The crappie are biting -- just look at the trees

As you look at the trees along the roadside or out your back door, if you are lucky, you should be able to see a number of trees that are beginning to bloom. When the dogwoods or plum bushes are blooming, the crappie are biting or will be biting. One indicator for us is our Manchurian Bush Apricots, which are blooming about right now.

When the temperature of the lake gets in the mid 50s on up toward 60 degrees, the male crappie will begin moving into the shallows and preparing beds for the female crappie to lay their eggs. These males can be in water from as shallow as a foot or so on up to 6 or 8 feet or even deeper if the water is still pretty cold. The water temp locally is in the upper 50s so it is fairly cool. This past week I caught a few male crappie in 6 to 8 feet of water and they were down about three feet.

The size of the body of water and the depth will make a world of difference. If you are fishing a pond that is an acre or two and shallow it will warm up a lot quicker then a bigger lake like Lake Girardeau. Cedar will probably even warm up slower then Lake Girardeau. The easiest way to track the movement of the crappie is to get a thermometer and use it. I never checked but I'd bet Faust's in Cape carries one.

I would venture to say most guys use jigs when fishing for crappie. They use either tube jigs or hair or synthetic jigs. I use minnows most of the time but during the spawn jigs are a lot more practical. Use a jig that weights from 1/16 oz on up to a *¼ oz or so. Make sure the hooks are sharp. Have an assortment of colors and keep changing till you find one that works. Black or white or yellow or a mix is a good place to start. Throw in some red and chartreuse. I'd skip the big box chain stores and go where they specialize in fishing equipment. Ask for recommendations and help. Jamie out at Academy would be the exception to skipping the big box stores.

If you are fishing from shore, and this is a great time to fish from shore, use a fairly long rod (10 or 12 foot or even 14 feet) so you can drop your jig straight down along the shoreline. Gradually fish further and further out. You may want to use a bobber and not fish over two or three or four feet deep. I'd be as quiet as possible when fishing along the shoreline. If there are trees or brush along the shoreline in the water the crappie will normally be around this structure. Don't be afraid of dropping your jig straight down in the middle of the structure. I know several guys who would wade and fish along the shoreline. They caught fish as well. Watch for snakes. I'd wear those tall rubber boots.

If you are using a boat, then I'd probably fish structure in shallow water. Sunken trees or brush along the shoreline. Or even clear shoreline may reward you with a crappie. When the crappie were biting at Larlie over in Illinois you could catch crappie pretty much all over the lake, but most of the lake was less than five feet deep. Many a crappie has and is caught in a 12 or 14 foot Buddy Boat using a sculling paddle. Some of my favorite memories are fishing at Horseshoe in a 14 foot jon boat using a sculling paddle and an 8 foot fly rod jigging jigs around the cedar trees in just a few feet of water.

Some use long poles suspended off the front of their boats which they call spider rigging. They then suspend the jigs or minnows down three or four feet or even deeper. Then they will simply troll real slow. Depending on the regulations some may use quite a number of these poles. Troll really slow at maybe a mile an hour or even less. This works really well if the lake doesn't have a lot of sunken structure.

The real key is to follow the temperature as the indicator. When temp is upper 50s to low 60s males will be fanning the beds. Mid 60s to 70 the females will be laying eggs. Fish shallow. Check the crappie when you catch that first one. If it has a huge belly and looks like there is a golf ball in it's belly it's probably a female. If it doesn't it's probably a male. Usually you catch the males before the females.

Next week my plans are to write about bluegill fishing, which will include red ear as well. Great fish to catch and super when fileted and fried. Great fish to practice your fly rod technique on.

Until next time.