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Hey y'all! Been seeing lots of pics on social media of big 'ol stringers of crappie on this winter feed – it's only getting better from here! Hope you're cashing in on some of that.

I've been fishing a bunch with some new baits, mostly for bass but just can't seem to get away from the slabs!

If you're looking for a jerkbait to catch crappie on, the Berkley Stunna has been awesome, and they even make a smaller 100mm size. Don't know if the crappie mind the bigger one though...😃

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5 Qs with Brad Chappell

Got on the phone with The Crappie Connection's Brad Chappell to find out how he's targeting MS crappie this winter when he's not dropping the 🧃 on the Today's Bite podcast! Here's 5 Qs with him:

1. When you get out on the water in the winter, what's the first thing you're looking for? 

> "I'm looking for deeper portions of the lake. That's where you're gonna find the shad and then of course the crappie.

> "On Eagle Lake and Lake Washington [oxbow lakes on the MS River], I start out in the deeper sections, and I try to concentrate on areas on the outside of big schools of shad. 

> "I don't target these giant, massive schools of shad. I concentrate on the border of those [baitballs], and just looking for single [crappie], sometimes doubles – but mainly single suspended fish high in the water column.

> "Lately, our fish have been anywhere from 18-20' deep, so pretty deep."

Follow-up: How are you sneaking up on fish when you find them?

> "I set my LiveScope out to 100' [depending on] how many fish are in the area. If I'm not seeing a lot of fish in the area, I might even stretch it out to 120 or 140 just to spot some kind of fish on the screen. 

> "I'm looking for a solid, steady blip on the screen. 

> "I always like going into the wind, no matter if it's just a light breeze or even heavy wind. I prefer to go into the wind using Power Brakes in the backside of the boat.

> "[When I see a fish] I want to slow down...especially once I get my target within 40'. 

> "I want to have the boat pretty much creeping up to him at that point. The first presentation is probably the most critical."

2. When you're long-poling, do you like to swing the bait on, push it or straight drop?

> "A lot of times I like to have my clients in position as far as what depth, and I'm driving the boat and the bait to [the fish]. 

> "I always like to have the bait up above the fish – at least 2' before we get ready to be presented to the crappie.

> "As we get in position, I try to identify which way the fish is actually facing. If the fish is facing the boat, I want the bait above him in his line of sight.

> "[When the bait is over the fish] I like it to actually do a little drop – not all the way in front of his face, just drop 1-1.5' while it still stays about 6 inches above him.

> "Once it drops down to that position, instead of jigging it, I like to tap the pole. I like to have the client actually have their hands stay on the pole, but take their the 2 index fingers and just start tapping it with their nails or the base of their finger.

> "It's something to generate that kind of vibration in the jig to jump around a little bit and try to get the fish's attention.

> "A lot of times these fish are relaxing or not really out searching for food, so it's just something to get their attention." 

3. Is there any pattern as to where you're catching your bigger fish?

> "That varies day to day, lake to lake. I always try to keep an open mind.

> "[For example] if we're catching small fish that are right next to the shad or up in the shad balls, we're finding these better fish 100-200 yards away from the big mass of bait. 

> "It's always about eliminating the smaller fish to get to the bigger fish."

This is a pic of Brad's graph. That biggest blob in the middle is a big crappie, and the 2 smaller marks above it are his bait and the weight.

4. Do you find that bigger fish ride higher in the water column?

> "Not all the way. For me...the big fish are always on the best piece of structure. Even if they're suspended, they're going to be in the best area for a crappie to be at.

> "On current breaks in the wintertime, they'll be at the best spot on the eddy or the best spot of a river bend.

> "The bigger fish are always in the best spot for crappie to be at."

5. Is there anything you do or a piece of equipment you have that helps you catch way more crappie?

> "I think the biggest thing that I believe helps me catch more fish than most people is I'm willing to adapt to that day. I don't go into a day already having a mindset of 'this is how the fish are going to bite'." 

Bonus tip

He has both the LVS 32 and LVS 34 Garmin transducers, and switches 'em out depending on the situation:

> "I have both on my trolling motor, and I will switch back and forth. If I'm in an area that's just overloaded with crappie and I'm not having to search out far, I would probably prefer the 32. But if I'm going out and having to search for fish, I will select the 34."

> "This year, and most of last year, I stuck with the LVS 34 – I could spot fish at a further distance away."

Brad's setup

> Bobby Garland Slab Hunter (for moving fish) or Baby Shad (for stationary fish), 1/32–1/8-oz Bobby Garland Jighead (lighter the head for a more subtle bite), 12-lb K9 Fluorocarbon Blend Line, Bass Pro Shops Crappie Max Casting Reel, 16' B’n’M Black Diamond Rod.

Glow baits aren't just for nighttime?

I've been reading up on crappie vision, and been hearing from folks about how the fish are attracted to contrast and to use baits like orange and pink in the winter. I was like: What about glow baits then?

That question had my wheels turnin', so I got ahold of Bobby Garland's Skylar St. Yves to talk the Mo Glo' series of baits and jigheads, specifically to find out if they're only good at night or are a slept-on daytime deal.

Turns out we may need to take a closer look at making glow baits a more regular part of our arsenal: 👀

> "The concept of the Mo Glo' served 2 purposes. One, it obviously glows in the dark. Not only is that light giving off a signature that predators can see, but we know that any type of artificial light, especially green light in the water, attracts bugs and baitfish, which inevitably attracts predators.

> "Two, with FFS [forward-facing sonar], you can use it directly as an attention-grabber...going to glow in any type of low-light situation.

> "Even clear-water lakes – if you're fishing in 15' in clear water, it's pretty dark. [Using glow baits] is like using contrast with laminate baits.

> "If there's a time of year when that Mo Glo' could be a difference-maker, especially if you're trying to contrast to shad balls, it's going to be this time of year.

> "Anytime there's a lot of bait in the water – night fishing in the middle of the summer, anything that's going to glow is just going to give you that little bit of extra contrast.

> "When those fish are super-aggressive but there's [a ton of] bait in the water, it's easier to catch them with the stuff you may not associate with typical FFS colors.

> "The FFS guys are trying to go as natural as possible. That's great when you're targeting an individual fish, and there's not a ton of bait around, but....

> "...Mo Glo' is just going to give that 'here's here's something that looks different'...'here's some type of genetic defect' that all these predator fish are looking for in baitfish."

Matthew Rogers' Tangle Free Weight setup

Bonehead Tackle recently came out with a Tangle Free Weight that has a plastic insert that keeps the line straighter and the jig away from the weight, so it doesn't hang up on the fall.

Here's how MO crappie hammer Matthew Rogers sets up his Tangle Free Weight, from this Bonehead post:

> "I'll go ahead and get one of these bobber stoppers far up [my line].

> "I'm going to give myself plenty of line. Whenever I go to tie my knot...I have enough to straighten this line out.

> "This is a braid, which is where [the Tangle Free Weight] is going to help a lot: Braid is so limp that it can wrap really easily."

He puts the long part of the plastic insert down and makes a sliding weight rig:

> "Slide on [another bobber stop] and slide the weight up a little bit more. That way, I have plenty of line to tie [a jig]."

Sound simple. Have you had a chance to check out the Tangle Free Weight?

A couple difference-maker gear upgrades on my boat

Since I fish a lot – for fun, for "work" 😎 and for guiding – I get to put some stuff to the test. I've "guinea pigged" a bunch of things, and here are 2 deals I really feel have upgraded my fishing experience.

If anything has made a difference in the way I've been fishing and how effective I've been able to be, it's been a new trolling motor and new batteries. Here's my experience.

Trolling motor upgrade: 36v Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST

My old trolling motor was the original Minn Kota Ultrex on a 24v system with lead batteries. When I'd fish all day, I'd start losing power in those batteries around 3:00 or 4:00, especially the more I started Scoping and getting on to the long pole deal for crappie.

I switched to a 36v Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST running 2 36v lithium batteries in parallel (more on that below), and it has made a WORLD of difference.

Now I can literally fish sunrise to sunset with full power all day. Those lithium batteries don't get below 50% power – I can see what they have on the Amped Outdoors Bluetooth Monitoring app.

That 36v QUEST is super-fast too, I've gotten up to 4 or 4.1mph with it on 10 going in a straight line. You can really zoom around with that thing, looking for fish.

I'd say the biggest deal with it is that it's so powerful, it's given me a ton of confidence to be able to get out in pretty much any wind or nasty weather and be able to chase down crappie or stay on brushpiles – pretty much anything you need to do

It's a beast too, construction-wise. Plenty of timber around here in east TX for that thing to get beat up on.

Trolling motor battery upgrade: 2 36v 50ah Amped Lithiums

I knew lithium batteries were kind of taking over, but I didn't really realize why until I got them in the boat. I gotta say, I love them – there's no other way to put it. Those things are so bad to the bone for that trolling motor, and for the graphs as well.

I went with 2 Amped Outdoors 36v 50ah batteries in parallel and have those dedicated to my Ultrex QUEST.

I also got the Amped 3 Bank 12V/36V Charger. It's important to look into your battery brand's charger because they're made to charge those exact lithiums correctly. In other words, the exact charger you use is more important/critical with lithium batteries.

It's so nice to be confident that when I get on the water, I don't really have to limit myself to anything. I would say that's the biggest positive.

With long-poling, if you want to catch the big ones you need to zoom around at 2-3mph looking on FFS. Those lithium batteries just give me a lot of confidence I can do that pretty much all day.

There's been some days when I'm crappie fishing, I only turn the big motor on 3-4 times. The rest of the time I'm on the trolling motor, and now I never have to worry about easing off of it to save power.

Obviously, lithiums are more $$$ on the front end, but I'm not going to have to replace those things for about 10 years! 🤯

Quick note, if you're curious about the right voltage and amp-hour lithiums to get, Amped Outdoors has an online calculator that you can easily put all of your boat electronics into, and it'll tell you how long those will last with specific batteries.

Gotta shoutout my friend and Lake Conroe, TX guide Noah Ortiz for getting me all wired up with 3 new batteries, a new charger, and 5 new graphs. He got all of the wire harnesses super neat and any future work on those electronics is going to be super easy. Check Noah out here if you're needing a rigging job! Thanks man!

Find "sweet spots" in basins

MN multi-spieces hammer TJ Erikson has been picking apart iced-over basins for slabs. Here are a couple of cheat codes he gave in his last YouTube video on where he's catching these fish:

Sweet spot #1: Subtle basin rises

> "Every group that I saw was...hanging around one of these sweet spots that I'm talking about.

> "The first one is almost like an underwater point – not necessarily a point because it's very gradual...like a little bit of a bump up, a raise. Almost like an underwater hump – very small, very gradual.

> " Depending on the basin, it might look a little bit different. [If] the basin is say 25 or 30', this part comes up just even 2, 3, 4'.

> "[On those humps] every once in a while it'll be hard bottom, which isn't super common. A lot of times these crappies...are cruising up around to chase some of that plankton that's coming up.

> "I'm not always 100% sure why they are here. Most likely some sort of food source. It's one of those consistencies that I see."

Sweet spot #2: Inside turns

> "[Inside turns have] a little bit of a funnel. There's...this big basin, and it stays at relatively the same depth, but it just moves a little closer to a little bit of an inside turn – it's just one of those things that can funnel fish.

> "There's dropoffs on either side that can help hold fish – just a really high percentage area.

> "Inside turns are something that I just love for almost every species."

1. Bassmaster pro Brandon Lester joined the 3-lb club!

And he got it on video, too! Check out his YouTube video with the catch here!

2. Check out this CRAZY underwater bite!

That right there is a slab smoking a Bobby Garland Itty Bit Mayfly under the ice! What a crazy shot on that MarCum Pursuit HD Underwater Camera – by Bobby Garland pro Travis Tut.

3. FL: Crappie bite is going down on...

• Lake Okeechobee

• Lake Talquin

• Rodman Reservoir

• Lake Istokpoga

• Lake Kissimmee

• Lake Rosalie

• Lake Dora

• Lake George

• Lake Weir

• Lochloosa Lake

4. TX: Excellent crappie bite on...

• Lake Fork – Crappie fishing is nothing short of on fire right now. This is the best time to catch limits of fish consistently, with the occasional big fish.

• Bob Sandlin – Crappie are excellent with jigs or minnows. Target river channels and secondary channels with timber in 30-50'.

• Brownwood – Crappie are excellent to 15' on main lake scattered brushpiles in 11' and shooting jigs under docks in 18-22' with minnows....

• Cypress Springs – Crappie are excellent roaming open water midlake to the dam with minnows or jigs. Black crappie are in 20-50 fish schools.

• Murvaul – Crappie are excellent on chartreuse/black crappie jigs on a splitshot rig or live minnows.

• Nacogdoches – Crappie are excellent grouped up in standing timber with white or chartreuse crappie jigs.

• Cedar Creek – Crappie bite continues to improve. Anglers are finding limits by moving from spot to spot...with larger crappie showing up more frequently.

• Houston – Crappie fishing has been great in East Fork and Luce’s Bayou, where anglers are finding success tight to structure with small plastics, jigs or minnows...

5. KY: Crappie bite is strong on mapped habitat

Check out all of the lakes with fish attractors here. DNR did the hard part for ya!

6. GA: Altamaha River record broken...

...by Mr. Jackie H. That slab was certified at 2-lb 4.3-oz, almost doubling the old 1-09 record from 2023.

Jackie was trolling minnows with cane poles in an oxbow called Blue Lake when the crappie hit. He said it fought like a bass – congrats Jackie!

7. Crappie shouldn't be stocked in ponds?

From a Mississippi State U deal:

> Crappie can suddenly explode in number and fill a pond with small, hungry fish that eat all the food needed by both bass and bream, causing those species to grow slowly and become much thinner.

> In ponds where good fishing for bass and bream is important, crappie should never be stocked.

Sounds like the bass are just scared and this might just be a conspiracy... 🤣

8. MN golden slab!

Caught in Aitkin County. Golden not in a battered and fried way, but probably not for long lol.

9. Have you seen the Dobyns EC Special Spinning Rod?

> Designed by Eric Cagle...built to feel the bite and put more crappie in the boat. Purpose-driven design, premium materials, and the sensitivity needed for casting and dock shooting with confidence.

Looks like it could be a killer rod. Comes in 6' and 7', both L F actions, $160 each.

10. Shimano drops its lightest MGL spinning reel yet

The Shimano MGs are legit and should be because they are $$! They're light and cast reeeeal good. MSRP $529.99-539.99, check 'em out on Tackle Warehouse.

11. Wally's got a new hook remover

Called The Fish Pick:

> An innovative, lanyard-worn tool built for crappie and jig anglers. One-handed hook removal with a simple button push, plus diamond-coated metal for knife sharpening, a hook-sharpening channel, and a V-notch that handles hooks up to 5/0.

MSRP $24.99 on the Mr. Crappie website.

"Find manageable water..."

>...[because] it’s simply easier to learn the lake and break down patterns.

That's Virtual Angling's Nicole Stone talkin' in this Virtual Angling post on how get the most out of wintertime crappie fishing. Nicole is on the ice, but the same deal can apply for open water:

> The goal is to look for smaller lakes that you can access that have a crappie population. For panfish, you can find a small, couple-hundred-acre lake with a lot of fish in it.

> It will still take time to learn and explore, but with smaller lakes you can cover and eliminate ground quicker, increasing your odds of finding the fish and also learning better patterns along the way.

Need to add in this, Skylar from Bobby Garland talking:


> "[Small lakes are] where every single one of those 3-lbers is coming from, if it's not the big 4 [in MS], CA or Fork [TX]."

Check out this Clear Lake, CA monster caught by CA bass hammer and recent WON Bass Winter Open winner Garrett Ellison! Looks like a Z-Man Micro Graph Shadz with a black jighead – is he on a baby crappie pattern? 🤔

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH