Every crappie fisherman knows what may work for one won’t work for the other. Fishing lakes vary and so does your crappie fishing techniques. Here a few crapping fishing tips in the way of question and answer.
Read More: Fresh Water Crappie Fishing
Question: What is the difference between jigging and vertical fishing?
Answer: Verticle fishing is what I grew up doing, although I didn’t know it at the time. My dad would take me crappie fishing and we would hook up a minnow on a cane pole and let it drop straight down in the water. And I can tell you we tore up some big slab crappie.
Crappie Fishing Tips:
Jigging is when you move or jig the bait trying to get the crappie to charge the bait.
So actually whether you simply lower your bait straight down into the water or cast your bait out into the water. Either way, you can jig the bait or slowly reel in the bait. Experiment with whatever works best. Although crappie being sneaky eaters may view an slow reel as easy prey.
Question: I’ve heard anglers talk about a crappie fishing technique called drop-shotting. What exactly is this?
Answer: A lot of bass fishermen use this technique and it has transferred over to crappie fishing. The setup is that you attach your weight to the bottom of your line, next you attach your hook straight to your line about 17-20 inches above your weight.
The weight will hold the line on the bottom allowing you to drag your line on the bottom or through cover. A 1/8 ounce to 3/8 ounce weight is used. For bait, the minnow is tried and true.
Question: What are “crappie nibbles” and do they make good bait?
Answer: Generally crappie is very particular in their eating habits, in that they prefer food that resembles live bait and acts like healthy live bait.
Crappie nibbles are small bait pellets that are used on jigs and crappie hooks. Many crappie fishermen claim the nibbles increases the number of bites.
The nibbles dissolve and release sparkles into the water, fooling the crappie into thinking the sparkles are minnow scales. It’s best to air dry the nibbles a little bit before use as they are quite messy.
Question: Artificial or live bait…which is best to use?
Answer: Jigs are probably the most popular artificial bait with crappie fishermen, but it’s a good idea to have both on hand.
You probably would be well served to just ask someone…park ranger, other fishermen in the area. Minnows do very well, but eating habits can change from location to location.
Question: How does the water temperature affect crappie fishing?
Answer: The water temperature is one, if not the most important considerations when it comes to catching crappie. The variations in water temperature affect how the fish behave and where they will locate.
In the winter months, with temperatures below 50 degrees, the crappie will be in the deep water.
As spring approaches and temperatures reach 45-50 degrees, the crappie moves towards spawning beds and can be found near creeks channels.
Temperatures between 50-60 degrees will find crappie in channels around brush and stumps. The males will be found in shallow water and females will be in deeper water aggressively feeding.
At 60-65 spawning has reached its peak and the females will be found in the covered brush.
After spawning with temperatures between 70-75 females begin to move out, followed shortly by the males. At this point, the crappie begins moving back into the deep water, where they will remain, until it starts all over again.
Question: What part of the year is best for crappie fishing?
Answer: Spring, around March 1st, is when crappie season begins, although around the middle of April will be the most active time for crappie fishermen.
Crappie fishing can be done year round, although the fish will be harder to locate as they tend to spread out more and are found in the deeper water.
