, how deep was the water you were in? nice bait photos, i like it around 20' most of the time, usually takes till after 10pm before the action heats up, fun stuff,Quote:
Originally Posted by oljd
If I recall correctly, water was 25’-30’ deep. I was there until about 12:30 or so. I tried the light at about 3’ and then moved it down to about 8’ to see if that helped. Not much help, other than the bait either went deeper or moved on.
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Just me in my opinion. I would try to keep the bait closer to the top. My lights are just under the surface a few inches to light up the area I want to fish. The bait then comes closer to me and I don't have to search as hard to find the comfort zone. Eventually the crappie will be just beneath the bait circling the lights. I'm not quite lighting up 360 degree area under the boat.
Thanks for the advice BigDawgg. I’ll definitely give it another shot at some point. As much bait as I saw, I was truly expecting to catch some crappie. I need to spend some time searching for brush at the right depth, but also need to upgrade my electronics to make it a bit easier as I have limited time to spend riding around in search. Advice welcomed. Thanks again.
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The crappie will eat bait at the outside edge of the bait ball. They won't be in the middle eating. Fish the fringe.
ITs not crappie and minnows, but its the same concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA5mn423F9g
if you build it, they will come, ive put down over 10 fish condos thru the years at falls, they do produce, have fun
I tried about every location on the bait ball, edges, bottom (I assume), middle, etc. I will focus more on the edges next time. Thanks for the advice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanr3
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This is a very good point. I guess that’s a good project for me to start on. Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by albiechaser
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ive got them at different depths, from 15 to 30 FOW, very rewarding when they produce, one ive caught over 300 crappie on, its near a drop off to 30fow sitting in about 23fow, i night stalk it this time of year, fun stuff, never put the light deeper then 3 fow,
Now that’s what I’m looking for :) Thanks for the advice!
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I use 1 9in green light, depends on the clarity of the water on how deep i put it, usually around 2 to 3 feet, you want to watch the show, lol an all the lights in the boat are off, your eyes will adjust, my head lamp has a red light option, thats all ya need to bait your hook, bugs will eat you up if ya keep your lights on, just be careful if theres another boat moving around you, flip the lights on so they know your there, if your in a cove no need to worry then, presentation is important too, i use one rod with a minnow, start out with your minnow just below the light, then with the bail kept open, release one round of line, wait about 3 to 5 sec then do it again, all the way to the bottom, then a very slow retrieve back up, its deadly on em, good fishing,
Attachment 310017 this is at the back of the boat and i had just as many up front
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This is our bait light in action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUTWmqrrIOA
I use a similar tactic when vertical jigging, so this makes good sense. When their close, they can’t resist most of the time. If/when I try again, I’ll report back. Thanks again!Quote:
Originally Posted by albiechaser
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That’s funny. Is Illinois on the other side of the equator? :) the big swarm around my light was going counter clockwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanr3
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The more you go the more you'll learn and it will pay off soon. :twocents :biggrin