Hang time. Michael Jordan had it in spades. Shaquille O扤eal梟ot so much. Leaves hang, flutter and fall on a warm autumn breeze. Acorns don抰 hang or flutter much at all, in fact, they pretty much drop like rocks. Ever try to catch an acorn midflight? How about a hailstone; ever catch one, say, square in the noggin? Smarts don抰 it?
Falling leaves are easier on the melon, but I抣l take a shower of fluttering hundred-dollar bills any day. Watch how they flip, flop and glide in every direction as they drop toward the ground. Never know exactly where a C-Note抯 going to land. Drop it from a rooftop, and the bill could easily come to rest 20-feet away from center.
In the wonderful world of crappie baits, it抯 almost always better to be a leaf than an acorn. Big googly eyes perpetually scanning the nether regions above, crappie radars are forever tuned in to pennies from heaven梖ood that hovers and flutters seductively down to their jaws. Still, they can be awfully selective about the baits they bite. Often, it抯 all about drop-speed. Getting down fast to schools of deep competitive fish is one thing. But that抯 more of a summer-fall deal.
spring crappie
We抮e talking early spring here. And when I抦 searching out crappies in chilly water梡erhaps months before they spawn桰抣l take a 揻lutterbait?every time. A flutterbait can be anything from a light spoon or gliding softbait to a freelined live minnow. Early on梞ight be mere days after ice-out梒rappies are often doing what they do best, hovering. Whether they抮e stationed above a bed of elodea in 18-feet of water, suspended twenty feet down over deeper water just outside a shallow bay, or roaming the edge of a rocky point carpeted with fresh green pondweed, crappies will be hovering somewhere above bottom, and looking 搖p?for food. This can be a tricky time to find fish, but it抯 also my favorite period to catch crappie-kong. Really, though, it抯 only tricky if you use stuff that抯 too heavy. I抳e seen lots of anglers who were on fish, but continually failed to connect because their lures simply flew right past sets of deep lippy mandibles梒rappies frowning at baits as they shot on by. It抯 the acorn versus the leaf. And it makes a huge difference in terms of bait choice.
Mini softbaits
About Flutterbaits
Not coincidentally, two of my all time favorite flutterbaits are found on the pages of the Northland Fishing Tackle catalog. Northland knows crappies, and their new Live-Forage Flutter Spoon is absolutely slab-happy. The 2-inch size casts well on 3-pound test Bionic Panfish line, and it flips around and glides on the drop. Yes, crappies love to eat small spoons.
They also savor softbaits, and a Slurpies Small-Fry tail rigged on a 1/32-ounce jighead does the fluttering thing to perfection. It抯 the only tube-style bait I抳e seen that has two broad 慻lide-fins?that make it, well, glide. And when it glides, the fine little tail tentacles kick and waver. Oh my, do crappies find this tantalizing. Using gentle rodtip sweeps, swim this bait high over deep vegetation. Kill it and let the lure coast and flutter. Both the Flutter Spoon and the Small-Fry can be made to move erratically, and they sink so nice and slow that they almost hover in a crappie抯 strike zone. Slurping it up is an easy choice.
Hovering Livebait
Ditto for crappies eating livebait. But you already knew that, right? I抦 a huge fan of live minnows for crappies, although in early season, I抣l often fish them a little different than everyone else. I抣l dunk minnows under floats if I have to, but for fish wandering higher in the water column梕specially over deep vegetation梖reelinin?the thing. Using a 7- to 8-foot light action spinning rod and 3-pound test Bionic mono, I can lob-cast a single small minnow plenty well, no weight necessary. Just add a #12 InvisaSwivel (a new type of transparent fishing swivel made of fluorocarbon) two feet ahead of a single snelled #10 lightwire hook. Unlike metal swivels that sink like rocks, the InvisaSwivel won抰 drag the rig down, but rather hovers along with the line, for a totally natural presentation. It抯 also the best swivel I抳e ever seen for eliminating line twist梩he special fluorocarbon swivel material actually self-lubricates in water. Pretty cool.
Of course, the minnow抯 the thing. Open a crappie抯 jaws once梱eah, these wide-mouthed critters aren抰 exactly afraid of eating big baitfish. And neither should you be of fishing them. If I can put up a stock of healthy 2 to 3-inch golden or spottail shiners early in spring, I抣l be solid for weeks. When the weather抯 still cool, I抣l store 慹m outside in a Frabill Aqua-Life Bait Station, and the aerator will keep 慹m healthy and happy. Once on the water, I抣l divvy up baits into smaller Min-O2-Life Bait Stations梠ne for each angler aboard. Lift the interior net and behold a boiling cauldron of crappie getters.
spring crappie
Freelining means no weight梛ust the power of livebait working its magic, tail kicking and calling slabs from afar. Slide the hook gently through each of the minnow抯 nares (nasal openings), into one and out the other. Done right, this is the least damaging way to fish a lively baitfish, and it抣l reward you with a nice lively (and long) swim. Make a soft pitch, raise your rodtip, and let the wind or a trolling motor carry you along, releasing up to 50-feet of line as you drift. Hold your rod tip at 11-o抍lock, keeping tabs on the bait抯 activity and position with a finger feathering your line. In water under 20-feet deep, it抯 not unusual to attract crappies right to the surface with a lively, high-riding shiner. On calm days, I抳e even been treated to surface bites梬atching crappies pop my minnows right on top.
A little baitfish TLC
Flapping and fluttering big crappies is a Roach trick from way back. My uncle Gary doesn抰 know I抦 telling you about it. So if you see him out there, just sidle up nice and close beside his boat. Tell him all about this new technique you just read about that抯 been cleaning up on big crappies梤ight from this very lake, in fact! Ever seen a famous fisherman cry?
