Hello,

 

Wife wants fish. I don't generally keep bass from public waters, and rarely from private (only when I'm asked to cull.) It's been years since I did anything with crappie.

 

Brushing up, I was watching YouTube videos. Crappie seem to act like small bass -- cousins, after all. So, beside tying a downsize jig or crankbait on and going at it, is there anything I should know? What are some differences?

 

Regards,

Josh

Lighter line also. Remember the way a crappie's eyes are positioned means they usually feed above where they are sitting 

Lighter line/rod/reels/baits. Smaller lures, and they seem to like brighter, more gaudy colors than bass do. Crappie like to examine a bait, so holding it still right in their face will often trigger a strike vs needing to impart movement to get a bite with bass. They're major schooling fish, so if you catch one, there's likely more. They also really like to be around cover like docks, rock piles, laydowns, standing trees, weed lines, anything. If they're in open water, there will need to be bait nearby for them to be feeding.

This ^^^^ definitely, as slow or still as possible, especially black crappie. It seems they don’t like chasing bait nor a big movement. At my lake anything yellow or chartreuse color is the best. Pink or red also work but with yellow mix in. Stinger shad (Bobby Garland baby shad) is the best you can hop on the bottom (watch out on the drop) or steady slow retrieve.

Some guys here troll crank baits for them like bandit 300s or flicker shads.

If you set the hook like you would on a bass you will more times than not lose a crappie.  They are referred to as papermouth for a reason.  Minnow imitations will be your best baits.  I do really well using Berkley swimshad in 3" firetiger on 4lb line.  Cast it out and retrieve back letting it flutter down for a second or two every now and then.  A light sweep will set the hook.  When you find one, keep casting to the same area, there is almost always more there.

I know for a fact my 5 largest crappie have been caught while bass fishing. All of them caught with 1/2oz lipless cranks. When I do target crappie with smaller cranks or 2"-2 1/2" paddeltails or minnows they are never quite as big.

Here I catch mainly crappie and bass. The crappie all tend to be in one ally of my lake. I've not caught any any place else on the lake. When I take off on my morning troll, the first leg of it, about a thousand feet will yield three or four crappie. Later in the summer they are the size of dinner plates.

 

Anyway, what I wanted to say isn't about catching them, it's about reeling them in. Bass, any bass will put up a pretty good tussle most of the time. Crappie, here anyway, without fail, hit the lure, tug a couple of times, then they will float to the surface and look like you're pulling in a frisby on it's side. They don't move again till you get them in the boat. Later in the season when they're big it's like pulling in a frisby on it's side that's filled with clay. A strange fish indeed. I'd rename them possum fish.