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Hope you're all having a great week, here's some juice to keep you going! 😎🤙

5 quick-hitter tips for pre-spawn crappie

Pre-spawn is here (or almost here), and crappie are moving – but not where you think. We got the lowdown from longtime AL guide Brad Whitehead, a guy who's been putting folks on slabs for over 20 years.

He runs trips on Wilson, Pickwick and Bear Creek Lakes, and if there's one thing he knows, it's how to find fish before they hit the banks:

> "Everyone wants to go shallow too soon. Crappie stage in 10-20' before they commit. Find brush, stumps or creek channels near spawning areas – they won't be far.

> "Once that water [temp] creeps into the low 50s, crappie move up – but not all the way. I catch more big fish sitting just off the first drop than I do pounding the banks.

> "The biggest pre-spawn mistake? Fishing by the calendar instead of conditions. A warm front speeds things up, but a cold front locks fish in place. Watch your temp gauge, not the date.

> "A lot of guys fish too fast this time of year. Crappie in pre-spawn are hungry but picky – slow things down. I downsize to a 1/32-oz jig and let it hover, not drop fast.

> "Pre-spawn crappie won't always hold tight to structure – sometimes they just hover. If you're marking fish but not catching, raise your bait a foot or 2. They're looking up."

Good stuff from Brad, more coming soon!

John Godwin retires from Duck Commander to go slab hunting!

After 25 years at Duck Commander, John Godwin is OUT – and he's trading duck calls for Cajun Crappie Rods to guide full time for "sahk-uh-ley" on Louisiana's Lake D'Arbonne.

> "I love to duck-hunt and I love to bowhunt whitetail deer, but there's something special about crappie fishing that I really enjoy and I enjoy showing other people how to catch crappie."

The former Duck Commander has been rocking B'n'M since 2014 – now he's got his own signature stick: Godwin's Crappie Cast. Designed for FFS sniping, built to put slabs in the boat:

> "There were a few things I wanted to see in a FFS rod and B'n'M has put them all in this new rod.... It's a 1-piece rod with a split cork handle and a sensitive tip, which means you're going to be able to feel everything going on at the end of your line. You can just about feel them looking at the bait."

It's black and gold because Godwin is a hardcore Saints fan!

Tiny = cheat code

Ever used micro-plastics? Here's a post from lurenet.com talkin' why you might want to have some tied on next time you hit the water:

> Most anglers associate a crappie's diet with shad and minnows in the 2-3" range. While that is certainly significant, recent crappie dietary studies have shown crappie consume a wide range of food sources of less than 2".

> Crappie anglers across the country started associating small local forage like mayflies, nymphs, fry, crustaceans and grass shrimp with certain Itty Bit Series body styles."

> "Bobby Garland fishing staff saw the immediate returns of the Itty Bit Swim'R after a year of use. It was determined that other body styles were needed to fine-tune different techniques and presentations. The 1.25" Itty Bit Slab Slay'R and 1.25" Itty Bit Slab Hunt'R were created in response."

…and since FFS has allowed us to constantly watch how fish eat, the folks at lurenet.com found out "from anglers across the country that big fish eat small bait more often than not."


> "[The Itty Bit Mayfly's] balanced body, ribbed abdomen, forked tail and proportional appendages create a wealth of finesse vibration and action. It's a great imitator of fry in open water, shrimp over grass flats, and bugs/nymphs around timber and brush."

Sounds like this little guy could be killer on a bobber in the spring too – a little breeze or current allows the bobber to give the bait all the action needed.

The Itty Bit Mayfly is designed to be paired with a #6 hook and comes in 20-count bags for available in 17 colors. A limited-run "outbreak" color is included in Bobby Garland Crappie Kits.

The loooong rod advantage explained…

Here's some juice from an American Crappie Trail FB post featuring one of their anglers talkin' why the pros like a LONG rod:

> "So usually we fish with a 12' rod in OK because the fish are not as spooky – we can fish for them 6' and 8' from the boat there. But here in MS, LA and some of the lakes we fish down here, they're pretty spooky. They're moving all the time.

> "These fish run and I think they feel the boat when it gets inside 10'. So a lot of guys have went to a 14', 16', 18', 20' rod to get out there and have a good chance to get that bait on the very first drop and not spook em.

> "With a big fish, if you can nail it on the first drop you've got a great chance to catch him. I mean...Hayden Jeffries, Matt Rogers, they get in a groove where they don't miss – that long rod helps."

If you're worried about that rod being off balance:

> "I zip-tied the reel to the butt of the rod to make it balance in my hand – older men and women they can hold it all day and not be wore out."

1. FL: Best crappie lakes in the sunshine state are...

Ochlockonee River/Lake Talquin, Lake Lochloosa, Lake Monroe, Lake Panasoffkee, Lake Crescent, Lake Thonotosassa FMA, Edward Medard Reservoir, Winter Haven Chain of Lakes, Lake Istokpoga, Lake Weohyakapka, Lake Okeechobee, Lake Trafford.

2. TX: Crappie fishing "excellent" on Naconiche, Buchanan

3. TN: Get deep in TN for crappie right now?

> Boone: Crappie fishing was good before this last round of rain and should get that way again. Bobby Garland type lures on 1/8 heads in 28-32'. There was a verified 3-02 crappie taken by Colton Chambers.

> Center Hill: ...crappie are being caught in 30' of water out of brushpiles.

4. NC/SC: Hottest lakes to fill the freezer this Spring

Wateree, Jordan, Shearon Harris, High Rock, Murray.

5. SC: Crappie confiscation feeds camp kids

From the article:

> [The game wardens] said they stopped a man and found 27 crappie in his livewell. Additionally, they said they found a cooler in the back of his truck, which had another 37 crappie.

> The fish were seized and donated to the Fair Play Camp School, where children will learn how to clean and cook them.

6. VT: Fish and Wildlife wants comments on new regs

One notable proposed change would "add panfish bag limits to inland waters of 50 fish in total per day, and no more than 25 of a given species, for bluegill, bullhead, black and white crappie, pumpkinseed, rock bass, white perch and yellow perch (§ 122)."

7. $200 rebate on Humminbird MEGA 360

Incredible tool for spotting fish and structure in a complete circle around the boat, especially for setting up on piles! If you've ever fished with one, you know what's up. 🔥

8. What Power-Pole has been working on

Poles, then the Charge system, then the Move trolling motor and now? Sounds like they're launching this for big boats but...?

9. ICAST registration now open

10. WI: Wisconsin Fishing Expo, Madison, Feb 21-23

One of the longest-running expos, 350+ booths and loads of seminars.

11. MN: Northwest Sport Show, Minneapolis, Mar 13-16

12. SD: Sioux Empire Sportsman's Show, Mar 13-16

13. IA: Eastern Iowa Sport Show, Cedar Falls, Mar 14-16

Great for hunting and fishing deals, boat-show pricing and Midwest + Canadian lodges.

14. DC: New tariffs will increase aluminum reel prices?

That's what the ASA (fishing industry trade assn) says – tariffs on the aluminum content in reels.

15. Is this the best boat ramp name….ever??

The AL DNR announced that Billy Goat Hole Boat Ramp on on Dauphin Island will be closed for renos lol! A name so legendary, even the goats are confused. Is it a boat ramp? A secret wrestling move? A place where only the bravest billy goats dare to tread? No one really knows…but we respect it.

"...most of the time, those bigger fish are not going to be sucked up. They're not always shallow."

- That's Wally Marshall, aka Mr Crappie, giving the juice on how he targets the big females in the spring:

> "[The big females] are going to be on those ledges or a little dropoff out in front of the structure like cattails or coontail moss....

> "You got a creek bank that comes in there a little closer, those females tend to hang on those drops down in them – little ditches that run up towards the bank, like if you got some cattails and there's a gap in it where none are growing, that means that water is deeper.

> "[The dropoff] can be just a foot – it doesn't have to be a monster dropoff. It could just be a little drop. That's what I concentrate on. The males will be up there in the cattails, making the beds and the females are just sitting out a little bit further. That's the reason you can catch big crappie just casting in the springtime."

Make sure you're paying attention to your map and your electronics for those drops!

Is that a small bucket??

Been seeing this pic of this absolute gargantuan on forums and had to track it down! From lots of digging we found that this slab was caught by MS guide Jeremy Aldridge. No deets on how he caught it but Jeremy said it went 3.04 lbs and he was at one of the big 4 MS lakes:

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH