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What's up y'all! Spent last week in Knoxville, TN at the Bassmaster Classic Expo and got to see some sweet new stuff coming to the fishing world!

We had the opportunity to get on the water with the new Lowrance ActiveTarget 2 XL (L) with the 360-degree live view, and the new Garmin Spy Pole (R) with 360 imaging as well. Some pretty cool stuff – way more info on that next week!

Box and Hall go b2b! 🏆

Well, folks...the FL win for this duo wasn't enough. They got a back-to-back Crappie Masters win – this time on Grenada Lake, MS.

Those are Grenada guides Cassidy Box (R) and Alex Hall who came out with a monster 2-day 10-fish weight of 30.21-lbs! That's right – a 3.02-lb average. Insane! 🤯 Plus their day 2 weight of 16.01 was the biggest ever weighed in Crappie Masters since they went to 5 fish!

I called Alex and got the rundown of how they got on those fish. I also asked him for a pic of what their LiveScope looked like with all those giants, and he just sent me this:

Haha, just messin', but I bet that's about right! 🤣 Here's the rundown of the derb: 

> "Leading up to [the tournament], those fish were pushed real shallow. We had a pretty good rain, and the lake came up a couple of feet right before the tournament.

> "The [new fresh water] pushed a lot of those fish back to deeper water. We went from catching them in 3-4' to catching our best fish in 6-10'." 

What was key about the areas you ended up fishing in the tournament?

> "The lake's down real low this year – there's a lot of real thick stump flats. All the bigger fish were hanging on the edges of those stump flats.

> "We [also] found a lot of bigger fish hanging out in the mouth of small feeder creeks."

What baits were you having to fish in that muddy water?

> "Those fish wanted big baits, big profiles. We were using 3-inch baits tipped with big minnows because the water was so muddy.

> "You had to get them to see that bait without spooking them.

> "The 2nd day we probably dropped on 15-20 fish in that 3-lb class range and might have caught 10 fish....

> "The bites seemed to be better in the first 2 hours of the morning."

What was the difference in behavior of the 3-lbers vs the smaller fish?

> "I noticed a lot of the smaller fish seemed to be moving a lot more. [The big ones] were really lethargic – [3-lb] fish just sit there. They didn't want to move.

> There's a real fine line between getting that bait right on his nose where he could see it in that muddy water, and spooking him."

With the fish being relatively shallow, what were you having to do not to spook them?

> "Boat control was the biggest thing to getting up on fish without spooking them. Then you had to be really slow on your presentation.

> "If you could figure out which way his nose is, and ease that bait down real slow, you had a chance of catching that fish. Even with that, we still only caught a fraction of the fish that we dropped on."

Y'all were easing the bait on the fish rather than dropping it for a reaction?

> "Yes – they feel that bait coming to them. If there's anything in the water that moves too much, it spooks them and they take off running. You had to be really subtle."

Did you have to give your bait any action to get them to bite?

> "No, just deadstick. Some of them would acknowledge it and bite it right away. But one of the biggest ones we caught, we held it on that fish for about a minute before it finally committed."

Alex and Cassidy's setup

> 2" Southern Pro Crappie Magnum Tube (white) or a 3" Redgrass Tackle Chubby (white), 1/16-oz jighead with a 3/4 pegged weight above it, 14-lb K9 Fluoro, casting reel, 16' Dobyns Hyperlite Series Jigging Rod. 

A couple quick deals on Alex's setups:

> "We used to always use a big umbrella tube, the Southern Pro Magnum Tubes, in 'white'. I bought a pack of them in the bait shop – that's what we caught 3 of our biggest fish on. 

> "I never see anyone using an umbrella tube anymore – everybody uses a shad style or straight-tail bait."

On his rod and line:

> "I run straight fluoro – the abrasion resistance is good, and it's a little-stiffer line. It had nothing to do with fish being able to see it or anything, the water was so muddy.

> "[I use a baitcaster because of] the way I hold the rod. I keep my thumb on my spool, that way when I set that hook, I free line back so that my partner can net that fish."

4 Qs with Alex on how to catch 'em right now

Being a Grenada guide, Alex knows a thing or 2 about how to read those muddy-water fish and adjust this time of year. Here's 4 questions with him about it:

1. How do you position your boat to stay quiet in shallow water?

> "Sometimes I'll just turn and chase that fish to catch him running.

> "Sometimes, if I can, I'd rather get downwind of that fish, run my trolling motor on 10, and dial it down to about 4 and try to ease up on that fish [going into the wind]."

2. Is there anything you do to weight your boat to make it easier to fish in the wind [to avoid boat slap and being pushed by wind]?

> "If it's gonna be real rough, I'll put sandbags in the front of my boat.

> "2 years ago, when we won a Grenada tournament, I put 600 lbs of sandbags in the front of my boat.

> "I've looked at getting ballast bags and putting them in my rod lockers – I could pump water in and pump it back out."

3. What are other changing conditions that will shake the fish up this time of year?

> "The main thing is the muddy-water inflow we get. A lot of these fish were sitting on the edges of the river, but the edges of the river had a lot of trash and dirtier water. We found an area on a bank off the river that was kind of an eddy – the water was noticeably clearer [where they caught 'em].

> "When we get an influx of water, I try to look for water that doesn't have all that floating trash in it."

4. When that changing water pushes out the fish, how should people follow them back up as it warms?

> "It won't take much [for fish to move back]. You get 2 days of sunshine, those fish will push right back.

> "When we get a cold snap like that, I'll start out looking a little deeper in the mornings. As that sun gets up, I'll start working my way shallower. Muddy water warms up fast, so those fish will run right back up there.

> "[Also] we look for a lot of what we call 'sun bathers'. A lot of those fish will sit 6 inches to 1' right below the surface once that sun gets up."

New crappie bait for short strikes?

In Knoxville I talked with Thump Gel owner Monte Knight, who was showing off Thump Gel's new 2" Thumpalicious crappie bait!

In case you haven't heard of Thump Gel, it's a scent + attractant + glitter gel you apply directly to your jig or soft plastic. It slowly disperses into the water, creating a scent trail that helps fish find and commit to your bait.

The Thumpalicious has deep ribs that are designed for more surface area to hold a bunch of Thump Gel for a longer period. Here's Monte with some more:

> "Crappie like to run up to a bait and bump it and not take it. When you apply Thump Gel to this bait, there's stuff in the gel that actually dilutes into the water.

> "When that crappie swims up to that bait and flares his gills, he can actually taste the bait before he actually takes it – it helps fish commit.

> "Those grooves on the back of this bait – you can add the gel into those grooves and you're actually able to change the color of your bait on the fly [with a colored Thump Gel].

> "You're adding sight, scent, taste, flash effect, all in one bait and all in one application."

Seems like a cool deal for finicky black crappie and those dirty-water white crappie that gotta use their nose a bit more because they can't see 2" in front of their face! We see you, MS and OK folks! 😁

Here's a video of that bait in the tank, and check out the Thumpalicious on the Thump Gel site here!

Wally wading tips

Don't know if anyone is as crazy about wade-fishing for crappie as Wally 'Mr. Crappie' Marshall? Saw him at the Bassmaster Classic and got y'all a quick rundown of how he does it.

Tip #1: Wear belted waders (or just a belt around them)

> "When you're wade-fishing, you need to have a pair of waders that have a belt on them, or maybe you might want to wear a little inflatable life jacket. If you step off in a hole, you can keep yourself afloat. You need to know the waters."

Tip #2: Look for beaver huts

> "Now and then you'll come across a beaver hut where beavers dig out, and it gets off a little deeper where they're making that trail. Those big females and those males will get around those beaver huts [on the edge of those trails]. You just have to be careful of where you're walking."

Tip #3: Look for a hard bottom bank with a breakline close 

> "You need to go back in the coves and look for where the sun has been hitting that bank. I'm looking for a bank that has the structure there, but it has a little bit of dropoff to it – but not a lot.

> "Any kind of dropoff – it can be a 4-5 inch drop, and those crappie will spawn right there, especially on a hard clay bottom.

> "If you're walking around and you're stepping on the bottom of the lake, and it's really mucky, and you're sinking – they're not in that area. They're on a hard clay bottom, or gravel bottom."

Tip #4: Walk with your rod out in front of you

> "When I'm walking, I always leave that jig in the water out in front of me, just pushing it. When you see your line come backwards, that means logs or something are lying right there. Just take your jig and start working it around."

Tip #5: Look for murky holes in bank grass

> "When you're fishing around all these laydowns or cattails – pay attention. You're going along, and this hole right over here in the moss is kind of clear, and over here, another hole off-color – fish are down there fanning.

> "Drop your jig in that murky hole instead of that clear one – you'll catch a fish."

Wally's wading setup

> Strike King Mr. Crappie Crappie Thunder (black/ chart), 1/16-oz Strike King Mr. Crappie Crappie jighead, 8-lb Mr. Crappie High-Vis mono, Wally Marshall Pro Target Spinning Reel, 9' Wally Marshall Pro Target Rear Seat Jigging Rod.

Trap down the hatch!

Check out this eye candy posted by In-Fisherman – that's a 'gold' 1/4-oz Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap that disappeared in that crappie's mouth! Man, don't sleep on those 1/4-oz Traps (or bigger) for ice fishing and chunking down the bank for spawning crappie!

This is the time of year in open water when you hear folks catching tons of crappie on lipless crankbaits (Rat-L-Traps) and ChatterBaits going down the bank or shallow grasslines for bass...but those 1/4-oz Traps are PERFECT for getting those aggressive spawners to act up!

Here's a handful of 🧃-y lookin' colors I found on Tackle Warehouse:

L-R top: 'chrome shad' (my all-time favorite), 'violet flash', 'liv-n-chrome'.

L-R bottom: 'oyster', 'lectric silver', 'chrome black zombie'.

Don't sleep on those craw colors either! Crappie will tear up those little nest-raiders!

1. The line survey/Turtle Box giveaway is still on!

Just click here to answer 4 quick questions about your line choices for crappie. Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes! 

Totally free to fill out and enter, no strings attached. As a thank you for filling it out, 1 person who completes the survey will be randomly chosen to get this Original Gen3 Turtlebox ($430 value)! 

If you are the random winner, we will reach out to you directly. Thank you!

2. TX: CRAPPIEFEST is NEXT WEEKEND!

BIG 'OL crappie tournament and festival going down next weekend on Lake Fork! Plus a couple of concerts, including Whiskey Meyers' Cody Cannon on Saturday!

Here are the important deets from crappie pro Cassandra Gann, who is putting it on with her husband, pro and guide Clay Gann:

> Festival kicks off Fri at 12:00pm with vendors, boat show and food trucks, followed by a free community fish fry at 4:00.

> The products + pros segment starts at 3:30 with rotating 30-min educational sessions (including a Lake Fork biologist), then wraps with a 1-hr pro Q&A panel. Live music from One Horse Town band starts at 7.

> Sat is tourney day – lines in at 7:00am, lines out at 1, and anglers must be in the weigh-in line by 2:30. Weigh-in splits for exact weight and for big fish.

> Sunday features a separate 5-fish tournament.

> Both events are individual (not team) formats – you can have multiple anglers in the boat, but each fishes their own catch, and registration is required separately for Sat and Sun.

Payouts include regular anglers, veterans, and even smallest fish. There's also $500 golden ticket drawings just for registering – plus an extra $500 bonus if a winning fish is caught on a Bobby Garland bait!

Go check out all the info on the CRAPPIEFEST website! Hope to see y'all there!

3. Have you seen the Z-Man Guppy GrubZ

That grub tail on their may be "small" by some standards, but that's by design! Check out that little vibe that thing is putting off – looks sweet in person! About time to start chunking and winding that thing down the bank! Check 'em out here on Tackle Warehouse!

4. Big Cuda x Tackle Warehouse giveaway going down!

Get the deets on Tackle Warehouse's Instagram.

Btw, peep that new Cuda Wacky Bush they're giving away! Got to see that myself at the Classic and it looks sick! It comes with everything you need to construct it, and all you have to do is fill it with rocks and drop 'er down using the built-in "I" bolt!

Check it out here on baits.com – $99.99.

Stick your rod tip in the water when it's windy!

Here's one more interesting thing from my convo with Alex Box – I asked him about rod management, and he said when it's windy, and the fish are taking a long time to bite (30+ seconds), he'll actually:

> "...stick my rod tip down in the water, especially when the wind gets up, to help hold that bait still."

No kidding! I'm gonna have to start giving plasma or mowing yards!🤣

Duck Commander's Justin Martin is getting up in the sticks chasing those LA spawners! Those white crappie he's holding sure have their tuxedos on...guess they knew it was picture day! 🤣

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH