View this email in your browser

What's up y'all! Hope you've been having a good week and got out on the water last weekend! I finally got out on the water for the first time in a few weeks and got to do some dock-shooting on Bob Sandlin in East TX!

Stay up to date on all things Target Crappie and some on-the-water vids here – Facebook and Instagram.

Fish trees for late spawners

Hopped on the phone with Wally "Mr. Crappie" Marshall to talk spring crappie. He told me he was catching fish on Ray Roberts, TX, that still had eggs – the fun bank-fishing part ain't over yet man! 😁

Despite him catching fish full of eggs, he's still looking off the bank for the bigger ones on that particular lake. Asked him why he's out chasing timber fish while they're spawning:

> "There ain’t no bushes in the water. You gotta fish some structure – laydowns, stuff underneath the water, that's holding fish. These fish have moved out and are actually spawning on that standing timber and laydowns.

> "Water temperature here today is 70. About May 15, maybe a little after, [spawning] will all be done.

> "I like to get on the trees that have a lot of limbs, provide a lot of shade, a lot of cover. Sometimes they’ll be on those slick trees [pole timber], but I pass up a lot of them.

> "On trees with all the limbs, you just have to get towards the base of that tree, or get to [the fish] that are sitting on the limbs."

Is there a way to predict where those bigger trees are that hold more crappie?

> "Channels, little ditches and stuff like that, roadbeds – that’s where you’ll see the bigger trees. You can see those roadbeds coming off the bank – just follow that line of trees out into the deeper water and you can be successful."

Why are bigger trees on roadbeds and ditches?

> "That’s just where they grow from being in a ditch or close to water all the time.

> "On creek banks, channels or ditches – that’s where a lot of your older trees [grow].

> "If you don’t have forward-facing sonar, you can use your side imaging. You can go down through there and find those stumps with side imaging or [MEGA] 360 just as well."

When they’re spawning on timber, do you target them any differently than you would if they were there but not spawning?

> "The clarity of the water determines how we go about getting them off the brush and stuff. I'm mostly pitching at them, but the water has been pretty stained, so you can sit on top of them and catch them.

> "[When you find them], you gotta [catch them] quick because they feel that pressure [of the boat]. 

> "[In this dirty water] I’m using the [Mr. Crappie] Crappie Thunder in 'monkey shine' or 'hotchicken.com' depending on the clarity of the water.

> "If I get crappie a little finicky, I have to break out that ol' [Mr. Crappie] Shoo-Shiner."

Follow-up Q: How far off these trees are you sitting?

> "Probably about 20'.

> "You can get vertical if the water’s murky enough. If it’s kind of clear, you want to stay back. 

> "One thing you don’t want to do is put the shadow of your boat on the fish – they’re gonna leave.

> "What I really like about what I do is I don’t put my MEGA Live 2 on my trolling motor. I’ve got it on a [Minn Kota] TargetLock. I don't sit behind the tree. If the wind’s blowing real hard like it is right now, I’ll get off to the side of it, lock it in, then pitch to the structure."

Wally also talked about how much he's enjoying his electronics setup right now – 3 Humminbird XPLOREs and MEGA Live 2. Asked him why he was loving the newer XPLOREs:

> "...[the XPLOREs] are all touchscreen and real easy to use. A lot of people are afraid of depthfinders, afraid to get one, think it’s too complicated. Humminbird has made it simple."

What make them easy to use?

> "I’m zooming in a lot better now. If you’re doing forward-facing [sonar], you can zoom out and zoom in real quick and see what you’re looking at.

> "I [also] like the clarity. The side imaging shows those fish on the bottom really well."

Are there any MEGA Live 2 settings you have dialed in for seeing those crappie on those trees?

> "I run it 20/20 [20 contrast, 20 sensitivity] on my XPLORE. It depends on what’s in the water and how stained the water is. You may have to fine-tune it when you get on the lake, but I run 20/20."

Wally's jig-pitching setup

> Mr. Crappie Crappie Thunder or 1/32-oz Shoo-Shiner, 1/16-oz Mr. Crappie Sausage Head jighead, splitshot, 8-lb Mr. Crappie High-Vis mono, 75-size Wally Marshall Signature Series Spin Reel, 9' Wally Marshall Signature Series Spinning Rod.

Are you digging crappie?

Ok, I know you dig crappie, but I'm talking about catching all those dang fish that tuck tail and head to the bottom!

Here's a cool deal from a Mississippi Sportsman post on "digging" crappie – how to catch 'em when they get spooked, slide down and go belly to the mud. Those are still catchable fish and are usually the biggest fillets!

MS pro Hayden Jeffries (L) and LA guide Nick DeWolf talking:

> Hayden: "I see fish on the bottom a lot, and I think it’s just that they're comfortable down there, especially the real big ones. It’s not always easy to catch them there. They are usually a little bit more difficult to catch than the suspended fish.

> "It’s difficult to see them, but you just have to focus on seeing the shape of a crappie in what you are looking at on the screen.

> "When you find them, they will bite pretty much the same thing that other fish you are catching bite. You don’t have to do anything fancy.

> "You do want to keep your bait above them and not let it go all the way to the bottom. They still feed up. Always keep the bait slightly above them, not on the bottom."

Nick on what to do with those bottom-dwellers:

> "I drop by every little stump-looking spot I see because you’ll find a lot of them start moving and take your bait. They are big crappie.

> "Sometimes I’ll even bounce a bigger bait on the bottom or on them to make them move. Then when they settle back down, they’ll bite."

“If there’s really good feeding habitat next to where they spawn, they’re really not gonna go far in the post-spawn.”

- Bobby Garland's Skylar St. Yves talkin’ spring crappie. Interesting!


We were talking about whether things are sliding into more of a post-spawn deal here in the South, and he said they are – but May can still be one of the best times to catch ‘em around the bank if they have a reason to stay there.

If you’ve got riprap, bridges leading into backwaters or plenty of stumps around, you can bet any crappie that aren’t still on the bank are probably somewhere close!

Insane tip: Using a BaitFuel Stick to take shine off a bait...

...and of course give it some scent – Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour rookie Jacob Walker does it:

Got this tip from Jay Kumar's BassBlaster – here's what he said but my crappie 2c on it after:

> In that IG vid he's talking about fishing for post-spawn fish around brush with a jerkbait on slick-calm days, but man that could work on a lotta deals!

I'm thinking...trolling! We're getting into the Bandit 300 season and giving those baits almost a matte look to take that plastic-y shine off of 'em would give crappie a different look!

Could also be a deal for taking that plastic-y look out of soft plastics to make 'em more subtle.

It's been a windy spring, but we're right around the corner from those slick-calm dog days!

Gitcha BaitFuel Stick here on the Tackle Warehouse.

And btw that new BaitFuel Fuse Gel sold out but is now back in stock.

OH record caught from the bank on the way to work!

By OH's Jesse Miller – congrats! That whopper is 4+ lbs and is the new state hybrid crappie record. He caught it bank-fishing on the Great Miami River near Middletown.

Here's a bit of the story from an Outdoor Life post:

> ...a lightweight rod with a baited minnow under a float, and then he started casting with a rod rigged for smallmouth.

> "I’d made a few casts and happened to look over at my other rod and saw the float go under. It was in a spot near the wall of an old river dam. I got to the rod...there was a heavy fish on it.

> "I almost lost it because where I was standing on shore was about 3' from the old dam wall, and the fish was hard to grab. I finally got it, and...thought it was a white bass because it was so big.

> "The mouth was huge and I knew then it was a crappie."

Jesse first had it weighed at 4.30 lbs on a certified scale, but then realized the record process needed a printed weight certificate and witness signatures. He kept the fish alive, got it re-weighed and the official weight came back 4.27.

From there, he had to get the fish checked by OH biologists because OH didn’t have a hybrid crappie record category yet. They verified it as a hybrid – 6 dorsal spines pointed to white crappie, but the pattern and body shape leaned hybrid.

That is a GIANT crappie! I'll take "best honey holes between the house and work" for 500, Alex! 😅

1. 4.10-lb MONSTER caught on Grenada

What a fish! Caught by IL's Barry Girten on a trip with Trent Goss of Grenada Lake Charters on Apr 24. They were on the south end of Grenada near Pine Woods Creek.

Trent saw it on forward-facing sonar sitting only about 18" under the surface in 6' of water. Barry dropped a live minnow on a #4 hook in front of it – with a 15' pole and 12-lb line – and the fish smoked it!

2. OH: Redbud bloom = crappie about to head shallow

> Right now, target 8-12' while dunking jigs suspended under a float and baited with colorful plastic tails or minnows.

3. AR: Best crappie bite is on...

> Lake Maumelle: Crappie are good along creek channels in 15-20'. Minnows and jigs are best.

> Lake Charles: Crappie continue to bite well on black/chartreuse or 'monkey milk' jigs, minnows and worms.

> Millwood Lake: Crappie have greatly improved over the last 2-3 weeks and are biting well, with fish running 2-2.5 lbs. They’re in 5-12', planted brush in 10-12' and still around cypress trees in 4-6'.

> DeGray Lake: Crappie are post-spawn, stacking up on brushpiles and hungry. Jigs and minnows are working 8-12' deep over brush in 15-25'.

> Lake Ouachita: Crappie are good on small minnow-colored jigs over brush in 10-20'. Another report says they’re post-spawn, stacked on brushpiles and hungry, with jigs and minnows working 8-12' deep over brush in 15-25'.

> Lake Catherine tailwater: Crappie action has been good from the bridge to the dam, with numbers of fish present and some being caught on jigs and minnows.

4. AR: Lake Atkins could be getting a full fishery reset

AGFC says Lake Atkins still has fair crappie numbers, but fewer are reaching 12"+ and annual mortality is around 82%.

A reset would draw the lake down for 1 summer, remove the fish population, knock back yellow bass, add habitat, and restock white and black crappies after refill.

5. NY: Chautauqua and Cassadaga crappie are on beds and biting

6. ID: CJ Strike and Owyhee are on fire

> It has been a boom year for crappie at C.J. Strike...Owyhee Reservoir (which is also loaded this year), Brownlee Reservoir and Crane Creek Reservoir. This time of year, the fish are likely transitioning to deeper water.

7. NE: Windmill SRA fish habitat and access got an upgrade

8. NE: Windmill SRA fish habitat and access got an upgrade

9. OnX Fish is on Android now

10. B’n’M has a new grab-and-go crappie combo

B'n'M made its new Crappie Combo for folks who want a ready-to-fish setup for brushpiles, docks or open water without piecing together a rod and reel. MSRP is $59.99 – catch it here on the B'n'M site.

Level your scanning 'ducer for the water, not the trailer

Quick and easy transducer adjustment from Dangle Nation on YouTube – it'll help you get the best possible image out of your 2D/DI/SI transducer, which might not be 100% level right now:

> "When installing a transducer, a lot of guys that do it at home they'll get the boat perfectly level, take a bubble level, and put it on that transducer and make that transducer earth level.

> "That is the wrong way to mount your transducer. Will it work? Absolutely. But mounting it level on the ground is not what you want to do.

> "What you want to do – put your boat in the water, engage it...to your idle speed. 

> "Take the level, if you're in a bass boat, put it on your center console in between your 2 seats. If you're in a center console boat, put it on your dashboard – somewhere that's normally flat. Engage your motor to the idle speed and record that measurement.

> "As you go, your boat is not driving like [level to the earth], your boat is driving [nose lifted]. That is the angle you need [for your 'ducer, compared to level to the earth].

> "[With] your boat back on the trailer, you're going to mount that transducer on that same offset."

That way, you're sending that beam out at a true parallel to the bottom of the lake and not missing out on any info. Go find those fish, man!

POV: You ate all the snacks on the way to the lake and now you're desperate...🤣

Here's a pic from a crazy Agape Angling clip on Instagram. Said he found this fish alive and floating!

Guess shad patterns aren't the only thing crappie key on! Maybe we ought to start throwing some micro bass jigs! (And maybe not that micro by the size of that crawfish! 🦞😅)

National Professional Anglers Assoc.

MN-FISH