As these words flow through my keyboard, fresh reports of a hot bite electrify my senses.
The crappies, you see, are biting in southern Missouri, a sign they will be active everywhere.
With temperatures warming rapidly during this important transition month, anglers across the northern and eastern United States can expect crappies to begin popping anytime.
Open water fishing, a snappy bite, and cold, freshwater fillets after a long winter: If you’re looking to give the last rites to cabin fever 2009, I give you early-season crappies.
In northerly climes like the Upper Midwest, renewed vegetative growth began under the ice thanks to the longer, more intense daylight. Snow melt re-oxygenated waterways. Farther south, in places like Missouri, boats are hitting the lakes, rivers, and reservoirs to target these big, black-and-white panfish.
Let’s put an initial misnomer to rest immediately: — These are not spawning fish. That happens later in the spring. Classic early-seeason crappies are on a feeding binge in shallow water areas as the food-chain begins cycling for the year.
This starts in the shallows because early on, that’s where you’ll find the heat. South-facing bays, dark-bottomed areas (which can absorb heat) and any sheltered, relatively undisturbed zones are logical places to begin the early-season crappie search.
Bottom line, we’re looking for the warmest water in a given waterway. Microscopic organism begin proliferating there first, and larger organisms follow until we’ve got schools of minnows attracting big slabs. You’ll find other gamefish, too, and the dedicated ice-out crappie angler will pick up the occasional bass or pike.
On natural lakes like those in my home state of Minnesota, channels are fine locations for targeting crappies. These areas usually are sheltered and shallow and will concentrate fish. In reservoirs those backwaters and fingers are where crappies stack up. The warm backwaters of the rivers are where I go when trying to find crappies away from the current.
Once you locate these general areas, begin your search looking for types of cover. The fish will hold near something, typically vegetation such as bulrushes, milfoil, or perhaps even a floating shelf of cattails. Bulrushes can be in a mere couple feet of water. Right under a ledge or bank might just hold a school of hungry crappies.
Be aware that these shallow-water fish neutralize your electronics advantage. For obvious reasons, you can’t perch over fish in 18 inches of water and mark them with you sonar. They’re spooky, and that requires stealth on your part.
Typically I switch off my outboard a hundred yards or more away from a likely fish-hold location, then I approach more closely via my trolling motor. For the final 25 to 30 yards (and then for maneuvering around an area) I’ll use a push-pole to remain as quiet as possible.
Rarely will these fish be in water more than 10 feet deep, so keep all noise to an absolute minimum. Avoid even walking (or talking) in your boat if possible. Pre-rig before hitting the water.
Don’t leave the electronics at home, however. Should a cold front move in, fish may move back out to the breakline, mouth of a bay, or deeper water, and you’ll need those electronics to locate suspended fish.
OK, so you’re poised 10 yards or so away from some prime water, have kept nice and quiet, and now want to catch some fish. What do you do?
Well, just as you would for shallow-water bass, enter search mode. Start with a small jighead with a spinner ? something in the mode of a Beetle Spin or Road-Runner spinner. Cast and retrieve it along shorelines and that cover. Use a slow retrieve and work it around cover ? whether it be vegetation, logs, or man-made structure.
This is a somewhat aggressive approach that won’t catch a lot of fish, though bigger crappies are more likely to hit this presentation. The key here is that it’s a search bait that allows us to make initial contact. We can’t use our electronics so we need to cover water with our lures.
Once I pick up a fish or two, then I’ll often drop anchor (quietly!)_and move to something slower. Switch to a float with a tube jig or a plain hook and minnow. Usually it’s a crappie minnow, or occasionally small shiners (though they’re tough to find this time of year.)
Plastics are popular, too, on these jigs, say a curly-tailed grub or chunk of rubber. Tube-jigs are extremely popular for crappies, and you’ll find a great swath of finesse plastics available in lieu of a tube jig. Artificial options for crappies have exploded the past couple of years, and they perform.
Work your rig thoroughly, and place your bait a foot or so above the cover you’re fishing. If it’s a hard bottom or there’s some cover that they’re holding on, say a log, then put your bait slightly above that level.
Rig your setup on 4-pound-test line. In heavier cover, you’ll see me using 6- or even 8-pound-test. But again, these fish are spooky so we need to err on the side of serious finesse. I’ve even used 2-pound-test or a three-foot leader of 2-pound-test line.
Another fun tactic is employing small crankbaits, especially when waterways warm. Perhaps because their lakes and reservoirs heat faster, it seems this is a more popular tactic in more southerly waters. I’ve even seen guys use 2-inch cranks that folks in the Upper Midwest would throw strictly for bass. Obviously, this is another good search bait, but when they strike, it’s a lot of fun to catch crappies this way.
Whether via boat or wading, fly-fishing is a viable option, too. Few people try this, but it’s subtle and fun. I use a variety of subsurface flies, such as bead-head nymphs and small leech imitations, Muddler minnows, and even dry flies. Not a search approach, fly-fishing offers a slow, methodical tactic. Stick with the same small 5X rod you use for small trout. If it looks like a tasty insect, crappies will take it.
If you’re fishing a lake for the first time, you need to move frequently until you find active fish. But once you find an area, it typically will be good year-in and year-out. Once you find a good area, slow down.
Early-season crappies are about as good as it gets on the table, but I’m selective about the fish I kill. They’re concentrated, so it’s easy to overfish a spot. Don’t stock the freezer! Get a meal, say five fish for a family of three, then release those big slab females with the round bellies. Remember, in most cases this is pre-spawn so leave those biggest slabs to pass on their genes later this spring.
Rejoice! A long, cold winter has ended! Now go celebrate by pursuing aggressive early-season crappies.By: Adam Johnson
