Summer Time Crappie

Crappie fishing to me has been a pursuit I have poured myself into partly because of my family situation limiting the hunting opportunities I’m afforded, partly because they are a tasty fish that have liberal limits to really stock up on and have more meat on them than comparable sized species, but mostly because they have been a challenging and fun fish to pursue.  I have tried numerous different methods of fishing for them and have rarely been disappointed.  I believe, were I fishing in a more suitable habitat area than western North Carolina that the fishing would be worlds easier and the size and numbers of fish would be greater as well as the ease of catching them during the tougher times of year would prove less difficult.  It is here that I must fish though, and it has been something I’ve attempted to take in stride and learn to the best of my ability. 

 Conditions

I’ve got certain places I fish under certain conditions.  Some prove much better in the spring and fall, some are great in the summer and some in the winter.  I also like to utilize different areas for different methods of fishing, which is another thing I love about crappie.  They are pretty friendly to the fisherman as long as they can be located.  They bite pretty well regardless of conditions, and once you find one, you normally find a few more in the same place.  Late summer used to be a pretty hard time for me to figure them out, but this year it seems the pieces fell together.  They seem to like grass or under water vegetation and depending on lighting seem to like various colors.  It seems the sunny days they like white or clear with sparkles, when its overcast they seem to prefer darker colors.  I tend to always have more luck with some sort of chartreuse color on my bait.  If I had to throw all but two baits away I’d keep the black and chartreuse and white and chartreuse and happily fish without any other distractions.  I’ve caught a good many fish on other colors, but those two have been hands down the very best.  I’ve caught the most fish and the biggest fish consistently on them. 

Slow It Down

As my late fishing buddy told me “When you feel like you are fishing too slow for crappie, slow down some more.”  Advice, that I took to heart and have used and proven over and over.  I count it a joy to have fished with Steve and have missed him every year.  

Location and Method

Crappie will bite a faster moving bait when the water warms, and in the cold weather they will show a reaction bite on crank baits, but even then, the time between movements is so long and drawn out its actually tough to get into one’s mind the length of the pause in between in order to trigger bites.  They like a slow-moving bait though in general, sometimes even a still bait.  Summer time seems to be tricky to be consistent during the day catching crappie.  I have found several methods to piece together a mess of fish though, depending on each body of water.  Docks sitting over deeper water can be good, the crappie get back under them if the sun is beating down.  Shooting under them tends to be a great method of pulling them out.  They like to hang out near grass or submerged vegetation in the heat as well and slow trolling over top of them can be very effective.  I find that stopping over some spots I’ve caught more than I can count while working on another fish or another rod and leaving my lure hanging just below the surface right near the side of my kayak.  They will actually use the boat as shade and come up beneath it as they would a dock or other cover, and the lures prove to be too tempting and get ambushed from the security of their new found shade.   Deeper brush piles can prove good places if you can locate them and jigging can be effective in such spots.  Trolling crankbaits can be good as I have previously expounded on.  Jigging bridge pilings with several different types of jig can bring out the fish.  Perhaps the most productive way to catch summer time crappie is dropping lights off the boat at night and waiting to start up the food chain, small bugs and water critters are attracted to the lights, small bait fish then hone in on this feast, and it doesn’t take long for the larger predatory fish to find these small fish and begin to eat.  Dropping down some minnows into this parade brings on the crappie.  This has been probably my least favorite method of catching them though as it keeps me still in one spot. 

Capitalize When You Can

There can be some good crappie fishing in the summer time but several different methods may have to be put into play to fill the cooler.  God hasn’t provided me with many options for choosing optimal times to fish in years and years, so learning to catch them when He does provide the opportunity has been something I’ve had to adapt to.  Far be it from me to question His reasons, I just roll with the punches best I can. 

Ecclesiastes 8:6