Hello everyone, welcome to SNA Krappie Masters blog! On this page we hope to provide you with top notch information and tips covering all things crappie fishing. If you’re new to the crappie fishing game or a seasoned angler looking for something new, I hope the following and future posts and videos will be just what your rod and reel were looking for.
With that being said, did you guys know crappie do not vanish after the frenzy of the spring spawning season? However, for some reason most crappie anglers do. That’s a shame as the fish that were so easy to catch six months ago and had you itching to get on the water are still there!. With that, the cool weather is now upon us here in Kentucky, pushing those crappie out of their deep-water haunts and back into the shallows once again calling your name. The fall crappie bite is here!
One thing I like to do as the fall hits to eliminate the wrong colors and depths is no other than spider-rigging. The tactic uses eight, ten or even twelve rods, all rigged with different color baits, set at different depths to locate the crappie. Once you have located the fish, it is time to load those hooks up with the proper bait of choice for that day, time the line depth and fish hard! The tactic of spider-rigging can cover a span of thirty feet of water at once versus trying to locate the schools cast by cast.
Another thing I look for in the fall are “crappie highways.” I do so by using my Lowrance Elite TI electronics to search for those highways like a main creek channels, ledges, humps and other likely-looking spots within the body of water I’m fishing. I have found that during the beginning of the fall bite when the crappie begin their drive in, they will use these highways consistently till set up in a location of liking. When I finally dial in on one of these areas are, I’ll study the depth finder screen in order to locate balls of bait, set my depth and fish away.
My other targeting strategy in the fall is the most obvious being bait. Having bait in the area you can be pretty sure there will be crappie nearby. They’ll often hang near or in cover on ambush points to attack their bait. Locating natural bait is an important factor to remember when fall crappie fishing.
Wood Is Good. Find wood cover. Deep brush in the early fall and shallow wood cover, lay downs in the late fall as the water cools. Any of this cover will most likely hold fish at one time or another, but the best cover will be near humps, creek channel intersections, sharp creek channel bends and sharp points.
Stay deep early fall, bash the banks late. Southern reservoirs just won’t cool much until late fall, early winter so the best option is to fish the same spots you find crappie during the heat of the summer but go deep! This means using a depth finder as talked about earlier to locate those deep brush piles and lay downs.
Go Bigger. Small baitfish have had an entire summer to grow as have the crappie that feed on them. That’s why we and you should use larger baits when crappie fishing in the fall. I like to use a 2 3/8-inch body on a quarter-ounce jig head. I catch plenty of smaller crappie on that bigger lure, but I also catch lots of big fish, too. Also changing up the color and type of bait is key in the fall bite. These crappie becoming finicky as the water temperature and color changes so you must not be scared to change and change often if need be. That’s why when fall crappie fishing, the experts stock their boats with lures in dozens of colors and sizes.
Live Bait Can’t Be Beat. Minnows can be a hassle, but they work when nothing else will. Grab you some medium sized or larger minnows or shiner, as the baitfish are bigger, tie two on and hang on!
Lastly for this blog, temperature matters. Crappie fishing professionals say fall crappie respond to cooling water and will follow many of the same patterns in the fall as they do in the spring. It’s basically a reverse migration. They’ll start out in deeper water, but as the water cools, they move into creeks and eventually end up in many of the same places we find them in the spring just like bass. So once it gets cold, you better be launching test boat!
Hopefully with the tips we’ve listed above you may be better equipped for the fall fishing season . After all what better time to be on the water no with the over crowding of leisurely boaters have winterized their boats! Some of the largest crappie of the year come in the fall so we hope to see you on the waters!]]>
