Fishing the heavy buck brush and shallow openings is a key to finding early season crappie. Sometimes anglers must pole their boats far into the shallows to find the big ones. All kinds of jigs work in water from 2 to 10 feet deep. Anglers probe the shallows with cane poles to more sophisticated fly rod tackle. Popular are spinning and bait casting rods and reels. The newer crappie poles are fast becoming the tackle of choice.
Light line is a must. Two to four pound test clear line is best. If one is going to fish the heavy cover then perhaps 4 to 8 pound test clear line is better.
Small jig and minnow combinations with jigs of 1/8 to 1/32 ounce are good. Plastic tube bodies of white, chartreuse, or red/chartreuse combinations seem to work well on jigs.
Some anglers fish for crappie along rip‑rap near dams and spillways with bank fishing tackle. This is a long pole, light line, and a small wire hook with a minnow suspended below a small balsa float. Allow the bait or lure to bounce along the bottom with an occasional jigging by the angler to entice a bite.
The above is fine for the casual crappie angler. But, then there are the guys who REALLY want to get those big fish. You can tell them immediately. They have rods in the 9 1/2 to 12 foot length. The side of the boat is scratched from rubbing on the bushes.
The long rods are sensitive in addition to being very long. They need the length to reach into the brush and the backbone to yank big fish up and out. The key is to fish straight down and straight up and keep a pretty tight line at the same time. Continue reading….
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