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Hey y’all – hope you’ve been whackin’ a bunch of slabs! We’re back with another Target Crappie loaded with juicy crappie content.
Got out on the water with a bud last Fri to try and get us a couple of limits (25/person in TX) for a church event he was putting on next day. Ended up catching our limit in an hour and 7 minutes! 😳 I don't know that I've ever caught 50 that fast – such a great time!
Used some new baits and new gear and I have all the deets below so you can go take advantage of this cooler weather and fill that cooler too!
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Seaguar Brawlr experience
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I may not look happy in the pic, but I assure you I was! 😂
I've always been a braid-to-leader guy, and when it comes to mono, I always see it and hear about it, but I've been too stubborn to make the switch. Then Seaguar came out with their Brawlr mono at ICAST.
On the bass side I'm a huge Seaguar guy, so I saw that and was like, Oh yeah, we've gotta check this out. Seaguar was kind enough to send me a spool of 8-lb Brawlr to check out:
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I had my first trip out with it and was pretty blown away. It feels more like really good Seaguar fluorocarbon, and it spooled onto my reel really nicely too.
Anyways, the crappie have been really picky around here and are biting super subtle, even when they're stacked on brushpiles like they were on this trip. That little bit of extra stretch and give with the mono made a world of difference letting those fish get a good hook in 'em.
Plus, hot water, soft mouths and I wasn't ripping hooks out.
My fishing buddy is a hammer crappie fisherman, and he was using braid to fluoro. For a while, I probably had a 4:1 catch ratio on him just because of how subtly those fish were sucking that bait in.
AL/MS guide Eric Cagle has talked about this a lot before – I wasn't actually feeling my bites. I was just letting those crappie load up or seeing my line jump, and the way that mono lays and the lack of memory in it really helped me do that.
A bonus was that even though it wasn't a hi-vis green, that clear Brawlr is UV-charged, so I could see my line glowing just as well as I could see hi-vis green line. That really helped with bite detection.
My black crappie setup
> 1/16-oz jighead, BaitFuel Nano Shad (monkey milk – more on that in a sec 😉), 8-lb Seaguar Brawlr Mono (clear), 1000-size spin reel, 7' Kistler Rods Whitetail Spin Rod.
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Does BaitFuel really make a difference?
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Well it sure did on that last trip!
I like to throw a bunch of different baits for crappie, and the first one on this trip was that new BoneHead Swim Stick in the 'purple ghost'.
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I had it rigged on a 1/16-oz jighead, no splitshot, and was just letting that thing fall over those fish in the brushpiles to start. Wore 'em out on it for a little bit. That thing is sick!
Something like 100 crappie were in both of those brushpiles, and once you caught about 10 or 15, they would really start getting smart and just follow your bait without committing.
As soon as they started doing that, I kept everything the same and just switched over to a BaitFuel Nano Shad in 'monkey milk'.
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I've said it before here on Target Crappie, but these BaitFuel-infused crappie baits really do have a knack for turning a brushpile back on whenever you catch a bunch out of it and they start to shut off.
Sure enough, they started firing off again, and that's literally the program we ran on the 2 brushpiles that we caught our 50-fish limit off of: Throw your typical baits until they start getting smart, then immediately switch over to that BaitFuel to finish them off.
Don't know why we didn't just start with that because I've heard people talk about how they're just as good as minnows. But that's just the program we were running, and we wore them out with it!
Check out those Nano Shads here on Tackle Warehouse!
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"The spot" should dictate bait selection
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Here's a sweet bit from a Lurenet post by Bobby Garland's Skylar St. Yves. Caught my eye because when I'm talking with my guide buds, we are always going on about using different bass baits for how/where the fish are set up.
This post made me realize we probably don't use that same mindset enough when we're chasing slabs. 🤔
> Bait profile is probably the most important factor in crappie fishing through much of the year. Finding the right profile, or "patterning," can be the difference between a limit and a few random bites or no fish at all.
>The environment in which you're fishing can tell you a lot about what profile and action to look for. Open-water crappie are often more aggressive because they're having to hunt food down as opposed to ambushing from cover, shade or structure.
> Open-water crappie tend to be on the hunt. These fish aggressively track down baitfish.
> Moving-tail action baits excel in open-water environments. Look for baits with a curly, paddle or prop-style tail. These style tails mimic fleeing baitfish when retrieved or trolled.
> When crappie are in ambush environments like brush, trees, docks, bluffs and shade they are looking to feed on unsuspecting prey. This means a natural, relaxed profile is key.
> Subtle-tail action baits tend to work best as the presentation is very slow and methodical. Gentle rod-tip shakes, lifts and sweeps make for an irresistible presentation using baits that have straight, spear or split tails.
Might have to go film a vid doing a little side-by-side comparison now!
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"Fall crappie fishing doesn't always have to be about just waiting until they get in the basins. If you can find these big weed flats, look for points or some irregularities."
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That's Lindner Media team man Jeremy Smith in a recent Lindner's Angling Edge YouTube video. Here's how he's finding those areas:
> "One of the keys that we've found to catching crappies has been finding the right depth – the weeds are growing at a real specific depth.
> "The deep milfoil and coontail is kind of in that 16-18'. That's kind of where the edge of it is.
> "I've got the depth highlight set up – with these [Humminbird] XPLORE units, you're not just limited to the shallow-water highlight and the depth highlight. I can do several different depth-highlight ranges.
> "I always keep my shallow-water highlight in red, and that's 5' and less, then I'll do that 5-10' in green, then I've got that yellow band that's going to meet up against that in that 11-16'.
> "What we're really looking for is anywhere on the lake where we're seeing these little bands of yellow. Where we find those bands of yellow on the lake, on a point in particular, it's like bam – we're catching crappies."
Same rules can apply to shallower/deeper grass on your lake or even timber! Got finds that magic zone and get after 'em!
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Find groups of trees in timber fields
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Well...I should preface – trees that are in the water, of course, and a tighter groups of trees, since a timber field is, you know, a big group of trees! 🤣
That pic is from a Lake Fork, TX guide Brandon "Grey Beard Fishing" Shelton Facebook post talkin' how those tight groups of trees are super high %. Here's what he said on the deal:
> Do you see the crappie on the set of trees in front of the boat? When we got closer and really "eyeballed" this set of trees, there were a total of 8 crappie in it...we may have ripped out a few.
> When you get in an area and are Scoping around, finding a lot of scattered fish, key in on groups of trees. Almost EVERY SINGLE ONE held multiple fish.
> Look for timber grouped up in 3s or 4s, and you'll almost certainly find a few 🐷's! It provides perfect cover for crappie not only to protect their front and back from predators, but also to act as camo for them to ambush prey.
> We caught a lot of fish in grouped-up timber like this today, more so than the typical Bois d'Arc trees.
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Been using these for a while now – pretty blown away by 'em! 👀 The 7' Whitetail and the 14' Kodiak are my usual program!
3. Check out this Amped Outdoors boat winterizing vid
Vid is about lithium battery care if you're storing your boat for the winter.
4. OH: Salt Fork Lake crappie are "stacked in deep coves"
Crappie up to 16" are being caught in deep, brush-lined coves around submerged trees in 8-15' of water on jigs, small spinnerbaits and bobber/minnow rigs.
5. AR crappie bite going down on...
> Little Maumelle River: One regular crappie angler and his wife were catching near-limits in about 5' of water, with a black-and-chartreuse jig....
> Peckerwood Lake: Anglers are “wearing the crappie out” by finding the exposed stumps/main channel and fishing right along the channel edge with jigs.
> Bull Shoals Lake: Most crappies are holding on brushpiles around 20' deep, where a 1/16-oz jig with minnows is producing.
6. OK: 🔥 crappie lakes right now are...
> Kaw Lake: Crappies are biting well on hair jigs, jigs and minnows around brush, riprap and standing timber.
> Broken Bow Lake: Crappies are biting well on jigs around brush and standing timber.
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Put cornstarch on your tube-style baits for more action in cold water
That right there is a tip that can only come from Wally "Mr. Crappie" Marshall! 😁 Here's more from a recent convo about fishing the Mr. Crappie Crappie Thunder:
> "When the water gets cold, you can add a little cornstarch to a bag of Crappie Thunders to make the plastic come alive more.
> "The cornstarch takes the oil off the bait and makes it much limper and more flexible, almost like a worm.
> "You don't have to do it all the time. When it’s warmer, the bait is already soft enough. But in the winter you can sprinkle some cornstarch right into the bag of Crappie Thunders."
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How about these summer slabs caught by Connor Pudgurney in Waxahachie, TX. I'd love to see the GoPro footage of those things getting in the boat! 😃
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