Most on one pile was 7 fish. Jigs worked and minnows worked, but, minnows worked a little bit better. Jigs worked ok, and definitely landed some quality and numbers of fish, but again –  the minnows were landing 5:1. We caught the White Crappie as deep as 17 ft and as shallow as 6 ft. Most of the Black Crappie were 4-8 foot deep. So pretty much the fish are not really on a  pattern at all.  The only thing you have to do, is “find that structure”. If you find structure, try to get the marker upwind of the target so you can have your nose of the boat in the wind and you wont run the marker over ( or spook the fish). After you marke the target, send down a minnow. I like to rig a minnow Carolina rigged, but no bead.  The bead results in fake strikes. Blue gill and other small fish think its a worm or beetle of some sorts, and they will peck at it. The pecking will result in you setting the hook with nothing even there. So I start with a 10 ft Crappie Max rod ( Bass Pro Shop has them) and a matching reel of your choice. Make it a light one if possible. Spool it with 8 lb fluorocarbon. Then, thread a 1/8th ounce egg weight on the line. After the weight if freely moving up and down the line, tie on a 2 way swivel, match the size to the line. Don’t get anything huge. Black swivels are my  top choice. Shinny stuff attracts blue gills and false strikes and you will get frustrated. After the swivel is on, I use 6 lb Fluorocarbon for the leader. Tie on about 6 inches of leader to the swivel. Get a size #$ or #6 Eagle Claw hook and tie that to the end of the line. By the time you cut the excess line tags off, you should have 4 inches of 6 lb leader line. That’s what I like! Then the minnow does not have to much room to tangle you up on. A long 6-10 inch leader would snag you up in seconds. This is Brush pile we are talking about here. Sometimes I will bridge fish and use 6-10 inches of leader due to no snags and more action for the minnow to freak out when a fish comes near it. I like to hook the minnow through the bottom “V” or the jaw, and push it through a nostril. They stay alive longer this way. If you hook them through the guts or spine, think about it? They are going to die very soon if you don’t spin them to death as you reel them in or drift them like that. The minnow’s gills are only suppose to have water pass through one way, not the other. And, the way I hook them, it doesn’t “pin” their mouths shut, they can still breath for over an hour if nothing eats them first.

You should have starting from the bottom of the set up:

#4 or #6 hook

4 inches of 6 lb leader

swivel

8 lb fluorocarbon green if you can find it.

Today the Crappie were inside the brush. Not many at all, were on the outsides

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Now this is my opinion on how I like to do it. Some will say to get weights and send them down to retrieve their jigs. Well you just spooked dinner smarty. Or at least some of them. There are many many other ways. This just works for me. If you have any questions, please ask right here, Ill answer them all.

If you have any requests on a topic you would like to know about, or a video you would like me to make: Please Let Me Know.

Carey Thorn
Lake Lavon Crappie Guide – Plus Other Lakes
Bass Pro Shop – Pro Staff Member

http://TexasOklahomaFishingGuide.com/
469-528-0210