how regular are your crappies

[Smokercrafty]

I find for the Simcoe area, after ice out is a key time, BUT, don't quote me on this, water temp is another key factor(55 degrees rings a bell). I've found my luck in several marinas after ice out. It's been a few years now, but when I did find them, they were plentiful and large. 1/8 salted tubes did the trick.

[muddler]

The crappie in our lake stay relatively deep after ice out, still in the basins at 15-20FOW, they don't really move to the shallows until 2 or 3 weeks after ice out, then they can bee found very shallow in the mud bays and weeds, especially south facing ones. But that is just on our lake, other water bodies in other parts of the province would be different I guess.

Spot on. The areas that warm up the fastest (north shores) will hold the crappies first and longest . Just about any small bait will work some days. I use 1/16 ounce jig inside 1 1/2 inch tubes. 2 inch triple tails (Cabelas) . A light steelhead float or a small slip bobber will work. Fish about 3 feet off bottom ( they usually attack from the bottom) around wood or cover(docks, boat houses, trees etc). Gently lifting the float will attract attention if they are around. Colour is pretty important most of the time. There are days when one colour will out produce every other presentation one day and a totally different one the next. My personal favourites are red/white/,pink, chartreuse/yellow, white and blue/white. use 4lb test mono on a light rod and you're good to go. They don't chase bait a lot when the water is cold. Yes 55 degrees(someone mentioned that earlier) is the magic number for me. Cooler water than that and they will hold closer to a heat source. I have a couple of boat houses that I fish that have a corner facing due south. Crappies will school up there first. Try the other corner....nothing.

 

Ideal depth is around 10 feet or less. I kid you not about colours. The Michigan anglers that come here just for spring crappie come loaded with hundreds of different coloured plastics just for crappie. NONE use minnows.

 

Best tasting fish as far as I am concerned. Great for the kids to catch too.

 

mud

[AKRISONER]

thanks for the info muddler...after this past weekend its just going to be a matter of following them...we hammered 10" + slabs all day on saturday, finally made up for the bogus ice season that we had this year. Hit a PB as well, its promising to see the average size is good, cause we know that theres gonna be a monster in the group, its only a matter of time before we find her.

[BillM]

Make sure you let that monster go She's making millions of other little monsters, lol

[AKRISONER]

Make sure you let that monster go She's making millions of other little monsters, lol

 

you know me and the boys bill...we caught over 20 crappies and kept two medium sized ones cause they were hooked deep and bleeding.

 

Those were the first two fish we kept out of the 40+ weve caught over the past few weeks.

[Mister G]

Crappie rule in my boat is over the gunnel and into the frying pan . . .

[BillM]

 

you know me and the boys bill...we caught over 20 crappies and kept two medium sized ones cause they were hooked deep and bleeding.

 

Those were the first two fish we kept out of the 40+ weve caught over the past few weeks.

 

Good job, we only keep the 10-12in ones. All the cows go back.

[manitoubass2]

 

Good job, we only keep the 10-12in ones. All the cows go back.

Same here. Exact same guideline