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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 crappie juice.
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If your email program cuts off the bottom of the email click "View this email in your browser" up top to see the whole thing. Sorry about that – email programs keep changing stuff!
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Eric Watts' Slab Stalk'R 🧃
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Typically, swimbaits like that are seen as "cold water baits" but Eric has been catching 'em all summer on the Slab Stalk'R all summer. I got on the phone with him to see how he's doing it.
Why is the Slab Stalk'R working during the summer?
> "Summer is all about presentation – it's really a matter of slowing down.
> "That bait has excellent tail action at slow speeds. Casting it out and rolling it back at a super-slow speed gives it just enough action to trigger those crappie – we've been catching black and white crappie with it. Both have been triggered by it over the last couple of weeks."
Where has the Slab Stalk'R worked best?
> "Honestly I've tried it across the board. I've caught individual roamers, schooling roamers and fish over brushpiles.
> "[The biggest key is] presentation. You can't throw it out there and roll it across them 100 mph. They're not going to eat it.
> "It's a game of patience. It's not a power-fishing technique. You have to slow down. If you can slow-roll it across them and get the color and presentation right, those fish don't mind it at all."
What have you been doing with your setup to get the right presentation?
> "I'm still running 10-lb braid as my mainline [with] 6-lb fluoro or co-poly for the leader throughout the summer.
> "The jighead size is where it gets a little crazy. may have used a 1/32-oz a couple times this summer, but the 1/24- and 1/48-oz heads have been what I've used for the most part.
> "[Above the jighead] it might be a 1/16-oz weight, a 1/8-oz weight or even a 1/4-oz weight above the jighead depending on the depth we're working.
> "I want something light enough that we can really slow it down and maintain control as it gets down to the fish. If I need to go a little heavier, I will, but ultimately I need to be able to slow the bait down."
Which Slab Stalk'R colors have been best for you?
> "The most surprising color for me this summer has been 'cajun cricket' [left] even in relatively clear water.
> "I don't know if there's something in the water that hatched earlier this year or throughout the summer with that color pattern. Honestly, I don't know. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
> "It was one of those things I experimented with. When the Slab Stalk'R came out, I wanted to get it in all the colors and try them. I could tell a noticeable difference as soon as I put it in the water. Those fish gave it a lot more attention.
> "'Blue ice' [middle] and 'emerald fry' [right] have [also] been really consistent on bright, sunny days."
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Profile matters more than color?
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Had some info from Jason Clements in last week's TC, and wanted to follow up with him about his crazy hair jig colors that he likes to tie and why – we ended up opening a whole other can of worms and went down the crappie rabbit hole.
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Here's Jason with some sweet bait intel:
You mentioned using jig colors that are different from what crappies normally see from other anglers. What have you been catching them on lately that's different?
> "There needs to be some different colors out there. Crappies see so many of the same popular colors that showing them something different can be enough to make them commit.
> "Lately, I've been catching them on 'dirty milk'. There's 'monkey milk,' and then Jenko makes a color called 'dirty milk'. I rarely use plastics, but I still had a bunch of those Jenko baits. I'll bite about half of the bait off to make it smaller, and it has really been working.
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> "The fish that would normally nose up to the bait and swim away were committing to it and chasing it. It was just a different color from what most people were throwing."
Is changing the color or changing the profile usually more important?
> "In my mind, it always comes back to profile. I don't care what color it is. Profile has always been the bigger deal to me.
> "I normally try to imitate what the fish are eating because I think that gives you the best chance, but sometimes a completely different profile is what makes them react.
> "I was fishing a tournament with a 1/32-oz hair jig. I would drop it on a fish and have to hold it there forever before the fish finally nosed up and ate it.
> "I picked up the exact same color in a 1/64-oz jig. When I dropped it on the next fish, it ate immediately. The next fish did the same thing. There was no hesitation.
> "That told me it was the profile. The smaller the bait was, the faster they wanted to hit it. You would think a big crappie would always want something bigger, but that isn't necessarily true."
What colors do you normally tie into your hair jigs?
> "I use a lot of gray and black. I have a black-and-gray chenille with black spots mixed into the gray. I'll tie it with two dark-gray feathers, one light-gray feather and a black feather in the center.
> "Sometimes I'll put orange in the center. Rosy red minnows have that orange color, and there are times when crappies will eat a rosy red when they won't touch a regular minnow.
> "Personally, I keep coming back to gray, black and shiny chenille. I've also found that solid black works. My son fishes an all-black jig almost every time he goes, and he catches them on it.
[Here's a handful of the atypical colors Jason likes to tie.]
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What is the strangest color combination you've tied that consistently catches fish?
> "My wife likes a color built with confetti shad chenille. It has red, purple, blue and gray mixed into it. She'll add pink, purple, blue and white feathers. It almost looks like a 4th of July jig, but the fish will kill it.
> "Sometimes she outfishes me because she's willing to use those different colors. She doesn't care whether it matches anything. She just wants something different."
How much do sunlight and water clarity affect the importance of color?
> "Down deep in muddy water, I don't know how much color they can actually see. At that point, I think they may be reacting more to the profile.
> "When the sun is bright and the water hasn't been dirtied by rain, you can see fish come from farther away to get the jig. That's when I believe they can see more of the actual color."
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Do we fish black baits enough?
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That convo with Jason definitely got me thinking about it. 🤔
All kinds of prey in the water are black or real dark all year – fry, bugs, tadpoles to name a few.
Quick note: I tried to look up some pics of "crappie fry" and fry of other fish in the water – I know it's out there somewhere but the only pics that came up were golden-brown fish on a plate! 🤣
Anyway, here's some all-black bait options for ya!
'Solid black' Bandit 300
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Crappie Masters winning baits so far
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I wanted to go back and look at the Crappie Masters winning baits so far to see any color/profile/brand trends. The 2 biggest trends I see: hair jigs and K-9 fluoro.
I talked to crappie pro and guide Eric Cagle a bit on the K-9 deal and why guys like it. Here's a bit of what he said – you can see the whole interview here.
> "It's fluoro, it has zero memory – that's why I use it. I never have to worry about that line knotting or kinking on me. It's just hassle-free."
Stop 1 – Talquin Lake, FL (Feb) – Alex Hall and Cassidy Box on a 1/32-oz 'gray' Trippy Stix hand-tied jig or a naked jighead tipped with a minnow, small splitshot, 4-lb K9 High-Vis Fluoro, 2000-size spinning reel, 7' Dobyns EC Special Rod.
Stop 2 – Lake D'Arbonne, LA (Feb) – Les Standstipher on a 1/8-oz Crappie Slammers Sickle Hook Jig Head (unpainted), Crappie Slammers Shimmer Stick (purple), 1/8-oz pegged egg sinker, 10-lb mono, 3 Pound Fishing Spinning Reel (1000 size), 15' 3 Pound Fishing Savage Scoping Rod.
Stop 3 – Grenada Lake, MS (Mar) – Alex and Cassidy again on 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.
Stop 4 – Lake Eufaula, OK (Apr) – Dan Langston and Brannon Shelby on Heavy D Hand Tied Jigs or Premier Crappie Jigs, 6-lb K9 fluoro, Pflueger President Spinning Reel, 7' XLF Dobyns Kaden Spinning Rod.
Stop 5 – Kentucky Lake, KY (May) – Chase Petty and Max Boone on
> Casting: ATX prototype plastic, 1/8-oz ATX Tungsten Jighead, 6-lb K-9 clear fluoro, Abu Garcia Black Max Spin Reel, 6' 6" Power Fishing Ninja.
> Open water long pole: ATX prototype plastic, 1/8-oz ATX Tungsten Jighead, 3/4-oz tungsten weight, 10-lb K-9 Clear Fluoro, Abu Garcia Black Max Casting Reel, 14' Power Fishing Flip Stick Two.
> Stake-fishing: Minnow on a 1/32-oz ATX Tungsten Jighead, 1/2-oz tungsten weight, 10-lb K-9 Clear Fluoro, Abu Garcia Black Max Casting Reel, 14' Power Fishing K-Rod.
Stop 6 – Truman Lake, MO (Jun) – Matthew Rogers on a prototype 1/32-oz Big Bite Baits hair jig (orange/chartreuse) or 2.75" BoneHead Tackle 2.75-inch 'night stick' [black and chartreuse] Slim Stick, 1/32-oz Big Bite Baits Vertex Jighead with a 1/2-oz BoneHead Tangle Free Weight above it, 15-lb Bass Pro 100% XPS Fluoro, 14' Dobyns Josh Jones Hyperlite or 12' BoneHead E-Series Carbon Fiber Rod.
Going to do some digging on why the hair jig is popping and get back to you in next week's Target Crappie!
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Bassin' pro turned crappie pro Jeremy Lawyer has been putting out some straight crappie 🧃 lately and recently did a YouTube vid with 1standard Fishing sharing tips on how to catch 'em through the super-hot portion of summer. Here's a couple cool tips from that vid.
Try dead shiners for lethargic fish
> "Normally I'd use a 2" Minnow One, a 2.75 inches bait or a Swimmer One on a 1/16-oz 1standard bait head. When these fish get this lethargic, though, you almost have to beg them to bite.
> "We used live shiners, but killed them first. A live shiner would sit down there wiggling while the crappie knocked every scale off it without committing. Once we cut the head off and fished it as cutbait, they ate it."
Don't automatically downsize
> "We were using shiners around 3.5 inches long and catching 13-inch crappie. That's a big profile once you add the bait head, so don't believe you always have to use tiny baits during the summer.
> "There are exceptions on super-clear reservoirs with picky black crappie, especially when you're fishing 25-30' deep. But in 12-14', those crappie had no problem eating a big shiner."
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From Berkley bait designer Kyle Peterson:
> The new 1.5" Power Vibe is an absolute panfish killer! This soft lipless bait has an incredibly crisp, tight vibration that feels like you're holding onto a buzz saw. It's hard to believe how much vibration comes from such a small bait!
> Lipless baits have become a staple for me during the spring and fall when water temperatures are cooler. That tighter, more-subtle action is often exactly what fish are looking for when they don't want an aggressive, darting presentation.
4. Why Wesley Miller always looks for the thermocline on sonar
That's Wesley of LA's Big Sasquatch Outdoors guide service. He says it'll show up as a thin line on traditional and FFS and:
> "...the line can move deeper or more shallow during the course of a day and the key is to stay above it. Below that line, oxygen is absent and where there is no oxygen, you won’t find fish."
5. NC: 'FishHouses' dropped in Lake Norman
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48 FishHouse ExoForms were installed near the Lake Norman State Park and Beattys Ford public fishing piers to create permanent habitat. The structures provide more surface area than traditional rock reefs and will not decay like recycled Christmas trees. 👀
6. OK: Best crappie bite going down on...
> Skiatook: Crappie good on jigs and minnows around brush structure and standing timber.
> Sardis: Crappie good on jigs, minnows and tube jigs around brush structure and standing timber.
> Wister: Crappie good on jigs and minnows around brush structure.
7. LDWF to draw down Bistineau for Salvina treatment
8. onX Fish Expands to Kansas
Now available in MN, WI, MI, ND, SD, IN, OH, IL, IA, MO, MT, KS.
9. Have you seen Rapala's new Line remover?
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Won Best New Fishing Accessory at ICAST. It's battery-powered and allows you to take off a ton of line without the mess – ya just unspool what you need and these red arms collapse to allow you to take it all off in one wad.
10. Berkley's Dan Spengler catches GIANT bluegill setup
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Ken Neer (left) caught a 9.09", 0.60-lb pumpkinseed on Jun 25 from Fairfax Pond at Rehe Wildlife Management. Sierra A. (right) landed a record-breaking pumpkinseed Jul 14 that measured 9.13" and weighed 0.62-lb from the Tygart Valley River
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How to catch crappie on urchin baits
If you're interested or already into the urchin deal for crappie, here's a cool tip from BaitFuel's Bailey Boutries talking about how folks have been catching crappie on the new/not out yet BaitFuel NanoSpike:
> "The NanoSpike is a small urchin-style bait like we've seen take off in bass fishing, and we immediately wanted to see whether that same profile would work for crappies. It proved itself right out of the gate during product development.
> "The biggest thing we learned was not to overwork it. Bass anglers snap these baits hard to trigger bites, but crappies respond better when you thread it onto a standard crappie jighead and let it pendulum through the water column. The less you move it, the more bites you seem to get.
> "The NanoSpike is also infused with BaitFuel and packaged with BaitFuel powder, which can help get a few extra bites from pressured fish."
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"It’s like if someone throws dog poop at you unexpectedly and says catch, you instinctually go to catch it. But if they tell you what it is and that it’s coming, you instinctually evade."
- Well, that's one way to put it! 😅 That's OK/TX guide Kayle Ward on why he likes to fish super fast and go after reaction bites when he's long-poling.
Here's a bit more from the Lurenet post talkin' Kayle's LiveScope prowess:
> He explained that if the crappie is following the jig, it has had plenty of time to assess it. They're interested, but they've gotten used to the profile and signature. Once that bait abruptly changes speed and direction toward the crappie, it instinctively grabs it.
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Take a look at this August freakazoid boated by TX guide Dan Langston! Dan said she weighed 2.76 lbs, and for reference, that fish on the right is a 10.5-incher. Cool story from Dan on that fish too:
> "My client today was a preacher and we were talking about how great God is. He started talking about how the fish that were caught by Jesus through his apostles in the Bible resemble huge crappie. Right when he said that, he got thumped, and there she was!"
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