FISHING FOR CRAPPIE

As you can see from my photos, I love to fish for Crappie! The top photo, I'm holding a nice Black Crappie and in the bottom pic I have a very nice White Crappie! These fish are actually two different Crappie species but both are excellent fish to catch. The difference in the two is in the markings and in the dorsal fins. Notice, on the Black Crappie, its color is generally darker with dark spots on its sides that have no apparent pattern. The White Crappie is a lighter color and its side markings run in a vertical bar pattern. The White Crappie seem to grow to a larger size and weight. As mentioned earlier, both are an excellent fish to catch! They are agressive hard fighters and "OH" so good to eat! Both these fish will range in a shallower water level than other fish but, like all fish, will need to search out deeper areas due to weather conditions. Notice that their eyes are situated on top of their heads which shows that they feed on object above them. When fishing for Crappie I generally do not fish deeper than 6-9 feet. The most popular method of fishing for Crappie is to use minnows for bait. Rig your line with a light and thin gage hook and add some light weight, such as split shot, about a foot above the hook. I prefer to use a stick bobber rather than a round one. The stick bobber gives less resistance to the fish and is easier to pull under than a round bobber. These fish have a tissue thin mouth area so there is no need to "CROSS HIS EYES" when setting the hook! Being gentle will help to prevent the hook from tearing out and give you more opportunity of taking more fish home! Another effective method is to use small jigs in the 1/32 to 1/8 oz.size. Either soft plastic tails or maribou work really good. Use these either under a bobber or just cast them on light weight tackle. These fish travel in schools so once you find them you should be able to catch a bunch in a short amount of time! These are great fish for the kids to catch so take them out and have a blast!