11/25/12 FISH@ DUSK.

Hey Folks have you seen the new Alabama rig for crappie..it's a scaled down three hook umberella rig for crappie and they say it works very well for the Soc-a-la

I joined the group this morning, i love to catch slab crappie!

Made up some crappie jigs in the 1/16 and the 1/32 oz.1/16 oz

1/32 oz

Lookin' great Dick. Go get em'!

Great fish Jason!

Thanks John was looking good but turned cold again won't be long though.

Hey Dick have you tried fishing an added spinner on your line ahead of those fine jigs you made? Edward C. Janes in his book , 'Freshwater Fishing Complete' swears that it greatly increases the success for Crappie ! 

John I haven't been out yet due to my circumstances here at home. I'm itching real bad to get out. I have fished the pond some that's a vent that helps me a little. I stocked 300 yellow perch this spring in the pond and they are more than willing to take my jig. I haven't thought of a spinner in front of the jig but can see how it would increase my chances and will put more thought into it and thank you for relaying that to me. I know crappies like shinny things and I know I have caught than on inline spinners before so that makes it all that more encouraging. Again thanks John and GOOD FISHIN....

Hey Dick ,thanks for the response ! I rigged up a tandem tube jig with spinners ahead of each bait today .Anxious to give it a try. Not sure when I'll have the chance! Hope those Perch propagate for you .Love the taste of Perch filets!

Again John I happen to know perch love them little spinners to. I think it catches there eye and brings them to the bait. When we use to fish Erie we always used spreaders and I always made sure mine had spinners on it and I usually out fished the rest of the boat then they finally got wise and I had a hard time keeping spreaders on the boat. But I think it will work fine for you and I'll be trying that spinner before the jig sounds like a good one and again thanks.

Thanks Dick! Time to utilize the spinner worm rig and hopefully score on Perch and Crappie .They both taste good!

Tried out this Crappie Tandem spinner/tube jig  rig from shore the other night but couldn't reach the feeding rise I suspect where Crappie (maybe White Perch).I put more line on the reel and it casts about 50 ' now. Anxious to try it out in the boat. I have   a rubber float stop before the top spinner and the bottom spinner is tied into the line .when the tubes wear out I'll use twister tails.

i believe this to be the defacto standard manual on crappie ever written. this happens to be my second copy... the first copy i purchased in the mid eighties was lost in the move i made to my latest residence. found it on amazon! it is a very worthwhile read.

Gotta try to get a copy of that InFisherman Crappie Secrets book !Here's a list of my Fishing books : http://bigbluegill.com/group/fishingbooklibrary/forum/topics/fishin...

I hope you'll share your books over at this group I started Ken :http://bigbluegill.com/group/fishingbooklibrary?commentId=2036984%3...

Here are a  a few nice Crappie that I got onto 11/4/13.The wide 12" took one of the jigs on a tandem rig that was wiping up on Yellow Perch .About 6 of the 8 Crappies took a squirrel Tail Jig/1"Chartruese twister tail ,floated  .The Crappie  were coming out under leaves blown to the end of the lake on the rip rap .I was in the right place at the right time.

Good stuff John looks like you caught some quality fish.

Thank you Dick .Hope to try this spot tomorrow and I wish  the wind will be from the N,NW but its projected to be from the W/SW. May have to try another spot the wind is blowing to.

I've read that Black and White Crappie can hybridize .Anyone have a pic of a hybrid Crappie?

here you go John:

http://www.tnfish.org/PhotoGalleryFish_TWRA/FishPhotoGallery_TWRA/p...

Thanks for the link Tony ! Do the Hybrids ALWAYS sport the 7 spines like the Black Crappie as far as you know .?

good answer Tony!

Me too Andy ! My best from my local lake is 14 " and I've caught a few 13" and 13".5 at another nearby lake .In the 80's I caught a 16" and a 16.5 but haven't seen them that big since. I love getting into them in large numbers with jigs and a few fishin' buddies!

As I recall my 16" was a spring fish and weighed 2lbs.and the 16.5 was an October fish caught on a shiner and weighed 2,1/2 lbs. Do you recall what your 17' weighed and what season it was caught in and what it hit? Always like to know these things!  

Sorry John I didnt weigh it, and I cant fib about this one. It actually hit a silver&black rattle trap. Hit it like a bass!! I think it was late spring, early summer. caught in that spot 2 lake i posted pics of.  Wish it would have hit a jig on an ultralight, but it didnt BUT DONT TELL ANYONE OUR SECRET!!!!!

Wow a rattletrap! I n ever caught a Crappie on a trap! Nice 3 lb Crappie!! ;)

Hi I've had good luck with the  Rapala chrome blue R N R-5 Rattle tarp on bass, now I know where the  lakes and ponds with crappie are  I will have to give it a try on them, it has been a killer on bass. also Bill Lewis Rattle traps work good too.

David ,unusual perhaps ,but I once caught a 10"Crappie on a  #4 Blue Fox Spinner which I thought was a big bait for the fish. It was an April Fish so it might have been protecting a nest . It did come out of sand/gravel area so I really think that was the case .

I've caught good sized Pre Spawn largemouth Bass on Rattle traps ,Blue and silver and other colors .Throwing over flats with early year weeds and crankin' with a slow ratio baitcaster was the ticket .Ripping  one off bottom in 22 fow on a cold early April day I caught a real feisty fightin' Smallmouth back in the late 80's /early 90's.I have caught pickerel on them  and even recall a white Perch a few years back on a Cotton Cordell rattle bait .I may have been rippin' it and letting it fall for that White Perch but was actually thinking Bass at the time I was doing it.

I hear ya Andy ,and that's when you catch plenty ;they want to eat it and they get all competitive on a feed!

nothing better!

Ok, I just had to comment!!!

I've caught Crappie on a variety of artificial baits.  Chrome-colored lipless crankbaits (Rat-L-Traps, and other similar baits), Rapala X-Rap size 6, Rapala Clackin' Minnow size 5, in-line spinnerbaits in a variety of sizes, heck, I even caught one on a Rebel 7700 series crawfish crankbait!

Crappie will jump all over young-of-the-year Shad, what we call "candy shad" down here in Okieland.  This is usually in the late summer / early fall.  Perfect time to start throwing lipless crankbaits.

Also, this year, I have noticed that a lot of the Crappie in the river I fish are extremely "light-biting".  If you use a styrofoam slip-float, the float might just give a quick blip-blip-blip, and that's it.  However, since I've started using the large size Thill TG Waggler slip-float, I've noticed that the float will do one of two things: 

1)  It might rise up and lay on it's side.  This is a "lift-bite".  I don't always set the hook when I see this, but will start taking up slack.  Usually, the fish will only lift the bait a few inches, hold for a few seconds, then take it down.  The float will stand up, then go under.

2)  The float will just start to S-L-O-W-L-Y go under.  I mean, it may take several seconds to fully submerge.  When I notice this, again, I start taking in slack, and as soon as the top goes under, I'll set the hook.

David, "Mc Scruff ", I catch way more Crappie from a boat than I do from shore ,if that means anything to you .

yep i like catching crappie he is 3lb and 15" long caught on a 2" triple tail grub black and chartreuse  wih a 1/16 jig.

we seem to be over run with crappie in illinois.not a bad thing but seems they are begining to stunt.i catch as many crappie as gills on my flyrod.they seem to be everywhere but small

Y'all need some Flathead Catfish in there!  Maybe some Saugeyes as well....

allen they are in little ponds ,creeks.i seem to be catching them in unexpected places.just had the right conditions last few years i guess.

Creeks I can understand.  Small ponds?  That's the worst!  They'll overpopulate and stunt in a few years there.

You could always do the old cut-and-gut routine.  Scale them, cut off the heads, clean out the guts, bread and fry them whole.

I would do this for one of my home lakes (millions of stunted Crappie), and for Bluegill, but my wife INSISTS on fillets.......

love whole fried fish allen.i live in a semi rural area of south cook county.about 10 miles outside chicago,we have a lot of canepole and a bucket people that will keep any fish they catch.they just aren't always that good at catching them.there is little to no enforcement of catch or size limits .it amazes me you can catch anything in public water around here.i only casually fish these ponds as they are close to home .

Good man ,Andy Moore!! Thanks for the link Ken! 19" Crappie !Wow!!