Crappie Secrets

In clear and lightly stained waters, the most important thing to remember is to match the natural food items. When fishing with a minnow type lure or crappie jig, such as a tube bait or a shad shaped lure, try to use natural looking colors such as silver, smoke, gray, etc. When jigging near or on the bottom, try using browns or dark greens.

To learn more about what colors to pick, click here

Sunny days are usually fairly simple days to choose a crappie rig. Try the brightest color you have first. Chartreusse, white, yellow, and hot pinks and greens are favorites of mine. Try small silver or gold spinners to produce extra flash as well.

To learn more about what colors to pick, click here

Joe Don, like many of us, is a crappie fisherman and has his crappie secrets. He loves nothing more than to catch a mess of crappie, take 'em home and eat 'em. Joe knows some crappie fishing secrets that you should too.

He typically starts his crappie fishing in the winter while the water is low. He scouts out his favorite spots. He finds the brush piles. He notes stands of dead timber. He does a complete job of the scouting.  Joe checks out all the details.

His fishing day typically starts on a Friday night. He spends some time checking the boat over. He cranks the engine. He makes sure the gas cans are full. He checks all his poles and equipment and rigs them.  He loads his tackle up and heads for the house.

On Saturday morning, he kisses his wife before dawn and heads out to his favorite spots. He launches the boat, checks his maps, and off he goes to those spots he found during the low water.

When he gets to his favorite spot, Joe kills the motor and takes a look at the weather conditions. Depending on if it is overcast or sunny, he will pick different colors. As the sun comes up, he looks at the water. Same story, the color of the water will tell him what colors to pick.

Joe Don picks a color, hones a hook, rigs up and starts crappie fishing. No fish are biting yet. Joe Don checks to make sure he is in the right spot and he is. He decides to go with a different color. Wham, he gets hit by a big crappie. As the day changes, Joe Don probably switches color 20 times.

By noon, Joe has caught his limit of crappie fishing. Of course he also caught a few other fish, including a catfish and some perch.   Joe heads for home. Joe knows that dinner tonight is going to be a delicious plate of succulent, tender fried crappie. He know that tomorrow morning he will catch his limit again.

Now that folks is the way to catch a mess of crappie. Joe Don knows those crappie secrets.