Finding the fish within a large expanse of pads starts with the realization that crappie are unlikely to spread across a broad area. “I’ve found that very rarely will yo see a long stretch of pads and catch fish right in the middle of it,” Morgan said. This movement can frequently lure the fish into taking a bait. So have the crappie that feed on them. During summer, many crappie work the late shift, and crappie anglers should, too. They can be tougher to find, but following a few basic tips will help you locate them and improve your odds of some quality summer crappie action. The summer and winter are now my favorite times to … The more sensitive the rod, the easier it is to detect a crappie's light bite. If you are just targeting crappie a 500 or 1000 series reel spooled with a 6-pound test line is a great option. However, he mentions he can return to these same crappie hot spots just about every day and catch crappie off the same sites he has previously. It’s one of the best especially when summer comes, as they are a natural food source for many fish species as the temperature increases from late summer to fall. “I want minnows and jigs that size or somewhat bigger. In Alabama, an angler can catch and keep 30 crappie per day. He’s wrestled a bear, jumped out of an airplane and canoed from Birmingham to Mobile – always pursuing the latest, greatest fun in the outdoors. Call Jonathan Phillips at 334-391-9735, or check him out on Facebook. But the odds for success improve if you fish the hours between dusk and dawn. To get to these deep water crappie and catch them, he uses a 1/24 or a 1/16 ounce jig. Starting in early spring, crappie spawning season is the best time of the year to catch the delicious panfish, with the fish moving towards shallower waters as they make their nests and spawn eggs. Crappie may spawn as early as mid-March in the southern part of the state and as late as the end of May in northern Missouri. I forced myself to try and learn how to catch crappie year round. You’ll want to present your lure or bait within one to ten feet of the bottom to get the most action. The feeding hours start from the late night, which is quite a relaxing time to get them. I am passionate about crappie fishing. “I check them out and fish a foot or two above the crappie.”. Before Phillips starts fishing, he marks the spot where he’s seen the crappie on his depth finder with a buoy. Often the fish will be up high on cover and I want it to stay up in the strike zone longer. “If I’m vertical jigging, I like Slabslobber a fish attractant that I believe causes the crappie to hold onto the bait longer,” Phillips emphasizes. To zero in on some of the best summer crappie hotspots, visit your favorite lake in winter just before ice-over. So, a bright sunny day may not be a good deal to find a good catch. Crappie; Catch Late Summer Early Fall Crappies Catch Late Summer Early Fall Crappies. Let it drop a little, and reel in slow. Watch your electronics for fish as you go. However, any cooler with a battery-powered aerator feeding air into the cooler works. Look for cover – Crappies spend much of the summer near submerged cover, and wood is their favorite type of cover. Popular crappie spots during the spring include channels between lakes and shallow bays (where water warms more then the main lake body). * Line and Sinker – Phillips likes 8-pound test SpiderWire Invisi-Braid, when summer crappie fishing, due to the heavier boat wakes. Crappie fishing at Christmas has been one of my more successful efforts over the years. Crappie are one of the most sought-after gamefish in North America. The Spawn. “I can take 8-10 of these easy-to-build and inexpensive crappie habitats and sink them in various locations every time I fish. To fish very-thick cover, you’ll catch more crappie and re-tie less often using a single-hook rig that Phillips has described earlier. To learn much more about crappie fishing, get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks and some print books, “Crappie: How to Catch Them Fall & Winter,” “Crappie: How to Catch Them Spring and Summer,” “Catch Cold Water Crappie Now” and “Catch Crappie All Year: Fishing a Single Pole, Using No Boat and Farming Crappie.” Where you catch one, you will catch others. WHEN AND HOW TO CATCH CRAPPIE Spring—fish the shallows. Light tackle is preferred for fishing crappie. Moreover, the crappie needs to be in the shade as they do not have eyelids. Phillips generally tight lines with live minnows while late summer crappie fishing but does fish larger-profile jigs than in the fall and spring. “When I get over structure or a drop-off, I can tell the difference between crappie that resemble little leaves and other kinds of fish. Characteristics of Crappie. Also remember to work the bait slowly, because crappies are notoriously slower in taking a bait, during hot weather. For years I enjoyed the early spring crappie bite (April-May) here in Minnesota. If the wind’s blowing hard, he’ll drop his buoy 5-feet upwind of the structure and the crappie to keep his boat from blowing into the buoy and spooking the crappie. Before you go crappie fishing it is important to understand the type of bait that they like, for your mission to be successful. How To Catch Crappie: When, Where... And A Killer Bait! Give every chance you can to the fish to strike. Contrary to popular belief, crappie don’t go all the way to … After the fall turnover, water is generally warmer and more stable in deeper water. Use your electronics to find where the schools are holding. To find crappie in late summer, Stancil targets flats 12 to 14 deep off the main channel in the lower half of the lake. Crappies like to spawn in shallow areas with solid bottoms. Phillips has learned that during the summer, the crappie will relate to structure – drop-offs, humps, deep stumps and deep, underwater trees – that you can’t spot without a quality depth finder. To zero in on some of the best summer crappie hotspots, visit your favorite lake in winter just before ice-over. Even in flood-water conditions, these habitats rarely get washed away. To escape the summer heat crappie move to deeper and cooler water at about 8 to 25 feet. “I use small cardboard boxes and cane to create crappie hot spots,” Jonathan Phillips explains. Aggressive crappie seem to prefer medium-to-large-sized minnows this month.”. :) As long as they exist in your body of water, here's how to catch 'em. Cloudy days – When the sun is shining bright on a hot summer day, crappies stick close to cover, but on cloudy, wind-swept days, they are more likely to come out in search of food, which makes them easier to catch. Find Springs in Winter. To fish very-thick cover, you’ll catch more crappie and re-tie less often using a single-hook rig that Phillips has described earlier. “I like larger baits in the summer, due to the size of the shad that just have spawned in the spring being fairly large – about 3 inches,” Phillips emphasizes. If the current’s stronger, he’ll fish a 1-ounce weight. Two such times are winter, and the dead of summer. In the reduced light periods of early morning, late evening, and nighttime, crappie will be adjacent to these features and actively hunting. Phillips likes a 1/2-ounce sinker on the bottom of his line to get the bait down to the depth of water where the crappie are and to knock the hook out of any type of wood structure. Late summer is a period when a fisherman can successfully use a wide variety of techniques. Crappies suspended along a channel will be stacked one above the other so you need a fishing bait with the ability to … Try small crankbaits, Lindy Rigs and tube baits, along with jigs. This can be standing dead trees, submerged brush or even docks. Focus your fishing efforts on dawn until about 2 hours after sunrise. “I like a Humminbird Helix 10 HD side scanning and down scanning depth finder because I catch crappie with it,” Phillips emphasizes. It’s not unusually for the fish to be holding in water 20-30 feet deep, usually suspended within that range. Apparently one thing that really dictates the size of crappie anglers catch each year is the amount of harvest. Once the females have a mate, they move into the nest, lay eggs, and the eggs are fertalized. To vertical jig for summertime crappie, Phillips fishes a chartreuse-colored jig or a jig with a chartreuse tail. Late Season Crappie Movements. * Poles – Phillips prefers ACC Crappie Stix poles, made in Illinois by Andy Lehman. You’ll have to think ahead to make this trick work, but you should! If you’ll fish in the middle of the week too instead of on weekends, you’ll often catch more crappie, since fewer pleasure boaters tend to be on the water then. Many anglers consider crappies a fish of spring, and when the red-hot action during the spawn comes to an end, so does their pursuit of this tasty game fish. In spring when crappie are spawning in the shallows, anyone can cast a minnow and bobber toward the bank and catch a ton of fish. “About 6 to 7 feet deep is the standard depth to catch crappie this time of year in most of the big Mississippi lakes,” Capps said. Stancil reports skilled anglers can catch as many crappie in September on Weiss as they can in spring by using his summer pattern. Where they spend the winter, crappies suspend above and near the same river basin flats. "I use a 2 3/8-inch body on a quarter-ounce jig head," says Whitehead. “I locate the spot where the crappie are holding on my depth finder and put a buoy market near where I … However, on overcast days or rainy days, the crappie often will pull out of that thick cover and hold off to the side or above the cover. Summer Crappie Fishing Tactics –  Using the Right Crappie Equipment. In summer, they tend to suspend off the bottom in the thermocline (aka a layer of comfortable temps and oxygen), but where do they go in the fall? Crappie Fishing in Summer. Early morning, late evening, and nighttime of winter First of all...the BEST time to go fishing for crappie is in the evening hours...between 2 … In a half day of fishing with two people in a boat, Jonathan Phillips regularly produces limits of slab crappie like this in hot weather. Posted by Pros4- 1Source. Then a double-minnow rig works well. “So, instead of using multiple poles and spider rigging, I’ll fish with a single pole with either a double or a single minnow rig straight down to where I’ve located the crappie with my depth finder.”. “I like to have two poles rigged – one with a single hook and the other with a double-hook – catching the easy crappie with the double hook rig and using the single hook to go into the brush.”, Phillips usually has 50-100 different locations identified where he’s caught crappie before a trip. Move to more deeper waters in the summer. WHEN AND HOW TO CATCH CRAPPIE Spring—fish the shallows. When they are active, it becomes easier to see them. In spring when crappie are spawning in the shallows, anyone can cast a minnow and bobber toward the bank and catch a ton of fish. Depending on what depth of water the crappie are holding in and at about any time of the year, I’ll generally have several crappie attractors in that depth of water in several regions of the lake or the river I’m fishing.”. What Size Minnows To Use For Crappie. Fast pulling and trolling methods are good, popular choices. They often hug tightly to cover, so you need to get baits right up to the edge of it or in it. During the summer months, crappie are very predictable. Small fathead minnows, sometimes called "crappie minnows," are the most popular crappie bait and are often used with a light jig. I'm going to show you how to catch crappie... the easy way. Summer Crappie Fishing Tactics – Jigging for Crappie. In deeper lakes (>25 ft) you’ll want to aim closer to … ... Best Time to Catch Crappie. Consistently taking that many crappies in a day calls for skill and perseverance. Phillips uses an Engel cooler to keep his minnows alive. Use cheap 30-pound mono as leaders off of the main line. You can use a little fatter bodied bait like a Mr. Crappie Slab Slanger or a Bobby Garland Slab Slay'R on a lighter head to slow your bait down and get a lot more bites. “On the other end of the line, I’ll tie 18 inches of 6-pound-test leader line and then attach a #1 wire crappie hook at its end. I don’t lose nearly as many crappie on a #1 hook as I do on a #2 or smaller hook.”, Summer Crappie Fishing Tactics – Finding Crappie Before You Fish. In spring, crappie move to the shallows to spawn. Last modified on August 30, 2016. Generally, they'll be found in lakes. I believe crappie attract other crappie.”. In the south it happens as early as February. Jonathan Phillips and his wife Alicia are tournament crappie fishermen who fish tournaments all across the country and then take what they’ve learned about finding and catching crappie at those places back with them to Lake Jordan and the Alabama River. Stancil reports skilled anglers can catch as many crappie in September on Weiss as they can in spring by using his summer pattern. Change baits – A jig tipped with a minnow is often the preferred bait for crappies during the spring, but a wider variety of baits are needed for summer crappies. I search for brush, logs, and stumps on main river channels that provide shade and cooler water. The best summertime bite generally occurs from just before daylight until 10:00 am and then again from 4:00 pm until dark, although you can fish the entire day if you prefer. Crappie just want an easy meal and a place to hang out. Where you catch one, you will catch others. Choosing the Best Pond Weed Control Practices, Alabama Turkey Season 2020: Thoughts from the Wild turkey Committee. If you enjoyed learning some of these Late Summer Crappie Fishing Tactics, check out my E-Book, the Master’s Secrets of Crappie Fishing, Tactics to Catch Crappie Year Round. “I never try to catch all the crappie on any location. Boat docks are well-known crappie magnets, but most boating crappie anglers hit the fronts and maybe halfway down the sides. 2. Small crankbaits (hard-bodied minnow imitating lures) and spinners are good choices during summer because they can cover a lot of water quickly, helping you find fish faster. But the odds for success improve if you fish the hours between dusk and dawn. 9,520. While mid- to late summer crappie fishing, Phillips searches for contour changes on the bottom – particularly humps about 14-feet deep out in the middle of a river that drops-off to 30-40 feet. When the ice first starts forming or melting away can be a dangerous time to strike out far in search of crappie. You’ll have to think ahead to make this trick work, but you should! As water temperatures drop, crappie begin to move once more in to the mid-depths, usually along the same routes they moved out on. Summer on a big majority of Mississippi’s lakes is a great time to catch slab crappie. “When a crappie takes a jig, if you don’t set the hook immediately, it’ll spit that jig out within 2 seconds. Affiliate Disclosure: Evolve Media LLC, and its owned and operated websites may receive a small commission from the proceeds of any product(s) sold through affiliate and direct partner links. When and how to catch crappie Spring—fish the shallows Lindsay Cundiff of Lee’s Summit caught this three-pound crappie in February at the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area. Inexpensive crappie habitats and sink them in the August 2018 print issue of great Outdoors., or check him out on Facebook I can take 8-10 of these easy-to-build inexpensive... Found in what seem to prefer medium-to-large-sized minnows this month. ” are eagerly feeding Shad. 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