View this email in your browser

Hey y’all! Back with another Target Crappie loaded up with slab juice – and this week we’ve got some great first-hand info that could straight-up change your fishing game.

If you’re not already following us on social, here’s our Facebook and Instagram to stay in the loop between emails. And if a buddy passed this your way, click here to sign up for FREE weekly crappie 🧃 sent right to your inbox!

Hope y'all get out this weekend and fill them livewells!

"There's not a fish out there you can't catch with a long pole."

That's what OK/TX guide Kayle Ward says about the advantages of long-poling over casting for crappie. Kayle runs Reelin’ Them In Guide Service and is known for teaching clients to catch plenty of crappie with LiveScope and looong rods.

We got in touch with Kayle he gave us some incredible info🧃 on long-poling:

What's the advantage of long-poling over casting?

> "There's not a fish out there you can't catch with a long pole.

> "[If you're a caster] super-muddy coldwater fish don't react good. You're never going to be able to cast at those fish and get them to react. 

> "A bait sometimes has to sit on his nose 15-20 seconds to get him to react. Obviously, you can't do that with a casting rod. You gotta have a long pole. 

> "Another instance...Bois d'Arc [Lake in TX]. It's brand new, been open a year and a half. The trees in the lake are so thick, I don't care how good a caster you are, you're not getting a bait to come through these trees because the limbs have not deteriorated.

> "With the long pole, you can drop straight in and straight out, no problem. But you're not casting to them. 

> "The tighter, the thicker the cover, the better you are getting a bait in and out with the long pole vs casting."

What are your tricks for keeping a natural presentation?

> "I want to get the bait relatively close to them as fast as I can. 

> "If [the crappie are] 10' down, 0-9' is dead water. I want to get it down there quick.... Once we get it within about 1' of that fish, I want to just be smooth and easy with our rod. 

> "What I tell everybody – once you get down there, you don't want anything jumping around, bouncing around. You don't want much [vertical] movement. What I preach to guide clients every day – there's not a single thing that moves up and down in the water."

What are your go-to long-poling setups?

> "[For clients and guiding], my day in and day out rod is a 13' Power Crappie Jerry Hancock Signature Series Patriot Rod – it's got a little little bit softer tip. 

> "If we're talking about tournament fishing, I typically run the 15' [Power Crappie] Ghost Rod. [The extra length] gives me just a little bit easier time running fish down – keeping the boat just a little bit further away from them fish."

What advice would you give to people new to long-poling? 

> "You always want to have control of your boat before you try to fish. I think boat control is a little bit more crucial when you're dropping vertical vs casting.

> "...[also] keeping your rod arm tight to your body – keeping the rod balanced in your hand, and focus on rod control. ...holding the rod properly, where it's balanced in your hands, is gonna increase sensitivity and rod control tenfold."

What factors make you adjust your rod length during the day?

> "I like to go with the 'shortest long rod' I can kind of go with

and still be efficient.

> "If you start with the 18' [rod], you're not going to have as much rod control as you are with 13-footers. You're going to be sloppy.

> "The longer the rod, the more the wind's gonna blow it around, and then the sloppier I'm gonna get. So [I want my rod] as short as I can get away with, but I hardly ever go less than 13' anymore.

> "...9 times out of 10, I'm having to go to that 15' rod. If it's a super windy day...I'm going to go to a 13' rod.

> "If the fish are not spooky and they're biting super aggressive, I'll fish a tournament with a 13' rod – it's lighter and I'm going to have more rod control." 

What's the biggest mistake you see people make when they're trying to long-pole? 

> "With LiveScope, people try to move their rod left and right...trying to get the bait on the fish. They over-correct. Instead of moving it 6" or 1', they move it 2, 3, 4'. 

> "And just not holding the rod properly, and bad hooksets – from hookset to keeping the fish pinned, keeping the rod loaded as you bring him up.... A lot of people give fish too much slack or just don't handle the rod correctly, which causes more lost fish."

> "People also have a tendency to want to use a reel too much. If a fish is 10' deep, and they got a 13' rod, and they want to reel. You should never reel – just set the hook, raise it to the sky, swing it in the boat."

Kayle also mentioned that his reels are pretty much just for holding line. He does 90% of the work with the rod. If he's in a tournament and fishing deeper, he'll use a baitcasting reel.

His summer setups:

1/32-oz Bobby Garland Mo' Glo jighead with a Bobby Garland Original Baby Shad or Bobby Garland Itty Bit Slab Hunt'R

Pegged 1/4-3/4 oz egg sinker

12-lb fluorocarbon line

MAD FISHEN Spinning Reel (sie 2000)

Rods: 13' Power Crappie Trident, 13' Power Crappie Patriot, 15' Power Crappie Ghost, Power Crappie Balance Pal

Add weight for better rod sensitivity

This deal – the Power Crappie Balance Pal – came up talking with Kayle Ward and it seems pretty on point, especially since long poles keep getting longer because of forward-facing sonar (FFS). He said:

> "No matter if you hold [the rod] at the reel or behind the reel, gravity is going to end up pulling you down.... The more weight that's on the tip of that rod...the more pressure that fish has to put on the bait or the line before you're going to feel him – it takes away sensitivity."

He uses the Power Crappie Balance Pal to add weight to the butt and help balance the rod closer to the reel, and help with sensitivity.

The Balance Pal is a counterweight system you put on the butt of your rod so your long pole isn't so tip-heavy. Here's the rundown on 'em from Power Crappie:

> This innovative device makes long rods feel feather light by allowing you to easily customize their balance. Simply insert the included lead weights, quarters or 3/8 washers into the rubber cup for additional weight. Then attach it to the end of your rod’s cork handle.

Kayle says proper rod balance is pretty vital to sensitivity and feeling bites, which is already hard with a long pole and is even harder with how subtle the bites are right now in the heat.

He also said this about fishing and hooksetting with long poles:

> "...I prefer my clients don't reach out, don't get your arm extended – hold your elbow tight to your body.

> "Keep your elbow to 90 degrees...it's more of a elbow and shoulder movements...not your wrist. You're not going to have enough power in your wrist to control that rod – you'll be sloppy. 

> "I try to keep my elbow tight to my body – it's just small, subtle movements with your rod tip. And then your hooksets are wrist to shoulder – it's all in your elbow."

How to to find overlooked new water with trophy slabs

That's what Yuuj Zongh Moua (@moua_outdoors) does to find metro MN giants! He isn’t doing anything wild on the water – where he fishes (how he finds the lakes) is the different part.

He digs through maps and DNR surveys like a public-land deer hunter. With a canoe rigged with LiveScope, he's ready to hit just about any body of water and, and the results are pretty dang good!

We had to ask him how he’s finding these giant crappie – here we go:

How are you finding new lakes to hunt trophies on?

> "MN does a really good job at serving surveying lakes. You can look and see the structure [trees and brushpiles in this case] and the sizes of the crappie.

> "If you see a good structure where you see a big crappie [from shocking data] in there, that's your sign that you should probably go try it out.

> "I [also] use OnX Fish, it's a pretty good tool.

> "I think people overlook a lot of lakes too. The lakes that I go to, I don't see many people fishing."

[Maybe urban folks just don't fish as much? 🤔 Also gotta mention Google Earth Pro – another great resource that Target Crappie's Brett Jolley uses all the time. Going to historical imaging (backwardsd in time) can show you where channels and timber fields are (especially in the South) and can even reveal the tops of brushpiles on some lakes.]

> "Other than that, probably social media – looking at backgrounds and comparing it to the maps. 

[And yep, Yuuj Zongh is a background blurring pro for that very reason! 😆]

When you find a lake you want a fish, how do you find the trophy crappie?

> "The summer is kind of tough – they kind of scatter around sometimes. 

> "Having that LiveScope is definitely a need to find the fish or structure they're relating to. If they're relating to that tree, then that's all you got to stay by.

> "Honestly, I would not be as successful if I didn't have a LiveScope – you gotta have that to find those fish or find structure or find the right depth that they're at.

> "[And when you find the fish], most of the times we're just wading through the small ones. Just got to weed through 'em and pray you get a big one to bite. Size is a lot of luck, with some skill."

How often do you find new lakes to fish?

> "It depends [on the bite]. In MN, there's a very small amount of lakes that actually hold big fish. 

> "I feel like I've cracked at least 75% of them really. So I'm sure there's more, but I feel like around the Twin Cities...majority of the lakes have potential. 

> "I'll try a lake for a while, and if I get a good bite, I'll keep on trying it. That's pretty much it.

> "You just got to keep going out and trying. You can't just go one day and be like, 'Oh they're not going to bite.'

> "You gotta be out a few times a week to to get them to bite because they'll bite eventually. Just be there at the right time. You're just non-stop fishing, non-stop searching."

His gear

Yuuj Zongh keeps his setup simple – a 7' 6" rod with an Okuma Ceymar Spinning Reel with mono.

His main weapon of choice is a slip-bobber rigged with a jighead and live minnow. He'll downsize to a CSI Cubby Mini Mite if needed.

For current fish, be prepared for the shift to rock

Here's a little tip from Upper Mississippi River guide Marty Hahn in a recent Game and Fish post: 

> ...when summer heat draws the water down, and the current in the main river is moving at less than 1 mph, that's where crappies and bluegills will be [in the main river, not backwaters]. 

> ...they still typically need and utilize current breaks – fallen trees, wing dams, rockpiles, bars and other obstructions.... Panfish love wood cover in rivers, especially deadheads, laydowns and log jams. 

Drift downstream, anchor above wing dams (be safe doing it!), and cast 1/32- to 1/16-oz jigs with minnows or swimbaits to the slower water below:

> ...the river is low enough and the current weak enough...panfish hold away from current breaks on the outside of bends, where the current is strongest.

> ...Hahn says that crappies tend to suspend when the water is hot in months like Jul and Aug.

> He adds that when the water starts to cool (usually down into the 60s) fish move to riprap and rocky shorelines. He notes that this shift to rocky areas – riprap, reefs, rockpiles and rocky shorelines – typically happens at some point in Sept.

When the water starts to cool:

Cooler water in some areas means shallower, easier to find fish

Been getting much rain? Seems like most of the East and Southeast has been getting way more than unusual, and that means for western TN/Reelfoot guide and B'n'M pro-staffer Billy Blakley – it's on.

In a recent B'n'M post he talks about how higher water levels, no drawdowns and cooler than normal water temps means slabs aren't in the usual spots:

> "It's kept our crappie up closer to the bank than they normally would be this time of year. Instead of having to go out to deep water to find them, they're right there on top of the stumps not too far from the bank."

> Billy's typical go-to for crappie fishing...is spider-rigging live minnows. ...he may or may not have his [Live sonar] unit on because the cooler water conditions make finding fish much easier....

> "In a normal year, we'd be finding crappie out deep and near the bottom, but with all this rain, they're hanging out right at the top of the stumps in 6-7' of water...."

Sounds like they're catchin' frequent limits of 1.25-2.25-lb white crappie using 1.5" minnows.

> "It's been like post-spawn fishing all through the summer. Most of these crappie are just 50-75' from the bank and I just put out a spread of 16' BGJPs [Bucks' Graphite Jig Poles] and go."

> Blakley pairs the B'n'M poles with the B'n'M double hook minnow rigs using either a 1/4-oz or 3/8-oz weight. ...he removes the top hook on each rig to try to hold down on the number of snags that can happen in water that is as full of stumps, blowdowns and other woody cover as Reelfoot.

> "I just set the rig out where I think the weight is gonna be right there at the top of the stump. I don't troll real fast, maybe half a mile an hour. I just want to move the rigs over the tops of the stumps."

1. TX: Better go chase crappie right now on...

...Coleman and Lake Houston.

Coleman – 8-15' under docks in Rattlesnake Cove on the right side going in.

Houston – They're "biting pretty good tight to structure, eating hand tied jigs and minnows in the east fork and Luces Bayou with a few spots on the south end at the old pump house deep."

2. KS: Big slabs are biting on...

> Cedar Bluff Rez: Crappie are fair to good up to 15". Vertical jig and a minnow on fish attractors is best.

> Kanopolis Rez: Catching 10-14" fish and a few larger too. Use 1/16-oz jigs and minnows on deep structures or river channel.

3. MN: Crappies in Cutfoot Sioux & Lake Winnie are hangin' around...

Cabbage/coontail near shallow bulrush flats. Fish evenings with 1/16-oz jigs, fatheads or plastics. Water's murky, so work those weed patches.

4. AR: Crappie are eating well on...

> Greers Ferry Lake: Crappie around standing timber, 18-22' near thethermocline. Natural color crappie jigs workin' best.

> Arkansas River (Little Rock area): Crappie near shoreline and deeper water. Use jigs/minnows at all depths, crankbaits for trolling 12-18' or 40' deep. Target brushpiles, timber, or black/chartreuse jigs at backwater mouths near rock pools or sunken brush.

5. CA: Lake Isabella crappie bite is real good

Especially in the marina – small shad jigs or live shiners are working well.

6. OR: There's no/little crappie limit on...

Prineville and Ochoco Rez. Sounds like a bunch are biting too.

7. VT: Mentored fishing event this weekend

Says it's for folks who never have been taught to fish and that they're accepting experienced anglers to be the mentor. Teach someone to chase slabs if that's your neck of the woods!

8. NE: 150K channel cats getting stocked...

...across 180 bodies of water – check the locations here.

9. Watch for nets on the Great Lakes this weekend

And every weekend but especially while everyone is out over Labor Day weekend. Lots of commercial nets to avoid out there.

10. New longer B'n'M Buck's Graphite Jig Poles

Now in 18' and 20'. 👀

> These new lengths keep all the features you love: single-foot DynaFlo guides for lighter, more durable performance; reinforced graphite reel seat for ultimate sensitivity and shock absorption

11. New crappie braid from FINS Fishing

Says it casts jigs down to 1/64-oz and retains color real well:

12. Humminbird releases new NMEA 2000 GPS heading sensor

For the ultimate accuracy with waypoints and headings. Works with Humminbird MEGA 360, connects to a network or straight to your fish finder, shows your path and speed, and mounts easily on a flat surface or a 1" pole. MSRP $279.

13. Needin' a high quality fixed blade fileter?

Check out the Bear & Sons new Cutlery Smooth Bone professional filet knife. 11 7/8" total length, 7" blade, only 4 oz, MSRP $139.99.

Quit fishing in white shirts – and wear wraparound sunglasses?

Or any bright color shirt so you can see your FFS screen better! According to Crappie Connection's Brad Chappell – here's Brad's (and AL's Jamison Carr) 2c on a recent Crappie Connection YT video:

> "White, yellow, bright-colored shirts – the glare gives me a headache so bad and I can't see the screen as well.

> "Gray, darker-tone colors is where we're gonna focus. Everybody's like, 'Man, that's crazy, you're not wearing a white shirt."

> "I can show you a LiveScope screen and [wearing a white shirt] literally is like having a reflection off the sun shining right in your eyes...."

If you do find yourself in the boat with someone wearing white colors (from Jamison):

> "I don't care what sunglasses you wear, who they're by – [you need] the wraparounds on the side. It knocks out the side glare [coming off of people's shirts, not the screen].

> "Because if I'm sitting there and there's something glaring on me, it's getting [in my eye] and it's distracting my focus on the screen."

Real talk – them boys are fishin' from a tractor 12' up, haulin' in some big ol' crappies! 💪💪 Legends! 😁

Photo credit: FB: Derwin Dorpinghaus

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH