Best way to target crappie?

[backlash442]

Was wondering what you look for when targeting crappie this time of year. I assume they are shallow (or will be) and would think you'd look for brush in the water? Anything else? Do you keep working a shoreline until you find them? What about types of lures or bait? Thanks.

[retaliate]

There are not shallow yet, from what I read they start to build nest when the water temp hits 58 deg. Im going to Brownlee next week & if it's anything like last year the fish will be mostly 15' to 30'deep, & near the surface to feed in the mornings, & evenings as the water warms. Im hoping it warms up, its been cold. :bowdown: as for cover any structure is good, last year at brownlee people were catching fish just about everywhere, we use mostly mini tube jigs in 1/8 to 1/32 oz, but I've caught them on small rapallas, small spinners, small spoons, small twister tails
with or without scent, power bait, or crappie nibblets. It's hard to go wrong at Brownlee from late April thru May. If the fish are scattered just drift or troll till you find them, at Brownlee we look for steep rocky dropoffs or any kind of structure, brush, trees, or submerged rock piles. GOOD LUCK!!! :dance:

[B-RUN STEELIE]

We were supposed to go to Brownlee tonight but the dude at Hells gate says its trying to snow.

We have searching jigs and pounding jigs. A Road runner is a good searching jig. You can throw them a long ways, and just bring em back real slow near the bottom along the banks where its from 8-20 feet deep. Once we catch a couple, we switch over to 1/8 oz jigs ( tubes or twister tail) add a crappie nibble and move in closer to the hole and pound on them. Whats neat about a Road runner is the bass like em too, so you sort of have both species covered at the same time.

[shalom]

Road Runner's are my favorite search lure;s for the above mentioned reasons . You can cover a lot of water in a hurry , and you will catch both Crappie and Bass . Can't go wrong with a Road Runner as long as you fish it slow . That is what the commercials say , and i believe it .
:angel: :jester: :yay: :dance: :dance: :angel1:

[bucketmouth]

Backlash, the OBPC recently sunk christmas trees in the willamette to provide habitat for crappie. Look for them in and around the cedar oak island area.

[Sandz]

What is the best way to fish a road runner "slow" when dealing with current V weight? I have been in areas where theres a 4mph current and in 10 min that is dead. My main concern is that the places I am fishing with the jigs are leaving even my lightest jigs bringing up much and grass from the bottom. So I ask again, what is slow when you refer to a slow retrieve for a jig.

~Per

[ExBassGuide]

I have good luck with crappie this time of year in canals. At Silver Lake the crappie Like WOOD, like downed trees, brush and logs. Later in the year from July through September I look for shade and wood (like docks, logs and stumps). You can do very well fishing rock piles too. Then in October the crappie start to move back in to the canals. The largest crappie of the year get caught in August – November. Look for obscure canals for real big crappie. You can also find crappie on the edge of the lily pads in the summer. My best day at Silver is 800 plus in one day by my self. I think that technique is more important than lure selection. I use black and yellow crappie jigs most of the time. I use jigs with bright and dark colors so if the lure is below them the yellow is easy to see and if it’s above them black make the best silhouette.

[Mojo]

ExBassGuide,
I gotta ask, 800 fish in one day is 66+ fish an hour for 12 hours non-stop. That's one heck of a good day. Did you accidentally add an extra 0?

[ExBassGuide]

That was only 8 hours with NO break but who would take a break with the crappie biting like that :wave:.
It was more than 800 and no extra o0o0o0o0o0o0S :laugh:

It was also from shore (standing in one place).
I tossed them all back toooo. :angel:
Roger
p.s. Next week I will be trout fishing for a day or two! Last year I tossed back 60 trout over 15 inches (in one day) and a grand total of over 300 trout for that same day.
In the last 7 years I have never got less than 300 trout a day on this up coming annual fishing trip. Washington stocking program is tons better than Oregon! I took a pal fishing on this day coming up (a few years ago)and on the third cast, 12 pound trout. The next year I got an 8 plus.

[retaliate]

WOW!!! 800 in one day is AWESOME, I've had several 100+ days at Brownlee, and 200+ days a few times, mostly crappie, but some amazing Bass days also. But never anywhere close to 800 total fish in one day WOW!!!. & I've have put 8 hour days on Brownlee before, I've never really counted all the fish before, but know I've caught over 200 fish total (Crappie/bass/catfish/bluegill/pearch/?) in a day a few times, & at times I've seen, & caught 40 fish or more in 1 hour. AWESOME JOB!!! :dance: :dance: :dance:

[Codfish]

Heck, I lose count after 5! :grin:

Codfish

[Chukrchaser]

Cod --
Just take your other shoe off and you can go clear to ten! :applause: :laugh:

[B-RUN STEELIE]

Just the mental image of a guy standing in one spot and catching 800 + crappie standing in 1 spot in less than 8 hours is pretty hard to grasp.. It would be hard to throw 800 + crappies back into the lake if they were laying on the bank one at a time.. Did your pole melt or did you have a back up handy so one could cool down enough to hold it again :rolleyes:

[backlash442]

Never heard of a Roadrunner. Who makes it? Thanks.

[B-RUN STEELIE]

http://www.landbigfish.com/tacklestore/showcase.cfm?PID=3193

I prefere the twister tail to the turbo tail but this will give you an idea what they look like

[ExBassGuide]

It is true and I have had lots of days with more than 500. And they were tossed back too.They winter over in the canals and they bunch up at the dead ends of said canals.
Had to be cazilion crappie in there! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[shalom]

The web site that Steelie had on his post will give you an idea of what they look like . Bass Pro Shop often has them on sale for .99 each . I try to buy a minimun of 2 on all sizes and colors. I think they come in 3 or 4 different weights . I will buy 6 or more on colors that are my favorites . I like Red with a White tail , Green with a White tail, Black with a Chartues tail , Blue with a White Tail, all White and all Chartrues . To fish them slow i make a short cast close to the boat and reel slowly and watch how fast the blade is turning . I figure out the speed that i think will work them make a normal cast trying to douplicate the speed that i want the blade to turn . When i catch a fish or two and think that there are more to be caught ,because my depth sounder will show more , i will change colors or weight of the Road Runner . If you think that there are larger crappie showing on your depth sounder that are closer to the bottem you will have to put on a heavyer Road Runner to make sure that it will fall faster to get past the smaller ones . I would use the same color if i were catching a lot of smaller ones only changing the weight to sink faster . I hope that this will help .
:angel: :jester: :yay: :dance: :dance: :angel1:

[bucketmouth]

A good searching pattern regardless of what you use is to change up your retrieval speed and retrieval technique. Eventually you find what they like.