Crappie Fishing Tackle Guidelines: Amazing Steps On How To Fish For Crappie !

Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets

If you are a crappie fisherman you probably are always looking for that edge on how to catch crappie. I could give you some elaborate spiel like, � If you use these guidelines you are guaranteed to catch crappie� but lets face it anyone who is an avid fisherman looks at statements like that as a �lot of bull� What I would like to do though is share some common guidelines I use to develop your own list of tips to catch crappie. You see on any given day you can get skunked, even the pros do once in awhile. The trick is to refine your skills to understand what crappie live bait or tackle for crappie fishing to use in different seasons and different fishing situations. To this you need to develop your own personal list of crappie fishing guidelines.
Guideline #1 Always use your local bait shop and state or federal department of natural resources to get local fishing information. Here are some good questions to ask; �What crappie minnow rigs people are using� , � What type of crappie live bait anglers are using�, �What types of crappie fishing jigs and what sizes are fisherman using�, �What is the average size of the crappies fisherman are catching� �Where are the best spots to catch crappie�. The folks at the bait stores talk to fisherman everyday and the department of natural sources do annual netting of crappie to determine the average. size and numbers of these fish, they are a valuable resource when developing your list. You want to be as thorough as you can be with these folks because based on the information you obtain from these folks you are going to make your best crappie bait selection. For example if after interviewing your local bait shop and the department of natural resources you find out the average catch size anglers are catching is around 1/2lb to 1lb. Live bait fisherman are having the best luck using fathead minnows, and fisherman using jigs are catching crappie on small 1/64oz to 1/32oz jigs painted florescent green. The fish are being caught in the shallow areas around sunken trees. Ok al you need to do now is make you crappie rigging to march your information. Those 10 or 15-minute interviews can make the difference of catching fish or coming home empty handed. After you have set up your crappie crappies fishing rigging and caught a few fish, clean a few and see what is inside their stomachs this is a excellent way to find out exactly what crappie are eating on any given day!
Guideline #2 Spring is the most active time of year for the crappie species. Get your crappie minnow rigs and your arsenal of jigs for crappie ready because the crappie fish will be active! Crappie will start spawning when the water temperature reaches about 56degrees Fahrenheit. The crappies will be eating large adult crappie minnows right before the spawn because their natural forage fish do not spawn until later in the spring and summer when the water temperature rises to above 70degrees Fahrenheit. So if your wondering what crappie baits to choose keep in mind that the early spring crappie and the fish on the spawning nests will be eating larger forage fish. You can verify this information but cutting open the stomachs of a few fish and example the contents. Another important tip to catch crappie is the fact that nesting crappie hate any fish invading their nesting areas. You can use this to your advantage because these fish will �strike out at any thing that invades there nesting area.
Guideline #3 In the summer months your choice of crappie fishing rigging and crappie bait can vary on the size of fish you want to target. As the water temperature warms to 70 degrees Fahrenheit the forage fish such as crappie fishing minnows begin to spawn. And will continue to spawn throughout late spring and well into summer or until the water temperature approaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The smaller crappie will feed off the fry while the larger crappie will feed off of the adults. The size of your crappie baits will mater in the summer. For example if you want to catch crappie in the 1lb range you will need to use larger crappie live bait and larger crappie jig sizes. If the fish are feeding on threadfin shad you will need to match the size and look of these forage fish if you want to be successful. A good way to create your imitation is to catch a few shad and use them to make your crappie baits.
Guideline #4 Special fishing situations will need special crappie rigging preparation. There are only two common situations that I will talk about here. The first is how to catch crappie if the water is very muddy or stained. There are some very easy tips to catch crappie you can use here. Crappies have very good eye site and outstanding hearing. If you come across situations where the water is stained and muddy, then you need to dress up your crappie baits to hone in on the crappies good hearing because there line of sight will very limited. Attach some shiny rotating blades to your line just about the hooks. Then attach a line rattle. A crappie will zone in on the noise of the rattle and then it gets close the crappie will see and go after the rotating blade thinking it is a wounded crappie fishing minnow. If the water is extremely clear you will need to use a very small diameter line, fire line is good for this application. You will need to sharpen up your crappie bait imitation skills. You will need to use crappie rigging, and crappie baits in the 1/64oz to 1/32oz sizes.