January 24, 2023
My most interesting day ever for crappies is etched in memory, partially because of it was an April Fool’s Day, now higher than 30 years up to now. Late inside the season, after getting a blanket of moist snow, we augered holes over a deep basin, dropped transducers down holes, and the screens on our inexperienced Fish-Lo-Okay-Tors lit up identical to the Christmas tree in entrance of Macy’s Division Retailer. In 32 ft of water, crappies hovered in an unlimited pack, stretching all through the middle of the water column.
I grabbed the first rod I’ll attain, one used the day sooner than for speckled trout. It was spooled with 6-pound Maxima monofilament and the lure was a 2 1/4-inch silver-plated Williams Wabler spoon weighing 1/4 ounce. Hardly regular crappie fare. I didn’t take time to tip the spoon.
Watching the fish react on sonar was a shock. The spoon barely obtained beneath the ice sooner than a variety of crappies turned on the afterburner, screaming up out of the suspended assembly to intercept the fluttering mass of metallic. The hits had been crushingly arduous. It was like dealing with aggressive lake trout.
I nonetheless have the grainy {photograph} from that day hanging on my office wall. Once more then each factor that hit the ice stayed there. On the end of the day, I slid the slabs on a rope stringer and struggled to hoist it over my shoulder, the ultimate crappie draping from the stringer touching the ice. The lesson from that day stayed with me for the rest of my ice fishing occupation.
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At One Extreme
It always pays to consider one presentation extreme or the other. Normally, use lots higher and sooner shows when the fishing’s good—and use lots smaller and slower shows when the chew’s highly effective. That isn’t plenty of a revelation on this age of ever-advancing ice data, nonetheless most crappie anglers nonetheless spend most of their time caught someplace in the midst of the presentation pack. They won’t consider beginning with a #3 Jigging Rap, nonetheless attain instantly for a minnow anchored by a lower up shot set beneath a float, or they attain for his or her regular small spoon.
On one end of the scale, I carry a whack of 1/7- and 1/4-ounce Williams Wabler spoons. I sometimes use 1/16- and 1/8-ounce Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons, and HT Hawger Spoons of the an identical measurement. The #2 and #3 Jigging Raps are regular fare for me, along with smallest Northland Puppet Minnow, the PM1. I’ve had many spectacular catches with Raps and Puppets. Start the day with actually considered one of these aggressive lures—and loads of situations you end it with considered one of many comparable aggressive shows. I would add that I typically tip these lures with a small minnow head to start out, seeing whether it is obligatory as a result of the day advances. Usually, significantly with the Raps and Puppets, it isn’t important to tip.
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If the fish do not get after aggressive selections you rapidly know it and may try one factor else–tinkering once more a bit. Nonetheless don’t be lulled into not considering the aggressive selections as soon as extra as a result of the day continues. It’s typical to have scorching fish for half an hour then ought to go smaller and slower, significantly all through midday. Many days, though, as a result of the photo voltaic settles the fish are as quickly as as soon as extra all through an aggressive alternative, after they won’t contact tiny and gradual.
Aggressive selections are considerably productive via the first-ice interval in December, when crappies are unpressured and hungry—and as soon as extra finally ice in late March and early April, when their metabolism kicks once more into extreme gear. All through these peak intervals you might “over finesse” fish. A tiny, trembling, micro-jig tipped with a maggot barely hovered near a crappie’s nostril is ignored, whereas the an identical fish kick down the door and pummel a hunk of dancing metallic.
The other rule proper right here is it would not matter what lure finally goes down the opening, to always consider pushing the window with what you might do with that lure. Don’t assume that the 1/16-ounce spoon must be fished slowly–carry, drop, prolonged pause. Dance it typically as a result of it sinks to depth. Then as quickly because it settles, jiggle, jiggle, jiggle, barely pause. Repeat. The same old prolonged pause sometimes isn’t important. See how the fish reply.
Related with a micro jig identical to the Marmoska. Attempt some big dancing. Pound the jig arduous, shaking your hand arduous to get the jig to vibrate intensely. Usually you barely need to reduce the pounding–or add the slightest pause–to get fish to eat. As soon as extra, the fish rapidly let what they want. Nonetheless they can’t let they just like the acute end of the spectrum in case you don’t try it.
The Totally different Extreme
The mighty mites on the totally different end of the scale excel when the chew’s highly effective, as a result of it typically is all through midwinter. This moreover sometimes is the case when crappies are being pressured by legions of anglers. Even proper right here, nonetheless, it nonetheless sometimes pays to at least try aggressive maneuvers.
Nonetheless, all through highly effective situations, many anglers don’t scale down ample to curiosity crappies, nor decelerate ample to lastly set off fish. I’ve written sooner than about two of the proper crappie anglers I do know, Winnipeg, Manitobans Mike Schamber and Tom VanLeeuwen. Fishing in a crowd on Moist Lake sometime a variety of winters up to now I watched them catch and launch higher than 50 fish, whereas totally different anglers had been blanking. Sensing how delicate the fish had been, they experimented with progressively smaller jigs, discovering that hair jigs weighing 1/60 ounce had been part of the vital factor. They didn’t needs to be tipped nonetheless they wanted to be fished ineffective slow—nearly deadsticked.
Utterly ineffective gradual sometimes is a important part of this end of this presentation picture. In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange and I’ve had many fruitful days filming In-Fisherman Ice Fishing Data television the ultimate three years. We’ve got demonstrated that at situations you merely can’t preserve a rod nonetheless ample to set off crappies.
Working with a spring bobber on the rod tip, the 1st step is to get a fish to return in—or switch from hole to hole until you uncover one with a fish beneath it. As quickly as a fish is inside fluctuate, sometimes the one methodology to get a chew is to prop the rod on the ice and watch the tip. At situations, merely barely contact the spring tip with a finger to tickle the jig beneath. Totally different situations, don’t contact it the least bit for minutes on end. fish are hovering beneath because of you may even see them on electronics.
In the end, the tip ghostly strikes as a result of the fish takes. On such days, this methodology will get the job achieved to film a TV section and eke out a meal of up to date fish.
To some it’s surprising {{that a}} fish, hovering at midnight, 30 ft beneath your boots can distinguish between 1/64-ounce distinction in jig weight, or can detect merely the proper movement (or lack thereof) of a jig suspended beneath a rod setting ineffective nonetheless on the ice. Nonetheless discriminate they’re going to and typically do. You see it repeatedly every winter in case you look forward to it.
Step away from the middle of the pack and spend time tinkering with shows on the sting. You see points you haven’t seen sooner than and have banner days the likes of which you’ve got received on no account expert sooner than.
6 Arc of Slabs, Northeast Mississippi
Similar to the Bordeaux space grows world-class wine grapes, the Arc of Slabs is thought for producing massive crappies. Grenada, Sardis, Enid, and Arkabutla — it’s a tossup which of these reservoirs could also be most interesting for large white crappies all through March and April. Jigging in brush and spider-rigging are the proper bets. Wading, too, at situations. Contact: Data John Woods, 731/334-9669; Data John Harrison, 662/983-5999.
2 Lake Erie, Ohio
4 Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee
7 Weiss Lake, Alabama
8 Kentucky Lake, Kentucky / Tennessee
9 Kerr (Buggs Island) Reservoir, Virginia/North Carolina
Numbers of crappies from 1 to 13„4 kilos with a possibility for 2- to 3-pounders. As quickly because the spider-rigging chew wanes in shallower creek channels by April, movement turns to jigging deeper brushpiles. Contact: Data Bud Haynes, 434/374-0308; Data Keith Wray, 434/635-0207; Bobcats Bait and Kind out, 434/374-8381.
3 Lake Eufaula, Oklahoma
5 Lake Fork, Texas
1 Lake of the Woods, Ontario
10 St. Johns River, Florida
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