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Hope y'all had an awesome Father's Day weekend – bless all you dads out there! Let's get some crappie 🧃!

How Matty Rogers got the W on Truman 🏆

When I interview guys before a tournament we joke like, "Hey let's talk about the win soon lol" – like last week after I talked to Matthew Rogers. Well he put his money where his mouth is and got 'er done at the Crappie Masters on Truman Lake, MO! 😎

Truman is his home pond, and him and his dad got the W with a 2-day total of 16.12 lbs. Here's the deets:

Practice

> "I practiced on Tues for about 4 or 5 hours, then Thurs...from about 9am until...whenever we had to get off the water.

> "I kind of found what I needed to find on that 1st day of practice, and I actually stopped on my way home and put in a different arm to check. It was one of those gut feelings.

> "[In that other arm – the Grand] I caught a couple 1.40s and then saw 3 or 4 more. On the other arm you could catch 1.50s and 1.60s, but I didn't know if you could catch 5 of them in a day."

Tournament

> "This was a trailering event. We do our livewell check, then we can go launch. I would fish the first few hours on that Osage arm [the first arm he mentioned practicing in], then I would load up and go fish the Grand.

> "I spent a few more hours on the 2nd day on the Osage, but on the 1st day [when he left to go to the other arm] I had 3 weigh fish – I had 5, but I had 3 that were good fish. Then I caught 2 more [upgrades] on the Grand.

> "The 2nd day I felt like I had to go over [to the Grand] because I'd caught some fish there. But in the first hour and a half I caught all my fish [in the Osage], then stayed a little longer and went. Never caught an upgrade.

> "...a couple 2.20s and a 2.30 I caught on the Grand [in practice]. That's why I spent the rest of my day [in the Grand]. I just knew if I did come across a good one over there, it was going to be one that really set me apart.

> "I ended up having like a 1.60 average. A tournament in the summer on Truman, at least a 1.5-lb average gets you in the top 3, if not a win."

Winning pattern

> "Timber and roaming fish on flats outside major spawning creeks – the crappie didn't have to go travel across the lake to get to a flat. They were on flats just right outside of the spawning creek.

> "The creek itself has everything in it that they need, to where they don't have to leave.

> "I've spent so much time on Truman. I was even guiding in the vicinity of where I won it this year, and I'd caught numerous 2-lbers out of there on trips. I hadn't done that anywhere else on the lake.

> "Being that was in Apr up in the creek, I just had that in my mind that the class of fish there was just so much better than anywhere else on the lake."

Weather considerations

> "On the 1st day on the Osage arm they were on trees. It was a clear day, sun was up, but the bite shut off about 9:00. It turned into a lull after that.

> "The Grand arm always fishes better late in the day when it's sunny, especially the tournament areas.

> "With the weather coming in – it was going to be nasty on the 2nd day, and I thought the Osage fish would bite and the Grand fish would probably not bite near as good.

> "The low light in the morning is when they were biting on the Osage arm for me, then that bite shut off. I thought that bite would last a little longer on the 2nd day with it being stormy and cloudy."

Baits

> "I was fishing a prototype 'orange and chartreuse' Big Bite Baits hair jig [1/32-oz].

> "I also had a BoneHead Tackle 2.75-inch 'night stick' [black and chartreuse] Slim Stick.

> "I used [the] hair jig on the 1st day for most of the morning. I had 1 fish that came off whenever I was trying to lift it up into the net. It went back down, set up, and I grabbed a minnow and tipped it on the jig and caught it.

> "The 2nd day I didn't have to use any minnows, but being cloudy and stormy, black and chartreuse is just a tried and true color whenever it's cloudy out. You've got to have a little darker profile for them to see it.

"I was using it on a 1/32-oz Big Bite Baits Vertex Jighead and using a 1/2-oz [BoneHead] Tangle Free Weight above it to be able to get it down fast.

> "If I had a fish on a tree and it was sitting there easy, I'd run a 1/4-oz Tangle Free Weight above a 1/32-oz jig with the plastic on there.

> "I was trying to reduce the weight where I could feel a little bit better because they were stationary. I wasn't going to have to chase them around.

> If I could reduce the weight a little bit more, I had a way better chance of them actually getting that bait further in their mouth because they're just barely biting it.

> "When they bite it, there's just so much less resistance right there that a lot of times they'll accidentally get it in their mouth. A lot of fish come up and peck at stuff out of curiosity because they don't have any hands to inspect it."

He was using 15-lb Bass Pro 100% XPS Fluoro and a 14' long pole the whole tourney.

Crappie cranks got an upgrade! 👀

Mentioned this deal last week in the Q&A with Crappie Connection Brad Chappell. Brad is a 20+ year guide and said he's always used the Bandit 300s for his trolling crank, and said that the new 'mo' glo outlaw special' color (below) is now his fave color.

Here's a better look at the new colors:

Something that doesn't get enough attention on those Bandits are the hooks. Those things are 🔥, and I feel the red just gives crappie a bullseye on that bait when it comes burnin' past them.

In my high school bass tournament days, we used the Bandit 300s all the time and I never had to change the stock hooks on them. Believe they are the Mustad Triple Grips or something similar. They're sticky, and that EWG bend definitely helps keep those paper-mouths on!

Just out and a limited run so get 'em while you can!

Find brushpiles efficiently with 1 setting

Or really anything for that matter – stumps, pods of fish, grasslines. That setting is the side imaging range on the newer Humminbird units: XPLORE, Solix and Apex. It helps you side scan waaay more efficiently.

Here's more on it from Sam Sobi in this Humminbird post:

> "I'm doing a little side imaging right now – I'm just trying to hit this tiny little point next to this flat, and I want to know exactly where my side imaging is hitting. I have a general idea, but I don't know exactly. 

> "On the XPLORE unit, go to the little burger button [the 3 lines in the top right corner], go down to the settings, go to vessel overlays and this is the money tool – side imaging range [check the box]." 

What it does is it throws out 2 lines on either side of the boat icon on the map that go out to whatever range you set it at. Ideally you set it to whatever your SI range is:

> "Now I have a really good idea that if I just do one pass over a spot, I am hitting the whole thing. If I bounce out and I want to hit a little hump, I know I can hit it from the side and still get the whole point – you need to utilize it."

Pretty neat deal. That way if you're scanning flats or points or whatever you're not going over the same stuff – just gives you a real good reference for how much water you're actually covering.

Definitely watch the video here if you're a visual learner like me.

Wish they had this a long time ago! 😅 Gas is expensive – this could save you plenty if you're a scannin' man! ⛽️

Love that XPLORE 12 btw. Besides the settings and touchscreen upgrades from the Helix, one of the biggest things is the screen is way brighter and more vibrant. I can see everything way better in sunlight, and it puts less strain on my eyes since contour lines and stuff on 2D/DI/SI just seem to "pop out" more. 💪

Finding big crappie = hunting big deer?

Sounds kinda crazy buuuut...

Yeah! And that must've been what Kody Heinze of the YouTube channel Dangle Nation was thinking when he was talkin' with the Cast & Blast Podcast guys in this clip. Here's a little 🧃 from that convo:

> "For crappie, I want to look for more habitat [ie timber, brushpiles...]. 

> "[Bigger crappie] like to sit low – crappie are like [buck] deer. They'll push the fawns out first, kind of hang back, look around like, What's going on here?

> "Instead of envisioning a woodline in a field, stand it upright [like a brushpile]. You got your little fish, usually on the outside of any type of topography, brushpile, any structure like that."

Pardon my rudimentary illustration from Google Earth, but just wanted to show kinda what he's talking about with the "envisioning a wood line in a field upright" deal.

> "Your bigger fish are going to be down in that [brushpile], down on that structure, down in the mud.

> "I have seen it – I did a video where the big fish, even with LiveScope, you can't see them on screen. They're physically in the grass or in the mud [or the brushpile]."

Check out that full clip here.

I can definitely attest to that from what I've seen – mostly when there's a ton of crappie in one brushpile or 1 piece of structure. Now here in TX you'll find brushpiles that have 100+ fish on 'em. Throw that jig over 'em and then the first cast, the biggest fish will shoot out of somewhere you couldn't see and smoke it!

Is this the best way to store hand-ties?

A fishing guide bud of mine showed me this box that he got from Charlie Geuin. Charlie makes the jigs in the pic and sells 'em in bulk with the box.

I thought the box was pretty sick, especially if you don't want those pretty hand-ties to rust up and go from 'electric chicken' to 'electric brown'. 😂

That box is the Buzbe Colony 8T – comes with those slotted foam inserts, so good for really any jighead. Buzbe makes some larger boxes that also come with those same slotted foam inserts. Cool little deal is those little holes in the foam perfectly fit the line ties.

Anyways, pretty cool setup and you can check out Charlie here on Facebook where he runs his jig tying biz.

Check out the Colony 8T boxes here on Tackle Warehouse!

1. BoneHead Tackle launched a 🔥 new color

'Cajun cricket' – orange top/ chartreuse belly. Pretty sweet color that ought to be good right now with all of the junebugs and bug hatches going down! 🪲

2. Have you fished with all-black baits?

That's the Z-Man LarvaZ. Even in clear water it's be a slept on color – lot's of bug larvae and tadpoles that are dark brown or straight black in the water right now!

3. BaitFuel NanoSnak and NanoBug are on sale...

...on Tackle Warehouse. Check 'em out here.

4. ID: Crappie bite is hot on Lake Fork Trophy Lures

Doesn't say where they are but it does say the crappie fishing is off the chain this year:

> I was using a Lake Fork Trophy Lures clear or white 2.25" plastics and doing good, but Orin used a pink jig...and was getting a hit nearly every cast.

> Usually I’ll cast out, let the jig almost hit bottom and then semi-slowly lift the tip of my rod and slowly reel up the slack, and repeat. This time though I retrieved at a slow/medium speed which upped my strikes.

5. Where AR crappie bite is going down 👇

> Lake Overcup: Crappie are getting caught in 8-10' but mostly at night. There’s been a crazy shad spawn going on, which has made fish tougher to catch with plenty of food around.

> Arkansas River: Crappie have been active around wood. A black/chart jig has been the best bet.

> Bull Shoals: Crappie are still on brush and structure in creek arms in that 15-20' range. Quality has been mixed and both the jig and minnow.

> Beaver Lake: Crappie are starting to get on the summer crankbait deal. Lucas Cranks and Bandits have been working trolled about 70' back at roughly 2 mph.

> DeGray: Crappie are 14-18' deep on brushpiles near deeper water channels. Smaller minnows and dialing in the exact depth have been key, and the better structure is sitting just above the thermocline.

> Lake Ouachita: Crappie are also 14-18' deep on brushpiles near deeper water channels.

6. OH: A couple lakes are pumping out crappie right now

> Deer Creek: Strong crappie fishing around submerged brush and trees. Trolling small crankbaits is another way to cover water and find ’em.

> Buckeye: Consistent crappie fishing around submerged woody cover, including the stuff around Cranberry Bog.

7. The Minn Kota Summer Sale was extended! 

The Minn Kota Summer Kickoff Sale will end THIS Friday, Jun 26. Save up to $300 on Terrova, Ultrex, Edge and Endura trolling motors. Check the sale prices at Tackle Warehouse.

Also the Humminbird XPLORE sale was extended to Jun 26 as well.

8. How 'bout the 🧃-y lookin Eurotackle Eurotube

That pink color looks pretty sweet with a little orange thrown in!

9. Vexilar has a new live sonar unit designed for ice 👀

First look at the new Vexilar Vision X10. A bunch more deets on it at Target Walleye.

10. Learn about some big bait companies

Tackle Talk pod talks with some higher-ups at the big "holding companies" that own multiple fishing brands. A decent amout of disinfo out there about these big companies, so if you're interested in what's really up and who the people there are, give 'em an ear.

11. American Baitworks is looking for a TikTok specialist

NetBait, BaitFuel, Snag Proof, etc.

LA angler Kenny Dyess: Pay attention to your boat's shadow...

...especially in the summer when the fish are ultra-finicky. Here's more from a Louisiana Sportsman post:

> "I see lots of fishermen who don't understand how important proper boat positioning is when dealing with tough summertime crappie.

> "One day while fishing, I began to notice fish on the left side of my boat were running much more than fish on the right side. When I started turning my boat and making sure that shadow was being thrown away from the fish, I began catching more fish."

"Ever wondered what would happen if you forgot to raise your tongue jack?"

- That's JT Babin answering a question I've been wondering for quite some time now.... Apparently it just means you won’t need wheel chocks anymore lol:

Tell me you have your Humminbird Apex 16 dialed for dock-shooting without telling me you have your Apex dialed for dock shooting...😎

📸: MO pro angler Terry Blankenship Fishing

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH