Every month I tell you about bass fishing and a little about crappie. Well this month I want to ask you do you like fishing for Crappie and if so do you build places where you can go and catch crappie most every time you fish for them? I know I do. I will locate places that look good to me and then I will take several loads of brush and place it around so that when I fish it I can move around from one brush pile to the next or I can anchor down and fish one spot. Either way will produce lots of big crappie.
Let’s now take a minute and tell you what I look for in a spot where I place my brush. First thing I will do is buy a good map, next I will open up my map and try to locate places you can fish when the wind is blowing because we know that no matter how pretty of a day it is today that it just won’t stay that way so we must plan ahead. Once I locate a few spots that look good from a maps stand point I then will look at the areas to see if there is a creek or high spot close by the area I selected. Things such this will make your spot even better. I like to place brush both deep and shallow so look your spot over and see if it offers both deep and shallow fishing. Now I have located my spots on a map I will drive my boat to the locations and look them over by visual and with my Lowrance graph. After I do this and make sure my spot is exactly what I want I then will cut my brush and concrete it down into buckets so that I can drop them in and they then will sink straight down where I need them to be.
Now what type of fishing do you like best live bait or artificial? My favorite way is to fish jigs and there are several kinds of jigs on the market and here are a few I like. One being the pre-made feather jigs by Mister Twister and the 2inch curl tails by Mister Twister. The pre-made jig is just that it comes ready to fish. The curl tails need to be matched up with a jig head of your choice meaning if you are fishing very shallow you may want to fish a 1/32nd ounce and if you are fishing deep then you may want the 1/8th ounce both work well. Other crappie jigs out there are the Little Fishy which is a great lure in it’s self. The Little Fishy comes in several different sizes and colors and it is a fish catching lure. Now I could go on and on about crappie lures so go to your favorite store and shop all the crappie jigs and ask them which they like best and take some home with you. Minnows will catch fish but there is just something about fishing the artificial lures when you catch the fish you know that you tricked that fish into eating something that you made look better than live bait.
When you buy your jigs buy several colors, some I like are black/chart, blue/white, chart/white and pink/white. The reason I say to buy several colors is that you can be on the crappie and catching one every cast and then they will just stop bitting and most fisherman will say they moved I say change colors for the light from the sun has changed on how it’s angle of the rays going down to them and another color just may be your ticket to catching even more fish than you ever caught before.
Remember these jigs are very small and will have a slow fall to them so fish slow and fish all angles of your brush because crappie will be on one side today and maybe the other side tomorrow.
We have talked about crappie fishing now let’s move to lake conditions and bass fishing. Lake Palestine is at this time at full pool and clear for the most part and bass fishing has been great and I expect it to continue through out March and on in to April.
Bass are good on top waters, spinner baits, shimmy shakers, sinkos and jigs. I am working these lures near the grass beds along the shore lines working all grass and any brush I can find.
The spawn is now in a pre-spawn stage and there are a lot of big fish up near the shore lines to be caught. To catch these fish fish slow and when you think you are fishing slow then slow down some more.
Lake Fork is at full pool and the spawning fish are just beginning to get started. Like on Palestine you can fish the shore lines where you have grass and lay downs and produce some really nice bass.
Bass can be caught on top waters, jigs,spinner baits, shimmy shakers and Sinkos. Fish slow and then fish slower and you will go home the winner.
Lake Fork still holds the last two State records back to back with the largest tipping the scales at 18.18lbs and it also holds my largest bass that tipped the scales at 14lbs 8oz’s and if you come down and fish it you to can have a chance at your largest bass ever.
No matter which lake you choose to fish this spring remember to fish slow and you will go home the winner every trip you go on.
If you want to try some of my lures that I mention such as the shimmy shaker, the 430 special spinner bait, my jigging spoons and my diamond head jig’s you can purchase them on line, just go to my website rickysguideservice.com and click on the tackle store and there you can see the sizes and colors and prices. You can pay through pay pal and I will ship them out as fast as I can.
I would like to say thanks to everyone that read the Lake view news and for clicking on my website. If you have questions or comments that you would like for me to address in my articles please call or email me and I will do my best to answer any of your comments and if I don’t know the answer I will find it and get back to you with the answer.
Until next month keep only the fish you can use and release the rest so our children to can enjoy the great sport we call fishing.By: Ricky Vandergriff
