Crappie

This is some of my favorite fishing of the year! Fishing is usually fast paced, it's pretty easy fishing, and some really nice fish can be caught. I typically fish in the spring (March-May) and again in the fall (September-November) for Crappies. The fish are usually up shallow and much easier to get to than other times of the year. I like two very different styles when fishing for Crappies. While fishing slip floats and jigs I will focus my fishing efforts in and around fallen and submerged timber. The waters I fish this way are typically pretty stained with a foot or less visibility. The other is to fly fish weed lines and wood cover with small minnow imitation flies. I usually fly fish small, clear lakes for Crappies.

Slip Float Set-Up

I am using a 6' medium-light power, fast action rod and a small 1000 series spinning reel. You want to have a rod with some backbone for pulling large crappies out of heavy cover. Do not try this with an ultra-light rod unless your want your line and your heart broken by a big crappie. I use 8 pound monofilament or heavier for my main line.  Do not use braided line if you can feel the braid. This will prevent the slip bobber from slipping properly.

I use a slip-float set-up that I've developed over years of fishing crappies. I'll describe each part of the rig from right to left. Starting at the far right is a bobber stop (A). This is how you set the depth that you are going to be fishing. Typical stops will slide up and down your line so you can easily control and adjust depth while on the water. The next piece is a small bead (B) to help the bobber and stop work together without jamming. The next piece is a premium slip float (C). A small piece of advice about anything for fishing: Don't buy the cheapest equipment you can get. A good slip float will last a long time and work well during it's whole life span. Next is another bead (D), to keep the bobber and swivel apart. Next up is a small snap swivel (E). I tie my main line to the swivel using a Palomar knot. The swivel allows you to change leaders quickly. You can change for a couple of reasons: 1) if you break your leader off  2) if your leader gets frayed or otherwise damaged 3)if you want to change jig colors. Important to note is that you want your main line to have a breaking strength at least a few pounds higher than the break strength of your leader. The leader itself is made up of a loop, a single split shot, a weighted tube jig insert, and the tube jig itself.

I tie these leaders using 6 pound abrasion resistant monofilament line. I start off by tying a double surgeons knot (A) to make the loop that attaches to the snap swivel. I pinch on a small split shot (B) right under the loop. On the other end I tie on a small lead weighted tube jig insert (C) using a Palomar knot. You can then apply any color of plastic tube jig that you'd like. The leaders I tie are typical about 8 inches in overall length.