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Hey y'all! Hope you're ready for this week's Target Crappie!

Target Crappie's Brett Jolley got out on Sam Rayburn, TX this past weekend and tore up some slabs! The water is cooling down and the brushpiles are starting to fire.

Brett's been experimenting with long-poling which isn't done much on Rayburn – be on the lookout for some Sam Rayburn big crappie juice! 👀

Catch us on Facebook and Instagram to see some crappie vids and content. And if a buddy shared this with you, make sure you sign up here to get the free weekly email straight to your inbox.

Hope you enjoy this one, thank you for reading!

Bois d'Arcs trees are the deal!

That what Mr. Crappie says. Got some fall fishing juice from Wally after his trip to Lake Ray Roberts, TX yesterday. Whether you have big trees in your lake or not, there's definitely some learnin's in here for you!

With these cold fronts that have come in, where did y'all start finding crappie?

> "Yesterday we were targeting underwater structure, Bois d'Arc trees, any kind of standing structures, [using FFS] in about 10-14' in the mouths of creeks and coves.

> "That water temp has dropped pretty quick here lately. ...surface temperature was 78 degrees. It was in the high 80s probably a week or so ago."

Why did you choose to go with that depth range?

> "Well, we did a little experiment. We usually go to the mouth of the creek and start getting on those flats in 6-8' of water. ...shallow...5', even on stumps....

> "There weren't any fish there. We fished for 2.5 hours looking for stuff on the flats, but the baitfish had moved. You didn't see any baitfish. 

> "I said, 'Let's go out further, I think they're deeper.' We moved out in that 10-14' range...just started just popping from tree to tree to tree. Sometimes you'd find 3 or 4 on one tree. Sometimes you'd find 1."

Lots of TX crappie pros are always talking about Bois d'Arc trees – do you think those are the best trees to look for?

> "That's the hardest tree in the world. Our lakes in TX have a lot of Bois d'Arc in them. They don't deteriorate.

> "...if you're going to put any kind of structure in a lake, any kind of trees, you need to put hard cover, something that's gonna last. 

[Make sure you check state and lake regs before you start putting trees out! 😅]

> "Bois d'Arcs are the tree to fish around if you're looking for crappie – they also have a root system down at the bottom of them that goes out far.

> "Yesterday a lot of the fish we were catching were on the bottom, or up a couple feet off the bottom, because a north wind was blowing. Nothing was up high on the structure. They were all down in that 10-12' of water on or close to the bottom.

> "A lot of fish that we were catching had mud on their belly. When you hook them, they go to fight and they'll hit the dirt. You know they're sitting way down there.

Are you seeing those fish down there on FFS, or just seeing the trees on FFS and fishing around 'em?

> "I could see 'em down there sitting on the bottom and on the sides of those trees

> "I use Humminbird products. You can see those the fish [well] with Humminbird MEGA Live 2....

> "[For forward range] I never go past 35', maybe 40' sometimes if I'm just going and looking for structure. When I'm on the fish, I got it sucked in where you can really see 'em."

When you're fishing Bois d'Arc trees, are you are you casting to them or dropping on them?

> Most of the time it's vertical. If you get on Bois d'Arc trees, you got to go vertical. And yesterday the water was stained, so you're not spooking them. 

> "If you get a lot of boat slap from the wind, them old bigs, they can't take that – you just got to be stealthy and pitch it at them.

> "If I see something down there on a like a stump, it's not very 'limb-y' – you can pitch at them and let that jig come right down to them.

> "Yesterday I was using my Teen-Zee jigheads (orange), the 1/16th-oz with a Lil Suck'R (orange) on there. 

> "Using a 1/16-oz jig like that, you're watching it fall for a long time and you just put it right on their nose. Sometimes it would take them a little...you'd have to hold it in there, then all of a sudden you'd see one turn up on it.

> "We were using bigger baits and they were just barely hitting the tail of it. {so] we switched to the Teen-Zees and the Shoo Shiners – them little suckers are deadly."

Is there a part of lakes where Bois d'Arc trees grow on more frequently? Near creek channels?

> "There's going to be treelines that come off the shore. You can see treelines of Bois d'Arc trees that are coming in like fencelines. 

> "Your bigger trees – big oak trees, big pecan trees and stuff like that – are going to be around some type of channel, or they could be in a treeline."

You mentioned that the water was stained. Do bigger crappie typically tend to hang around dirtier water? 

> "If you'll notice, the bigger crappie come from lakes that are dirty. Dirty water raises big crappie.

> "Grenada [MS] is never clear and you know what comes out of there. If you have any visibility, like 6 inches, you're good.

> "One time on Ray Roberts in the winter time, it was like chocolate milk. All the baitfish were on the surface – that's where the light was. The crappie were like a foot deep over 20' of water. You could see them on the MEGA Live.

> "We just went up there and just had to stick the jig on the water and caught 'em."

🤯

A little fall night-fishing 🧃

Night-fishing doesn't have to just be a summer thing to get out of the heat. Those same fish that fed at night on lights are still feeding in the same spots this fall, and usually are way less pressured.

So if you're down to go fishing in the dark, here's some nitty gritty night-fishing tips from a post on Lurenet.com:

> [An] important consideration for night fishing is where those fish would be by day this time of year. During summer, that often means main bodies of lakes and lower halves of major creeks, often in the vicinity of channel edges.

> Having a good range of depths is also beneficial so fish can move deeper during the day.

As the water cools in the fall, crappie will start to follow the bait shallower and further up into creeks – so knowing when that fall transitions starts is crucial. Finding those spots with access to channels or funnels where they transition help you get on 'em and stay on 'em:

> Illuminated water is central...but other night strategies exist.

> Bridges...create funnels that center on a creek channel...plentiful structure from bridge pillars, supports and riprap at the ends. 

> Other dependably good areas are docks near channel edges, the deep ends of flooded timber stands and the tops of major points with deep water nearby.

Look for light sources

> Existing lights that come on every night provide consistency, and resident fish learn to look for food in those areas. 

> ...look around parks or roads with streetlights near the water, lit bridges, fishing piers, homeowners' docks, marinas and power plants. Just beware of "no fishing" zones that sometimes exist.

Lights on docks that hold a ton of fish don't just have to be the underwater green lights either. Brett fishes at night on Bob Sandlin, TX where the green lights are so pressured that the more productive lights for big crappie (and big bass) are the brightest security lights or the only security lights on a stretch of docks. 

How to catch 'em

> Fish commonly hold at the edge of the light, on the dark side, so working a jig barely within the cone of light puts your bait right where the crappie are....

> Casting a [Bobby Garland] Stroll’R or Hyper Grub and swimming it through a lit area or along the edges of the light allows you to work the entire area and fish a range of depths.

> If you’re over the fish, vertical-jigging a Baby Shad or Slab Slay’R helps you slow the presentation to coax strikes. It also allows you to control the depth and work a specific zone, and to fish a very specific spot. 

> An in-between approach that offers some of the benefits of casting and jigging is to make a short pitch across the lit area, close the spinning reel’s bail and allow the bait to pendulum down. 

> Most fish will hit on the drop, but it’s worth holding the bait stationary for a minute or 2, or jigging it a bit when it’s in place and then lifting it slowly. Some crappie will hit as soon as you start lifting the bait, thinking it is getting away. 

> A final approach that can be very effective at night is to suspend a jig under a float and cast to the edges of the light. This allows for very precise depth control.

> If there’s a bit of ripple on the water, you don’t need to work the bait. If the surface is flat, twitch the rod tip from time to time, moving it just enough to rock the float and make the bait dance.

Maybe get all glowy!

> ...to enhance lure visibility for the nighttime approach and trigger extra strikes is by using glow-in-dark baits. 

> [Bobby Garland] Mo’ Glo Jigheads, as the name suggest, are all painted with glow colors, and Bobby Garland Stroll’Rs, Baby Shads, Slab Slay’Rs and Scent Wiggl’Rs are all available in Mo’ Glo glow-in-the-dark colors.

And Bobby Garland Mo Glo' Slab Jam will make any bait glow in the dark with the added bonus of minnow scent. 👀 Couple more deals:

> Floats that light up, like Thill Splash Brite and Night Brite floats, can be helpful for fishing along the outside edges of the lights.

> ...one more way to enhance your nighttime offerings is to insert a rattle. Bobby Garland makes glass Crappie Rattles that are sized to fit in crappie baits, pointed at the end for easy insertion and loud for their small size.

Never stop lifting...

Not talkin' pumping iron here, even though it's probably a good idea not to stop that either – talkin' fishing jigs in timber!

Jerry Hancock is a crappie legend and Lake Fork, TX guide – so it's safe to say he might know a thing or 2 about fishing pole timber (pretty sure Fork has a couple trees?😅).

Jerry had some good standing timber tips in a Crappie Connection YouTube video – here's a few of 'em:

> "A lot of time, fish will swim up to your bait, look at it, and swim off. There’s one thing I’ve started doing that works really well – it probably adds 30 to 40% more fish to what we catch.

> "When I drop that bait down to a fish and he swims up to it, I start taking that bait away by lifting my rod tip real slow and steady. If that fish makes a move and starts chasing it, I keep lifting until he grabs the bait.

> "If you stop [lifting], he’s not going to bite it. Almost 100% of the time he’ll turn away. You have to keep lifting – your bait cannot ever stop. 

> "When you first feel that little bump [of the bite], don’t jerk. If you jerk, you’ll pull the bait away. Just keep lifting until the rod tip starts loading up, then lift through it and you'll have him."

Brett sees this happen when guiding clients on Sam Rayburn, fishing any kind of cover but especially brushpiles.

> "When clients have a fish following their bait, a lot of times they'll start to see it on the screen and top their bait on accident. [When that happens] that fish is done after that and the cast is over.

> "Letting those fish load up and set the hook on themselves is a big deal too. If they don't choke it immediately, that fish is going to need a second to eat it. And when they do, you'll notice it in the top tip or watching the line."

More from Jerry:

> "...when you pull up on a spot with fish, that first drop gets the most aggressive ones. After a couple, they wise up.

> "These fish [in the video] don’t really want to react, so I’m going to tip this jig with a minnow. I don’t like to use minnows, but I will. I hook it right under the jaw and come out between the eyes. As soon as I tipped that minnow, one bit immediately.

> "Drop it down, stop it above 'em, and just lower slowly (until they start to react). I’d already dropped there 2-3 times and couldn’t get bit.

> "I’m staying off the fish, letting the bait swing back. If nothing reacts, I’ll reposition. Some days you have to pull up a little closer."

A big deal for Jerry on that technique is using a loop knot. It helps that bait have a free and natural action when you're swinging jigs.

Jerry's setup

> "[On the timber], I’m using a little hair jig, 1/8-oz with a 3/16-oz bullet weight above it to get down quicker and help visibility. If they get really finicky, I’ll tip it with a minnow.

> "I’m using an 11' [Power Crappie] Huckabee Pulling Rod – good length, soft tip, strong backbone. For the reel, I’m using a spinning reel with 10-lb MAD high-vis Braid.

"Tossing that BaitFuel in those piles was like hitting a reset button..."

That’s me (Brett) quoting myself lol – because it was that good!

Talkin’ brushpile crappie on Sam Rayburn, TX. When the fish got finicky on piles, following up with a certain bait got 'em fired back up:

> "These brushpiles get so pressured, the fish tend to shut off or slow down after 8-12 fish caught out of 'em. There's so many fish in these piles, and I'm to stubborn to leave 'em when I'm by myself – I had to start experimenting.

> "I typically don't start with scent because sometimes I don't have to, but when those piles started slowing down is when I pulled out the BaitFuel baits.

> "Tossing those BaitFuel baits in those piles was like hitting a reset button sometimes. It gave the fish a different look, but that scent also gave them another aspect of baitfish that would get 'em to trigger.

> "I knew they wanted something small so I was taking the BaitFuel Nano Snak Pintail Worm and biting half off so it was just 3 or 4 ribs and that pintail. 

> "That long tail is awesome – it sits down there and quivers, and really lights up when you shake it. It does a lot of the work for you and I really think it triggers bites. You still have to be light on that hookset but if they nip it, they're gonna eat it.

> "Since those baits are infused with the scent, you're not having to keep a tube of something in your pocket or deal with spilling any gels or dyes. So I can just keep a bag of those Pintails in my pocket...."

My brushpile setup

> BaitFuel Nano Snak Pintail Worm (monkey milk), Big Bite Baits BBJ Elite Jig Head (black/white), pegged 1/4-oz Elite Tungsten Worm Weight, 20-lb Berkley Forward Braid (flame green) to a 12-lb Seaguar InvizX Fluoro leader, Shimano Sienna 2500 Spinning Reel, 14' B'n'M Buck's Original Graphite Jig Pole.

World's rarest crappie?

Not every day you see a gold/orange/marmalade crappie 😁 and it's definitely not every day you so a golden magnolia crappie!

This fish has been circulating on social media a bunch, but it looks like the original post was from Robert Harrison on Feb 20 of this year and appears to have been caught in a pond:

Magnolia crappie are artificially bred (male black crappie x female white crappie), so if this fish was naturally bred then that may literally be the rarest crappie in the world. 👀 

Reply to this email or DM us on Instagram or Facebook to show us the crazy crappie you've caught!

1. MS: Dan and Hayden Jeffries are state champs

The Magnolia Crappie Club is the oldest crappie club in North America, and needless to say it's full of hammers. Hayden and Dan got the W on Chicot/Ferguson Lakes off the Mississippi River with a 7-fish limit for 13.27-lbs. Congrats guys!

2. 30 Years of Z-Man!

Congrats to Z-Man on 30 years of changing the fishing game! From the first ChatterBait (their micro version will destroy some slabs!) shaking up bassin' to the ElaZtech soft-plastics baits that last basically forever, they’ve redefined what soft baits can do.

Here's to another 30+! 🥳

3. TX: Cooler weather has crappie acting right on...

Arlington: Crappie are great congregated in big schools around brush, timber, and in the channels

Bob Sandlin: Crappie are excellent from 10-25' in the river channels.

Brownwood: Crappie are excellent to 13" on minnows and jigs on the main lake scattered brush piles in 10-20'.

Granbury: Crappie action continues to be good to excellent on small minnows and jigs worked near submerged structures. Best crappie reports are from in town to near Indian Harbor.

Martin Creek: Crappie are excellent, fish are suspended in timber and brush in 20-25'. 

Nacogdoches: Crappie are excellent in the standing timber and in brushpiles and secondary points in 12', with big ones isolated in 20-25'.

Naconiche: Crappie are excellent with white and chartreuse lightweight jigs.

Navarro Millls: Crappie are staying strong and consistent off brushpiles in the lake. Fish tend to be buried in the mud at the very bottom in 12-14' on brush piles.



Waco: Crappie are good to excellent on live bait and purple and chartreuse 1/8-oz artificials in 10-20' on brush or structure. Large quantities can be caught but the quality is off.

Houston: Crappie fishing is excellent in river channels 10-14', especially near structure; live minnows or hand-tied jigs are working best in murkier areas like East Fork and Luces Bayou.

4. CA: Crappie bite is improving on Lake Isabella

5. AR: Cooler weather has Maumelle River slabs fired up

Catchin' fish on red/chartreuse jigs. 👀

AR folks are also "tearing 'em up" on Peckerwood Lake on brown and black/chartreuse jigs.

6. Check out Rapala's new slab slayer, the "Nano Rap"

Meet Rapala’s smallest lure ever – the Nano Rap, a 3/4" finesse bait built for panfish. It has a tungsten weight, rattles and has a rocking jigging action – sinks fast and dances on the fall. Available in 14 colors and MSRP $8.99.

7. Garmin rolled out a "wireless kill switch"

Garmin’s new OnBoard System brings wireless safety tech to any boat by replacing (or backing up) the old-school tethered kill switch with smart MOB (man overboard) tags.

Each tag connects to your Garmin unit, sounding an alarm and dropping a waypoint if someone falls overboard – and automatically cutting the engine if it’s the captain.

You can pair up to 8 tags for family, pets or gear, all while moving freely around the boat. Let's see if this idea is adopted by other electronics companies!

8. Shakespeare's got a new budget friendly combo and spinning reel

The new Shakespeare Summit Series delivers legit performance at an easy price point. Lightweight graphite rods, smooth reels make it a solid setup for casting to slabs or chasing panfish anywhere. Summit Spinning Reel MSRP: $74.99 | Summit Combo MSRP: $109.99

9. Abu Garcia's updated Vendetta combo looks 🔥

The new Abu Garcia Vendetta Spinning Combo pairs a 30-ton graphite rod with a smooth Max SX Spinning Reel for a lightweight, balanced feel for casting to slabs or finesse-fishing.

It’s built for distance and control with the Rocket Line Management system, and has a braid-ready spool. MSRP: $94.95 and is available on Tackle Warehouse.

10. Ever hear of a color called 'soul snatcher'? 😱

Crappie jig seen on rockhilljigs.com.

11. Battery storing tips from Norsk Lithium

Don't let those investments freeze up and go bad this winter!

12. AL: AGFC is fighting off Cuban bulrush on Cane Creek

They say it'll be a while before it's completely under control, but what invasive species is every full under control? 🤔

Use Spot-Lock as a brake?

Here's a tip from TX crappie hammer Dustin Arnold on how use your Minn Kota remote and Spot-Lock Jog to sneak up on brushpiles or whatever cover you're fishing and not blow it out:

> "You wanna Spot-Lock way, way before you're [set up] where you wanna be.

> "Let your boat get positioned, and if you have Spot-Lock Jog...you can just jog a little closer to 'em. That jog is a lot more quiet than [a full-on trolling motor] when you get where you wanna be and your motor wants to turn around...and you scare everything away.

> "You wanna get 20-30' out from your spot when you Spot-Lock, especially if you're moving."

Another tip is if you don't have the Minn Kota remote and can't do the jog, you can stop yourself away from the brushpile or cover and use the continuous-speed function most newer trolling motors have to sneak up to the spot.

"My backstroke is a little rusty"

- Wally Marshall talkin' about a fall he took into the water yesterday on Ray Roberts. He gave us the quick story:

> "We were at Roberts, fixing to leave. Jeff, my fishing partner, was on the trolling motor. I was putting my rods down on the deck, he went left and hit a stump, and there wasn't no stopping.

> "I had my rod in my had, never let go. I just held on to that stump til he swung the ladder around."

He was all good and answered the phone today, "Ray Roberts Diving Services." 🤣

Check out Gavin and Liam R's replicas of their 15" monsters! Check out what their mom said in her Facebook post:

> ...their 15" crappie double they got last summer on their first cast on their first fishing outing! 🔥🤣👏

That's insane! 🤯 Looks like we have a couple of crappie hammers in the making, congrats!

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH