Crappie Fish Cleaning Tips

This technique is nothing new for you old fishing folks, but for the new ones this will help you get started.

A lot of folks like using the Electric Knife, and I guess I am like the old dog that does not want to learn new tricks, not to mention that it will waste a lot of meat. I recommend using the manual Fillet Knife.

Warning, this is a very sharp Knife and it does not know the difference between Crappie and your fingers. This will take about no more than 5 minutes per fish and the great part is you do not have to scale the fish like Granddad use to when cleaning the catch.

Step One:

Slice the fish behind the gills all the way to the Back Bone, but do not sever. You want to angle the knife towards the head, so you do not waste any part of the crappie fillet.

Step Two:

You want to run the knife all the way to the tail. Here again being careful not to detach the skin. Here is where the second number two comes into play. Go back to the head and work the knife at the bottom of the crappie toward the tail, and again do not cut the skin off.

Step Three:

This should allow you to lay back the fish, skin side down. Run the knife between the skin and the meat staying as close to the skin as possible. That is why they make the fillet knives so they have a little bend in them. By applying a little pressure, you can glide the knife to the tail.

Step Four:

You will cut away the fillet leaving the skin

Step Five:

Take your Fillet Knife and go under the ribs from the top to the bottom cutting the rib bones free. You will see how important it is to have a clean and very sharp knife to do this step.

Step Six:

Rinse the fillet off and if not headed for the grill, skillet, or oven, place it in a plastic sealable bag and fill it with water until the fillet is submerged. This will eliminate Freezer burn.

Step Seven:

Flip the fish over and repeat Step 2 thru 6.

Here is an added bonus. Do not throw the remains away.

Set them to the side for that special spot you have where you plant your tomatoes. Put the remains down in the ground and sprinkle some dirt on top then set your tomatoe plants on top. You will be amazed at how big your tomatoes will get.

Read more >>

Spider Rigging 101

When you think about crappie fishing, most people think about the spring spawn, gold hooks, a minnow, and a floater. Then when the spawn is over, they put the poles up and wait for the next spring spawn to chase those paper mouths again. Multiple pole spider rigging is a great way to put crappie in the live well year around.

What is spider rigging? What equipment do I need? How do I get started spider rigging with out having to spending a fortune? These are just some of the questions people ask after they see how productive this type of fishing can be.

Spider rigging is fishing with multiple poles sticking out of the front or back of the boat. Some one who has never seen this type of fishing, would think the boat looks like a big spider with all the long poles sticking out of it. Equipment needed, is three or four 10-foot poles, and a set of rod holders to hold the poles. There are several types of poles and price ranges to choose from. I use the 10-foot graphite that you can get on CrappieStuff.com in the Innovations Area. These are very good poles at a reasonable price. I also use the Black Widow Spider Rigging System that is also available in CrappieStuff.com's Innovations Area for a very reasonable price. Rig the poles with an inexpensive spinning reel and 6 pound test line. Mount the rod holders in front of where you will be sitting. Mount them far enough away so they won’t be in your way, but close enough to reach the poles easily.

Every one has their own way to set up the poles and how they put the baits on the line. I use a 3/32oz TeeZur Hot Head jig tied on the end of the line with a 1/4oz split shot attached to the line around 16 inches above the jig. I also use minnows on a #2 Eagle Claw Aberdeen hook tied on the end of the line with a 1/4oz split shot around 16 inches above the hook. I also paint chartreuse or an orange color on the first 6 inches of the tip of the poles to make it easier to see when a fish hits the bait.

Just as an example, we will start out fishing on the topside of a ledge that is 10 feet deep on the top and is 15 feet at the bottom. Set the bait from one pole about a foot off the bottom. Set the next pole around two feet off the bottom. The next pole about 3 feet off the bottom. And the last pole about four feet off the bottom. Set the poles in the rod holders with the tip of the pole around 12 inches above the surface of the water. Now you are fishing in several different depths of water. This is a very useful way of locating what depth the fish are holding in. When you catch a fish, pay attention to which pole the fish is caught on. That way you can set the pole back to the same depth. If you start catching more fish on one pole than the others, set another pole at that same depth. Now you know what depth the fish are biting. You can also have two baits on the same line around 24 inches apart. This will allow you cover a wider range of depths. Once all the poles are in the water, start slowly moving around the topside of the ledge. Stay close to the edge of the ledge and cross over to the deeper side then back to the shallow side. The is an excellent way to catch fish hiding just below the edge waiting for baitfish to swim by. Do this several times with each time moving a little further away from the edge of the ledge until you find where the fish are located.

When landing a fish while spider rigging, there are two things that you must remember.

#1. The biggest mistake people make when hooking a fish, is dropping the rod tip while taking the pole out of the rod holder. If you drop the tip of the pole, 9 times out of 10 the fish will get off. Once you set the hook, hold pressure on the rod until you can get your hand on the reel. Stand up if you have to, but don't drop the rod tip.

#2. The second biggest mistake people make while spider rigging with long poles is, reeling up too much line while trying to land a fish. If you reel all the line in, there is no way to grab the fish at the end of a long pole. You must leave enough line in the water so you can swing the fish into the boat. It is best to use a dip net on the larger fish to keep from breaking the line while trying to bring them in the boat.

Read more >>

Cool Fall Crappie

The air is crisp and cool, the wind is light and the sun is beginning to rise. It is the first week in November, and your past years of experience of similar times and weather make you feel good about the day now unfolding. The surface water temperature is in the upper 60 degree range, and the water is stained. The shad are schooling in the creeks and back-end of coves, the water level is about normal for this time of year; “So where do you begin?"

If we all kept detailed logs of everyday we have ever fished, or all our fishing buddies were good crappie guides on the water every day. We would know where to start the day in our search, with hopes of catching a good limit of slab crappie, and maybe a big one worth bragging about. However, if you are like me, we do a poor job of keeping our fishing logs posted, if we have one; and most of us don’t have fishing guides living next-door giving out free information. We do have some things to help us; and that is the habits of crappie, experience, and public information. If we read a few magazine articles, watch a few crappie fishing shows on T.V., do a little surfing on the internet, visit a few bait and tackle stores and ask a few questions (after we buy something not before) , or have a few cups of coffee and chat with the locals in a marina café, or if we have lived and fished enough years to have some fishing experience and knowledge; we should be able to have a good day on the water. Here are 10 more tips to get you started:

1. Start with a good topo. map of the body of water you plan to fish. Study the map and mark river and creek channels with close feeding flats. Look for water depths you know should hold some fish (6 to 15 feet). Mark man-made fish attractor areas, coves and slews with underwater stumps and standing timber, and remember that some crappie like to go up rivers or creeks at this time of year. Way up river, until there is nothing but a narrow channel, stumps, and trees.

2. Remember the areas that the local fishermen discussed as productive areas at the tackle shop or café, but remember they may or may not hold fish. However, if you heard the same locations cited by different people at different places, you may want to check them out.

3. Look for other boats. If you see several boats congregated in the same area, this may be a sign they are catching fish there. Idle by and look and see, nice and slow, no wake…..

4. Be observant; if you see people catching fish, notice what they using (minnows or jigs or a combination), are they fishing deep, shallow, slow trolling, fast trolling, etc.?

5. Look for visible cover such as downed trees, big rocks, and/or steep banks near creek or river channels. Docks with 5 to 15 ft. of water depth can be great.. Older docks are better than new.

6. Use light lines (4, 6, or 8 lb. test) and smaller baits.

7. Try bright colored jigs in stained or muddy water, and light or natural colors in clear water. My all around favorite jig size and colors in the fall are: 1/16 or 1/32 oz. weights, in blue/black/ chartreuse, orange/chartreuse, red/chartreuse, or white/chartreuse. For dock shooting: gray/pink/chartreuse, blue/blue/blue, or black/chartreuse in 1/32 or 1/64 oz. on 4 or 6 pound test line are my favorites. Of course a lively minnow is always a good choice, too..

8. Slow down and fish your target area well. Watch your graph, you may spot a good submerged
man made or natural brushpile loaded with slabs.

9. Trust your own judgement and try what you believe will work for you. Don’t allow yourself to lose confidence in your own ideas just because someone was bragging at the bait shop; remember, fishermen have been known to tell little white lies……

10. Go fishing and spend some time on the water. Try different areas each trip instead of fishing the same area every time out. You’ll get to know your favorite body of water better, and you will learn more of your lakes secrets and patterns. Every lake is a little different, I don’t know why, but they are.

Remember to take a kid fishing every now and then, and watch the excitement in their eyes when they catch a fish. You will feel better and live longer, too. Try making a few good holes of your own by installing wood stake beds, pvc or stick attractors, or at least sink your Christmas tree with a concrete block after the holiday season. You might be surprised to learn how hard guides work each fall and winter making honey holes for their clients. They know it works, and they know they need to have enough spots to have some that are fishable and will produce, on any given day. Rain, wind, muddy water, lake levels, boat traffic with bass tournaments, and heavy fishing pressure, all call for different fishing locations on any given day. By placing fish habitat at several locations, guides help their clients have more frequent success. You should to, then when you take the kids fishing, you will have better odds for catching your limit that day, or helping the kids catch a few, and maybe they will get hooked on fishing for a lifetime…

Read more >>

Crappie Tips

In the spring you will want to target shallow areas that the crappies will move into to spawn. Boat
docks and marinas are often prime spring time crappie haunts. You will also want to target last
years weeds sticking out of the water as well as flooded brush, timber, stumps etc.

You can also fish for crappies at night using a light to attract bugs, which attract smaller minnows,
which will bring in the crappies. In summer they can suspend far off the bottom. A good method of
searching out these fish is to drift fish minnows under slip bobbers.

Jigs and minnows are good crappie producers, as are small crankbaits, like the mini fat rap by
Rapala. Inline spinners like the Aglia from Mepps will also take their fair share of crappies. When
they are actively feeding, a small tube jig and a 1 1/2 to 2 inch tube jig is all you will need to fill your
live well.

Through the ice, beemoth and crappie minnows dangled under a bobber work extremely well.

Read more >>

Build Your Own Crappie Hot Spots

Fish attractors can help any angler build productive honey holes for crappie. By creating habitat where the crappie can hold, you can have crappie available and easily accessible year-round. Tree tops, stake beds and discarded Christmas trees all make productive fish attractors, especially in older lakes and reservoirs, where the original cover may have decomposed. Fish attractors actually may help improve the lake's overall crappie fishing. The more cover you sink for crappie, the more crappie the cover will attract. Sink cover at different depths, and record these spots on your GPS. Try each of these spots at different times of year and under various water and weather conditions. You also can sink cover at different depths in the same general region to give the crappie in that area cover at their preferred depth on any specific day. Eventually, you will learn which of your spots the crappie prefer when. Then you can spend less time looking for crappie and more time catching them

Read more >>

How To Catch More Crappies Than You Want

Crappies are ' little hellions ', they are full of energy and despite their small size they can make a normal fishing rod bend to the breaking point and cause a reels drag to become active, the energy and taste are two reasons why crappies are such a great fish to catch.

Crappies come in two types or varieties, there are black crappies and white crappies. Crappies live throughout the U.S in many ponds, lakes and streams, I guess if other panfish or even bass can thrive in the water, then crappie can also. Crappie look similar in size and shape to other panfish, except they are a lot more silver colored, with black spots, and they have upturned noses. They are actually a very nice looking fish, and the silver or shiny color shimmers in the sunlight.

Crappies can be caught year around. In the spring and fall months they move near the shore areas, and in the summer they move out in more deeper and cooler water. They are probably the most active in the early spring months when they move towards the shores to spawn, they become very aggressive and tend to bite and attack anything that is cast or moves near them or the nest, making it pretty easy to get a stringer full of crappies in a short time in the spring season. The nests look like hollowed out depressions or dishes in the mud or gravel on the bottoms of the ponds and lakes. If you walk slowly around the edges of the water, you can see these nests and often see the crappie in and near them. Once you spot one of the nests, casting your bait near it will usually produce a quick strike.

In the summer or warmer months, they often hang around stumps, trees, and other debris areas and underwater structures for shading and protection. Casting near these areas in the summer and warmer months will often be very productive for catching a mess of crappie. In the fall time of the year, they move towards the shores and become more aggressive again in their feeding and biting. This aggressive feeding and biting continues throughout the cold winter months, which makes crappie a great fish to catch while ice fishing in the winter.

The best time to catch crappies is during the daylight hours, with early morning after sunrise and in the late afternoon towards early evening hours being the best times. Crappies love minnows with a passion, and when it comes to live baits there is no better choice than a small minnow. If you don't have or cannot get live minnows, then use jigs or any such lure that looks as realistic as possible to a live minnow. But when you use an artificial minnow make sure you keep the lure pretty active, so it simulates a live minnow as much as possible, if the fake minnow just sits still, crappie have been known to look and then just pass by, they seem to prefer live minnows and bait instead of dead ones. Crappies have a abnormally soft mouth, so be aware that if you jerk your rod too hard, to set the hook, you can rip it right out of the crappies mouth, resulting in losing the fish.

Read more >>

Crappie

Crappie are a favorite for most anglers because they are easy to catch and they
taste great. There are 2 types of crappies: black and white. Black and white
crappie share most of the same waters, however, black crappie are most
abundant in northern lakes that are cool with a gravel or sand bottom. White
crappie are most common in reservoirs, lakes, and rivers. They tolerate darker
water than black crappie and they thrive in southern lakes with soft or hard
bottoms. Both species live in rivers and streams, however, black crappie prefer
calmer water and they also tolerate a higher salt content, which is why they are
common in estuaries. Crappies feed heavily in the morning, evening and
throughout the night. Most crappie fishermen target these fish during their
spawn because they are easy to find and catch. During the summer, crappie will move out to deeper
water and they will be much harder to find and catch.

Most crappies are caught in the 6 to 9 inch range, however, much bigger crappie are caught every year.
In some southern lakes such as Kentucky Lake, crappie in the 10 to 12 inch range are common with
many 14 to 15 inch fish caught and some as big as 18 inches

Read more >>