catching crappie

crappie, Pomoxis sp., is a plentiful sunfish here in the southeast. they will bite year round although most fisherman go after them in the spring when the dogwoods bloom. as a rule of thumb, most people use a long "crappie pole" baited with small minnows on a #1 gold hook. crappie are predators who prefer small minnows although i have caught some with spiders, dragon fly nymphs, or even snails in their stomachs. this year i have adopted a new method. i started tying flies last year and tried to tie a clouser minnow. i thought, fly rod, clouser equals crappie. was this possible? well, i've got to tell ya'll it worked. yesterday, about 6pm, the water was popping with fish. i tried the clouser and it managed to find 30 crappie (limit). my used clouser will have to be retired. he's losing a lot of hair.

jack

Where you fishin in Bama, Jack? Or are you keepin secrets?

hey, elhead,
i'm down here in the middle part. you know what they say, "when the dogwoods bloom..........
whatcha catching up north (which is to say north alabama)?
jack

That's awesome, Jack!
What size hook, hair color, and what did you use for the weight/eyes?

Ain't catchin much up here on the fly yet. White and yellow bass should be runnin pretty soon though. Got to get over some of this rain and warm the water a little too.
Souds like you're doin good. David

hey, fishndave,

i'm not a expert yet on this tying stuff but i'll try to tell you what i used on my first clousers. i started with a #1 eagle claw aberdeen 202a-1. then mounted a mini dumbbell eye. laid down some white bucktail over the eye. chartreuse bucktail on the other side.
the last touch was a swabing of wetnwild fingernail polish #460d which kinda looks like liquid glitter. hope this helps.

jack

It definitely helps...Thanks Jack!