Catching summertime crappie from the bank can be pretty easy, providing you go into it with a solid fishing plan. Shore fishing allows you to escape the pleasure boaters and jet skiers, and with a little effort you can gain access to areas that crappie anglers in boats never see. Try these three tactics for fun bank fishing and bring home a stringer of slabs.
1. UP A CREEK
“I grew up fishing ponds and walking creeks,” says Barry Morrow, a crappie guide in Oklahoma and Missouri. “I’m talking about the uppermost areas of creeks. Most have access within a short walking distance. Access will often be from a backroad or where a bridge crosses the creek. Some have parks or picnic areas that provide easy access. Public lands are best because you must have permission if you walk private land.”
The creeks he walks or wades are mud or rock bottom. He searches for laydowns, old stumps or other cover where a fish might hide. His weapon of choice is an 11-foot pole, 12-pound test Silver Thread line and a 1/4-ounce jighead with a Lindy Watsit body. He agrees most fishermen are more comfortable with a lighter-weight jighead, but that extra weight allows better sensitivity to feel the bottom, brush and bites.
“I dip from the outside edges of brush or laydowns toward the inside,” says Morrow. “The best bite is usually in the heart of the cover. With a laydown, this will usually be where the main limbs intersect with the trunk. Every piece of cover has a sweet spot and you’ll soon learn a pattern where most of these are located.”
Hold the pole with one hand and the line in the other. Pull the jig up to the tip, push the bait where you want it and then drop the jig by slowly moving your free hand toward the pole. Keep dropping it until you feel bottom or reach the strike zone. Controlling the line with your free hand is very important to this style of fishing. Because the rod is often confined within the branches of a laydown tree or bush, use that free hand to set the hook, pull the crappie almost to the tip then back it out.
2. SPILLWAYS
Todd Huckabee, a well-known Oklahoma crappie guide, says spillways are his No. 1 pick for crappie action from the bank.
“Late summer is the perfect time,” he said. “The lake becomes a little stagnate in late summer with the thermocline, low oxygen levels and water temperature all being stressful on the fish. But in the spillway the water will be cooler and dissolved oxygen levels are great. The fish feel better and are more active.”
He says with fairly uniform oxygen levels throughout the water column of a spillway, crappie can be at any depth. Every spillway is different so there are no ‘cookie cutter’ spots that work everywhere. However, he says two important features, current and eddies, are present at all spillways.
“Many fishermen use a cast and retrieve tactic but their baits don’t stay in the strike zone long enough. I use a float to stay above the rocks and to find the eddies. Once a float gets in an eddy it will circle around, which is perfect because the eddy is where baitfish and predator fish are holding. The bite usually happens quickly.”
Equipment includes his signature series 10-foot spinning rod, a float and a YUM F2 Wooly Beavertail or Wooly Bee jig. He prefers using one jig but says a tandem jig rig is fine if you prefer.
“My best tip: Don’t overlook shallow water,” he said. “Since oxygen levels are the same everywhere, spillway crappie may be very shallow where it is easier for them to ambush food.
“Another great thing about a spillway is you might catch a pound crappie, and on the next cast a white bass, then a 3-pound walleye, a buffalo or one of the many other species there. Spillway fishing is a lot of fun.”
3. BEHIND DOCKS
Boat docks are well known crappie magnets, but most boating crappie anglers hit the fronts and maybe halfway down the sides. During summer, especially early and late in the day, the bank-side of docks can be more productive.
“Fish can be at many different locations on a dock but the backside can have the right depths and cover for this time of year,” said Morrow. “Fishing from the bank will put you in the action.”
Morrow casts and pitches using 7- or 10-foot poles spooled with 6- or 8-pound test Silver Thread line. The shorter pole is good for casting and flipping while the 10-foot Huckabee spinning rod is good for vertical dipping, pitching and casting.
Rigs can vary based upon your favorite baits. Morrow says his choice easy.
“I use a Thill Crappie Cork because I can fish any depth by adjusting it up or down and I can cast it for distance and accuracy. Under the float I like a 1/16-ounce Fuzz-E Grub or 1/8-ounce Watsit jig in a natural color. Green pumpkin has always worked well for me in late summer.
“I target brushpiles and cover near the backsides of the docks. Sometimes you can see them but most of the time you’ll have to find them by retrieving your bait between the dock and bank. Keep lowering the slip float to put the bait deeper until you find cover.” By Roy Randolph
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