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Crappie fishing to most, bring visions of cool spring mornings with
fog lingering over the surface of the lake and burning off shortly
after rigging a bobber and minnow to cast to the brush pile and wait
for the Crappie to find your bait. Classic Crappie fishing to be sure
and very effective to say the least, as many of you I am sure, like
myself, grew up fishing this way almost exclusively.
In recent
years I have come to enjoy a new way, for me at least, of chasing
crappie. This way is crankbaits for crappie! In the fall, where I fish anyway, the
shad begin running the shorelines in large schools providing slab
crappie some opportunities to fatten up for the winter. It is during
this time that I have found that small crankbaits resembling these shad
work great at luring those crappie from the structure below or just the odd
cruiser that tend to just follow the schools of shad.
My
favorite crankbait for crappie is any that resembles a shad. Smaller crankbaits
seem to work best but I have switched to a larger crankbait, for big crappie, with good
results when the shad are running large. Color always comes up in
conversations about crankbaits for crappie. Personally, I use shad color but I
do know of some folks who have had great results with crawfish patterns
and colors. Chartreuse is another die hard crankbait color for crappie.
When the shad are running
the shorelines they tend to run shallow. This means that big
slab crappie, whether lurking in the middle of a tangled brush pile or
suspended just off the shoreline waiting to pounce on passing schools
of shad, tend to utilize the shoreline as a way to save energy by not
having to chase the schools all over open water. I have seen the backs
of big crappie as they chase shad in such shallow water. It is these
observations that made me stick with a shallow running crankbait for crappie in the fall. Of
course there are exceptions and I know people who have used deep
running cranbaits for crappie very effectively and I have used them when trolling open water
for crappie.
The
most effective way I have found for catching these big and often
solitary slabs is to just cover a lot of water. Crappie can be had with
a bobber and a minnow in the fall and when the shad are shallow but if
you want to target the big boys a crankbait rigged on a medium light 7
foot spinning outfit with 6 pound test line is hard to beat. Big slabs
are very territorial and while using a bobber and minnow will work fine
it will also work on smaller crappie as well and one finds it hard to
leave when they are catching fish after fish but once again this method
is for big crappie and while crankbaits will catch some small crappie it
definitely cuts the smaller way down so that you can focus
on the big crappie.
You should target any visible structure along
the shoreline by tossing your crankbait as close to shore as possible.
I usually try to set the back treble up on the bank. Yes that is close
but I have found that most of my strikes come on the first twitch of
the crankbait within a foot from shore. These crappie that are
targeting shallow running shad expect to get a shot at one right up on
the bank so that is where your crankbait should be. I fished a huge log
last season and caught thirty big crappie but if my crankbait landed
just a foot from shore I would not get a strike they all were caught so
close to the bank that it didn't seem that there was even enough water
there to cover their backs. I noticed that the fish were lying below
just out of sight and exploded on the crankbait as soon as it moved but
if the bait landed a foot or two from the shoreline there was no
action. To find thirty big crappie on one brush pile is common in the
spring but to find this one in the fall was special. I felt like maybe
the crappie weren't schooled up but just using the shoreline along with
the log to trap the shad just long enough to make their move. They were
probably following the school of shad down the shoreline and the log
was just a good ambush point for them, as well as me.
Normally
crappie in the fall are solitary creatures and tend to stake out their
very own ambush point and are scattered all over the place and that is
when covering a lot of water is crucial. The best way to do this is to
just cruise the shoreline and cast your crankbait to every log, stump, rock or stake
bed that you see. Let the crankbait float there for several seconds
before the first twitch. The first twitch should be just that, a
twitch. Let the bait sit there again for a couple seconds then pull the
crankbait a couple feet with the rod then reel up slack as the crankbait is
suspended just a few inches below the surface. Many times you will feel
the fish as you begin your retrieve as the strike went undetected. A
big slab will feel like you hooked a big wet sock at first so be ready
and set the hook. Slinging a crankbait for crappie is a lot of fun and
very effective too. So if you are looking for new ways to chase your
favorite panfish try crankin for crappie on your next trip.
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