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Kiss for Crappies published April, 2006 Wisconsin Outdoor News
I can bet there are a few anglers that have Kissed for crappies. I have learned over the years from some good friends and my Grandpa how to properly kiss for crappies. Now that I have your attention and after reading the title you are probably wondering what in the crappie is this about…It’s actually quite simple, literally! No, there are no lips involved! What I mean by Kiss in this. K.- keeping, I.- it, S.- simple, S.- strategies. Keeping It Simple Strategies for Crappies. Back in the good ole’ days
when there were no boats and the fishing rods were made of bamboo,
fisherman would flock to the shorelines in the early spring shortly
after ice out to target spawning crappies along patches of bulrushes,
downed trees along shorelines and on the edges of cattails. There were
no fancy electronics, no high dollar fishing rods and reels or any
60,000 dollar bass boats to worry about. The equipment used consisted
of a good pair of waders, a long bamboo cane pole, about 20 feet of
fishing line, a hook Decades later, the only things that have changed are the materials used to make the gear. The bamboo has been replaced with high modular, lightweight, graphite. Neoprene waders have replaced the cold single layer rubber waders, and the technology in fishing line has drastically improved with all of today’s super lines. The setup I prefer is a 16 or 20 foot telescopic graphite rod with 20 feet of Power Pro 10 lb test 2 lb diameter fishing line, a number 4 Tru-Turn Blood Red hook, a Thill 2 ¼ inch center slider slip float and 2 #4 sinkers about 8 inches above the hook with a small fathead minnow hooked through both eyes. The entire set up may cost around 20 dollars but will put far more fish in hand than a 200 dollar rod and reel combo The areas that crappies seem to like best are moderately shallow bays with emergent vertical structure. The types of structure that I am referring to are bulrushes, cattails, downed trees, dock posts or stumps. The structure does three things. 1. Provides spawning habitat. 2. Provides cover from predator fish. 3. Provides Warmer water due to the radiant heat being transferred down through the emergent structure. Combing all three of these elements is very important to locating and catching these fish. The rod is in hand, the destination is in sight
and now the stealth approach can commence. Wading in the water is a
very quiet approach to the schooled fish amongst the area you are
targeting. Keeping the area quite and still will only aid into the
success of the adventure. While wading up to the spot make sure not to
disturb the area any more than you need to. Why
I can guarantee you people may look at you a little funny while fishing with these long rods. I can also guarantee you that you will catch more fish with them. I no longer fish with spinning rods while fishing crappies along posts or in the cover. The vertical drop and go is a deadly tactic that triggers these fish to bite. As you begin to understand how effective this technique is, start trying it in rivers along dock posts or in trees that are lying on the sides of the banks while in a boat. Not only will you begin to use this for panfish, but it becomes a great weapon for walleyes as well. You can pucker up to your better half but it probably be a good idea to keep the kissing for fish under your hat! Good Ice'n Mr.Bluegill
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, a bobber, a couple of sinkers and some live bait.
do I use such a long
pole? Some guys still like to use spinning rods and cast their lines
into the weeds. There are a couple of problems I have with that
technique. First of all with a 20
foot rod I can vertically set my bait
right next to a weed or set it right inside a pocket with no noise and
no worries of casting into the weeds. The precision and control I have
with a dipping rod will out perform any spinning rod being casted into a
spot. Also, when a fish is hooked on a spinning rod, it has to be
reeled in through the weeds disturbing the area, spooking anything that
is close by. With a dipping rod, I can simply lift the fish straight up
and into my hand in only a few seconds keeping the area free from any
disturbance. This is a very quick way of fishing. My choice of line
directly reflects on the type of structure I am fishing in. About 90
percent of the time while fishing in bulrushes, cattails, or wood I use
a super braided line to reduce the chance of breaking off. Not only
that, but the new lines have very little stretch allowing for a positive
hookset as soon as that float starts to sink below the surface. While
fishing near dock posts it is important to drop the line parallel to the
post and as close to the post as possible. I have seen crappies sit
right on the poles picking off bugs and such that have grown into the
algae. If the bait was not within 6 inches of the post the fish would
not move a muscle to go after it. If I picked it up and re-dropped it
right along side the pole, it did not take but a second and the attacked
the minnow. Dropping the bait to give the falling minnow effect cannot
be done enough. I like to drop, pick up, drop, pick up about every 30
seconds or so. If a fish does not grab it within 15-20 seconds, pick it
up. Crappies either bite or they don’t. They are not like bluegill who
will peck at a bait for 5 minutes before finally deciding to take it.