Crappie fishing tackle Guidelines: Check Out This Crappie Minnow Rig Here!
Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets
If you are a crappie fisherman you probably are always looking for that edge on how to catch crappie. I could give you some elaborate spiel like, “ If you use these guidelines you are guaranteed to catch crappie” but lets face it anyone who is an avid fisherman looks at statements like that as a “lot of bull” What I would like to do though is share some common guidelines I use to develop your own list of tips to catch crappie. You see on any given day you can get skunked, even the pros do once in awhile. The trick is to refine your skills to understand what crappie live bait or tackle for crappie fishing to use in different seasons and different fishing situations. To this you need to develop your own personal list of crappie fishing guidelines.
Guideline #1 Visit your local State Department of Natural Resources and your local bait shops to get some valuable fishing information about the crappie population in your area. You need to find out what type of crappie fishing rigs are being used to catch fish. You need to find out the average size of the fish being caught and if any larger crappies are being caught. You need to find out what types of crappie jigs are best, what size and what color. The color doesn’t mater as much as matching the size and the to the forage fish that crappies are eating, such as crappie minnows. You Can verify very quickly what the fish are eating after you catch a few and check the contents of their stomachs. Based on what you find you can adjust your crappie rigging and crappie baits accordingly.
Guideline #2 Spring is the most active time of year for the crappie species. Get your crappie minnow rigs and your arsenal of jigs for crappie ready because the crappie fish will be active! Crappie will start spawning when the water temperature reaches about 56degrees Fahrenheit. The crappies will be eating large adult crappie minnows right before the spawn because their natural forage fish do not spawn until later in the spring and summer when the water temperature rises to above 70degrees Fahrenheit. So if your wondering what crappie baits to choose keep in mind that the early spring crappie and the fish on the spawning nests will be eating larger forage fish. You can verify this information but cutting open the stomachs of a few fish and example the contents. Another important tip to catch crappie is the fact that nesting crappie hate any fish invading their nesting areas. You can use this to your advantage because these fish will “strike out at any thing that invades there nesting area.
Guideline #3 In the summer months your choice of crappie fishing rigging and crappie bait can vary on the size of fish you want to target. As the water temperature warms to 70 degrees Fahrenheit the forage fish such as crappie fishing minnows begin to spawn. And will continue to spawn throughout late spring and well into summer or until the water temperature approaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The smaller crappie will feed off the fry while the larger crappie will feed off of the adults. The size of your crappie baits will mater in the summer. For example if you want to catch crappie in the 1lb range you will need to use larger crappie live bait and larger crappie jig sizes. If the fish are feeding on threadfin shad you will need to match the size and look of these forage fish if you want to be successful. A good way to create your imitation is to catch a few shad and use them to make your crappie baits.
Guideline #4 Special fishing situations will need special crappie rigging preparation. There are only two common situations that I will talk about here. The first is how to catch crappie if the water is very muddy or stained. There are some very easy tips to catch crappie you can use here. Crappies have very good eye site and outstanding hearing. If you come across situations where the water is stained and muddy, then you need to dress up your crappie baits to hone in on the crappies good hearing because there line of sight will very limited. Attach some shiny rotating blades to your line just about the hooks. Then attach a line rattle. A crappie will zone in on the noise of the rattle and then it gets close the crappie will see and go after the rotating blade thinking it is a wounded crappie fishing minnow. If the water is extremely clear you will need to use a very small diameter line, fire line is good for this application. You will need to sharpen up your crappie bait imitation skills. You will need to use crappie rigging, and crappie baits in the 1/64oz to 1/32oz sizes.
Mark Fleagle is an Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. and has over 30 years of fishing experience who has written 100’s of useful fishing articles. Would you like to max out your catch on your next fishing trip? Blow your fishing buddies out of the water and get your bragging rights today! Also don’t forget to get your free copy of “78 Fishing Discoveries Unleashed” http://www.oldfishinghole.com
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Crappie Fishing Basics: Amazing Simple Steps ,On How To Catch Crappies Details Here!
Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets
Crappie Fishing Basics
Crappie are found all over the United States From the east cost all the way to California, from southern Canada, To Florida and just about any other place there is a lake river or stream. if you are a beginning fisherman, this species of fish is ideal to target because of the in expense of fishing equipment you will need and of course the abundance of this fish at so many local locations. If you have young children who are interested in trying the sport of fishing than taking them crappie fishing would be the best way to perk their interest.
Fishing for crappies is really a very in-expensive way to get into the sport of fishing and even beginners will catch fish. Here’s a small list of fishing equipment you will need. Get yourself a cane pole that is over 10ft long, some 3 to 4 lb test line, some crappie hooks, and a small bobber. All these items can be found at most bait shops and at any department store. Many times when you purchase the cane pole these items will already bee rigged up for you. All these items can be purchased for under 25$ . Now you can spend a lot more and you will if you really get interested in the sport, but if you just want to try crappie fishing the cane pole option is the way to go.
You will still need to learn some basic facts about this fish before you attempt to go fishing. You need to do a little bit of reading so you know what their typical habitat is so you know where to find them. I would suggest while you are getting your crappies live bait at the local bait shop that you ask a few questions as to where the fish are biting.
You also need to know what they look like. For instance, if you are new to fishing for this species you need to know that the there are two types of crappie. Both species of crappie are from the sunfish family (Pomoxis annularis) and are located in North America and can live in harmony together. There is the black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) and the white crappie (Pomoxis annularis). Both these fish are found only in North America, and they belong to the sunfish family (Centrarchidae).The sunfish family also includes such fish as the largemouth bass, bluegills, and other warm water game fish. No need to worry to make special preparations to catch either the black or the white, the same crappie fishing basics will work well on either of them. To identify either of these fish here’s a few tips Black crappie tend to be a shade darker then their sister white crappie. And they have a irregular pattern of spots on their bodies. The lighter colored white crappie will have a distinct vertical pattern of spots on their bodies. Here’s another way of identifying the two crappies. Count the number of splines on the dorsal fin. If the count is between 7 and 8 the fish is a black crappie, if the count is between 5 and 6 then you have a white crappie. The blacks really like colder water so they do better in the northern parts of the hemisphere as well as fast moving streams and rivers.The whites seem to like large lakes and slow moving rivers like in the south. Both these fish can be found any where in the lower 48 states and many time are found living together and yes they do cross breed.
The average size of these fish will depend on the water conditions of any particular local area you intend to fish, but normal size catches are from ½ to 1lb. In most local fishing locations you can catch fish into the 2lb range if you stick to good crappie fishing basics. A record white crappie was caught in Enid Lake Mississippi and weighed in at 5lb 2 onces. The largest black on record is 4 lb 8 ounces caught in Kerr Lake Virginia and Otoe Lake Nebraska.
Crappies feed on small fish, like your typical crappie fishing minnow and small aquatic insects and tiny crustaceans. The young fish will feed primarily on the small crustaceans and insects while the larger adults diet consists mainly on small fish. Studies have been conducted on the both the white and black adult crappies and it seems that the black will feed a great deal on insects in the spring and switch to small fish such as minnows throughout the rest of the year. The adult white’s primary meal is small fish such as minnows throughout the year.
Just remember when your fishing for the crappies to have fun! If you stick to some crappie fishing basics there’s a good chance you will come away with a basic full of good eating fish, so GOOD LUCK!
Mark Fleagle is an Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. and has over 30 years of fishing experience who has written 100’s of useful fishing articles. Would you like to max out your catch on your next fishing trip? Blow your fishing buddies out of the water and get your bragging rights today! Also don’t forget to get your free copy of “78 Fishing Discoveries Unleashed” http://www.oldfishinghole.com
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Crappie live bait :Increase Your Crappie Catch Easy Steps Here!
Old School Crappie Fishing Family Secrets
How To Use Crappie Live Bait
How To Rig Crappie Minnows
It is very important to offer your crappie live bait presentation in just the right way so as to make the crappie get excited about hitting minnow bait presentation. Another Important element is how you hook your crappie minnow. The Minnow needs to be hooked so it swims freely while attached to the hook. Remember, you are trying to imitate a wounded minnow so a crappie will think it is an easy meal. I am going to show you how to make a crappie minnow rig that has proven successful for me. I also would like to introduce you to a little used crappie jigging technique that is rarely used these days.
How To Make A Dual Crappie Minnow Rig Using Three Way Swivels
You can purchase these rigs commercially but if you want to save a few bucks here’s a step by step procedure to make your own.
Step#1 You will need to have some 8-20lb fire line. For comparison, the dia. of the 20lb test is the same as 6lb mono-filament line.
Step#2 You will want your crappie minnow to swim as freely as possible so you will need to get some 3 ways swivels. The swivels will enable the minnow to swim in 360deg circles driving the crappie crazy!
Step#3 You will need some sinkers with enough weight to get your rig to the bottom. 1/4oz Egg or bass sinkers work nicely.
Step#4 Take some fire line off of your reel spool, or from the line container and cut 2 pieces 10” long, then tie a crappie hook to the end of each piece.
Step#5 Cut 2 pieces of fire line that are about 12” inches long.
Step#6 Open the bail on your fishing reel, make sure you have your fire line going through the eyelets, now pull enough line out so you can work freely while your assembling your crappie live bait rig. Pickup one of the 3 way swivels and tie it to your line that is coming from your fishing reel.
Step#7 Tie one of crappie hook leaders you made in step 4 to the open eye on the 3 way swivel that is 90 degrees clockwise. There should be one open eyelet when you get done, that is pointing strait downward.
Step#8 Tie one of the 12” pieces of fire line to the open eyelet of the first 3 way swivel. Then tie the other end to your second three way swivel. Make sure after you tie both ends that you have approximately 6” between the bottom eyelet of the first three way swivel and the top of the second 3 way swivel.
Step#9 Tie one of crappie hook leaders you made in step 4 to the open eye on the 3 way swivel that is 90 degrees clockwise. There should be one open eyelet when you get done, that is pointing strait downward.
Step#10 Pick up the last 12” inch piece of fire line you cut in step 5, then tie one end to the last remaining open eyelet of the second 3 way swivel. Now pick up your 1/4oz Egg or Bass sinker and tie it to the other end of the 12” line.
Step#11 Now to complete your crappie live bait rig, hook a crappie fishing minnow in front or the back of the dorsal fin on both hooks. By hooking the minnow this way it should make the minnow swim freely, as if he were wounded.
Here’s Your rarely used crappie jigging technique.
Look for a dead crappie minnow in your bucket or kill one and hook it to the left
or right gill. Next , you need to imitate a wounded or dying minnow so start jigging
the dead minnow up and down as you drop your line. This will cause the
minnow to flutter as if it were a dying or wounded minnow.
This Concludes my article about crappie live bait rigs please stay tuned for more
interesting articles about fishing.
Mark Fleagle is an Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. and has over 30 years of fishing experience who has written 100’s of useful fishing articles. Would you like to max out your catch on your next fishing trip? Blow your fishing buddies out of the water and get your bragging rights today! Also don’t forget to get your free copy of “78 Fishing Discoveries Unleashed” http://www.oldfishinghole.com
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