I have never really just “crappie fished” before so I am pretty ignorant about how to catch them. I know they like jigs, right? Never been much of a jig user but enlighten me. I have caught them ‘by mistake’ with roostertails before.
I will be using a spinning reel and/ or a fly rod and can do this on the shore or off bass boat on a lake or off a long wooden walkway across a large pond. The latter is where I will most likely crappie fish and there seems to be tons of them in there. The water is pretty shallow(1-3 ft) and very stained.
What fly patterns work well?
Here you go. Lots of articles to read but Rick and Joe cover it (the “where to find them”, “what to use”, and “how to”) pretty good. I personally prefer three flies most of the time but if a better fly or flies comes along (that I try out) that works here where I live for me I may go with that. A #10 Improved McGinty or Improved Black Gnat wet fly for shallow and suspended Specks and the #8 Crappie Candy fly in the standard fluorescent green (early season) and in yellow chartreuse (later season) for when the Specks are deeper. I may switch to a slow full sink line when they are really deep (or further down than my nine foot leader will take the fly) with the Crappie Candy fly. These flies have worked well for me in clear and also stained water. Your results may or may not be the same as mine for what I use and may be dependent on your geographical location. Or what you are most confident in using after catching some. One final suggestion is that Specks don’t like noise, so it would be best to approach them as quietly as possible without spooking them. Best of luck.
First. You have to find them. Start by researching spring crappie behavior and watch the local fishing reports. If you are going to find them by fishing, cover the water. Fish the middle depths and concentrate on brush piles and other underwater structure. Finally, Search FAOL for “Crappie Candy”.
Here in the north I fish for them in the spring, usually in the month of May. I look for them in the shallows and find a fly rod to be a very effective for catching them. I will wade the shoreline or get in a float tube and cover the perimeter of a small pond, casting towards shore until I find a bunch. Black/Olive Wooly Bugger, McGinty wet fly, and Tellico nymph are three patterns I’ve had a lot of success with.
Many times a crappie doesn’t “hit” a fly or lure like a bass or bream will. The fly often will just stop during your retrieve. The feeling you have is that you have hung up in some weeds. Slowly lift your rod to set the hook, don’t jerk. They’re not called “Paper Mouths” for no reason.
Joe
Years ago my first crappie was caught on, of all things, a wooly bugger. Red zonker tail, with peacock herl body with a green grizzly hackle palmered in. And under body wire wrap. I was actually targeting early season bluegill but had changed my retrieve from a hand twist to a slow, steady strip. Did extremely well and caught more than my bait/bobber fishing buddy. After that day I thought a Clouser-style fly would be best. There are many great flies, including the Clouser, Wooly Bugger, Crappie Candy, et.al. My favorite, though, is a Hare n’ Copper (a New Zealand trout nymph) tied on a size 10 hook. I’ve since lost count of the number of crappies I’ve caught, but the majority have been on this little nymph. I can’t tell you why. Only that there remains a beautiful mystery about fishing. JGW
gadabout: that is pretty funny because I tried wooley buggers and a Telico yesterday. I could see them roll and hit something near or on the surface kinda like a trout does.
“paper mouths”(??)
I’m not saying it isn’t true because I’ve caught a whole 2 crappie in my life but the 2 I caught had pretty stout lips.
One hit a full 1/2 ounce roostertail hard enough for me to think it was a bass and I fought it like a bass until I saw it was a crappie. It’s mouth/lips were every bit as stout as a bass…or seemed so. Maybe the southern version is different?
Now someone help me out here. About 30 years ago I caught a fish in a lake north of North Bay (Canada) that was shaped kinda like a crappie/speck but it was pure white and it DID have paper lips(actually we lost it off the stringer because the lips ripped out. Any idea what that was??
The upper and lower lips of the crappie are fairly stout. It is the sides of their mouth when they have it open that gives them the name of papermouth.
The crappie that I hook in the floor or roof oftheir mouth I land. Many of those that I hook in the side of the mouth are on for about 15 seconds and then are gone. You will see a flash of silver, have the hit and then nothing. A crappie rolled onthe fly and you hooked it in the thin meembrane which tears very easily.
I think fishing slow is key. Just cast to the spot, let the fly sink a bit, then draw it slowly back to you with no jerks. They will also hit on the surface at times. The first crappie I ever caught took a large McNally Frog popper that I was fishing for bass.
I have caught many crapie fly fishing using a fly which is tied with half grizzly hackle and half brown hackle. If you tie you might want to try out this recipe! Hope this helps!
Hook: Wet or nymph
Thread: Red
Body: Peacock Herl
Back half: Grizzly
Top half: Brown or furnace
Weight: Optional
Tail: Experiment! I have found a red floss tag works well!
BBW, add ants such the traditional black ant pattern, to your list and fish either on the surface or below. You can also go with tiny jigs, down to 1/128 oz. on a fly rod. Look in the warm water archives for Rick’s favorites and go from there.
To add to what Phil (BassYakker) and Joe said, Specks tend to bite “light” subsurface so sometimes I will feel and/or see a light “tick” or “tug” of the line on the retrieve or on the fly drop also. That slow full sink line is working great for me when the Specks are really deep by the way, Phil :D. Nice Speck you got there on the yak :).
One rule of thumb you can follow for catching crappie is don’t fish right on bottom. Crappie usually suspend wherever they are found and always, or at least 99 percent of the time attack their prey from below. Look at the pictures of how their eyes are set in their head. They are generally always looking up and come in under schools of baitfish to attack. Because they suspend a lot in big bodies of water they can be hard to find without a depth finder, but that tip will save you a lot of wasted time fishing a method that seldom works.
In smaller bodies of water they are often found in real thick cover like shoreline brush, fallen trees and other rip-rap.
My biggest crappie was caught in 45 feet of water at the 25 foot depth.
Spawning time you can clean up on crappies cuz they use the same spawning areas in a lake year after year, generally in 5 to 10 feet of water near shore.
My biggest one ever was just a hair short of 17 inches and a hair short of 3 pounds. He’s on my wall and is a great reminder of all the fun times I’ve had with this great panfish. Next to yellow perch I rank the crappie the best eating of the panfish.
My favorite fly: Light Cahill wet fly
Favrite bait: inch long (no less) shiner
FAvorite lure: 1/32 oz. chartreuse Mr. Twister
Best tip I ever had about crappies was from and old-timer who simply said “Go where they are, and give em what they want.” Yeah right!
BBW,
I regularly fish Weiss Lake in NE Alabama, “The crappie capital of the world” (see http://www.crappieusa.com/news/2007_Weiss.cfm for more info.) I don’t know exactly where you are in West Tennessee, but Pickwick has an ecology similar to Weiss. I have had some great times fly fishing Pickwick.
On both lakes, I have two fallback flies:
First, a smallish (size 12-14) silver-bead headed bugger with a chartreuse chenille body and an olive green tail, hackle, and thread.
Second, a fly a friend taught me that slays 'em. It really doesn’t have a name, but it’s basically a Crappie Candy, sans deer hair, with rubber legs.
As other posters have stated, getting the fell of biting crappie takes some getting used to, but practicing on small ponds with plenty of small crappie is an excellent way for you to hone your skills.
Lots of articles to read but Rick and Joe cover it (the “where to find them”, “what to use”, and “how to”) pretty good. I personally prefer three flies most of the time but if a better fly or flies comes along (that I try out) that works here where I live for me I may go with that. A 
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