Fall is finally here! After a long and brutally hot Summer of more than 100 degree days, it is nice to get out on the water and do some Fall Crappie fishing. If you can find a school of Crappie this time of year, the action will be fast and furious. And you won’t have to suffer a heatstroke to fill your stringer.
Many people put their rods and reels up and winterize the boat at the start of football season. But they are missing one of the best, and most comfortable, times of the year to fish.
Once September rolls around, the days start getting shorter, and the nights a little longer. This has the effect of lowering the water temperatures a bit on area lakes. Once the water cools a bit from the Summer heat, oxygen levels in the water increase, and fish become more active. This is especially true when the lake “turns over”.
Fall Crappie Patterns
But finding the Crappie in the early fall can be a challenge. The Crappie will often follow the threadfin shad and small minnows up the creek arms during this time. Just like any other time of year though, your best bet is to find structure that is near a drop.
Fishing under and around boat docks can be very productive this time of year. You can either drop a jig by a supporting pole, shoot a jig or other artificial lure under the dock, or just cast a minnow up under the dock.
As the day progresses, the shad and minnows will not be as shallow, and you may have to fish a little deeper. Because the oxygen levels have returned, the Crappie could be at any depth.
One of the best ways to find the Crappie if they have move off the near shore cover is spider-rigging. Basically, set different lines out at different depths and troll VERY slowly. If you have electronics, watch for a ball of baitfish. If you see the baitfish, usually the Crappie aren’t far behind.
Best Bait for Fall Crappie Fishing
Since Crappie are primarily chasing the minnows up the creeks this time of year, then obviously minnows are a good choice. You can set out a couple of poles with a slip bobber set at different depths to help you find the fish.
Jigging for Fall Crappie
Many Crappie fishermen prefer to use jigs. Crappie can be finicky on what they want from day to day during the Fall, so be open to changing up your presentation as needed.
Sometimes the Crappie will be biting more on reaction, and you may want to use a heavier jig, say 1/8 to 1/4 oz, that falls quicker. Other days, you may want to drop a lighter jig like a 1/32 to 1/16 oz. so that it stays in the strike zone longer.
Pay attention to water clarity. Usually the water is more clear in the fall because there is not as much run-off rainfall filling the lakes. White, chartreuse & yellow are good colors when fishing under 12 feet. If you go a little deeper, try blue.
I personally like the jigs with the little spinner blades like Roadrunners. I believe the flash of the blade helps attract, as well as slow down the fall of the bait when using lighter lures.
Another technique which many fishermen use is to hook a minnow on the jig. This is the best of both worlds. Hook the minnow through the lips so the minnow sits out and in line with the bait. If you are fishing with a tube style jig, you may want to remove a couple pieces of the tail section so that the minnow sits naturally.
Night Crappie Fishing
Fall is a great time of the year to Crappie fish at night. Most fish feed most aggressively in the hours just before daylight and just after. A light over the boat will attract the smaller bait fish, which in turn will attract the larger Crappie that we are after.
Minnows are my bait of choice when fishing at night, but if you would like to try jigging, then use a black or dark blue jig. The dark silhouette looks natural, and stands out against lighted water.
Just Go Fishing
Another benefit of fishing in the Fall is that you won’t have to compete with all the jet skis and water-skiers for the water.
If you’ve never really fished in the Fall, then get out there and put these Fall Crappie fishing techniques to work for you. You may find this to be your favorite time of the year to go Crappie fishing.
You ever get tired of looking for good underwater structure to fish? Why not build your own Crappie condo structure?
You may be asking “what in the world is a Crappie condo?” Well, it is basically an assortment of pvc plumbing pipes that are put together in such a way as to provide an artificial structure that fish will flock to. Many fisherman will employ many different elaborate designs, but the following is just a basic “how to” so that you can get back to fishing.
Building a Crappie condo is pretty easy. Get a bunch of pvc pipes and place them in a bucket in a random manner. But before you do, be sure to sand the pipes so that the algae will be able to collect and grow on them underneath the water.
Get a 5 gallon bucket. Now pour the Quickcrete mixed with water in so that the bucket becomes a concrete block so to speak. Be sure to leave the handle up so you can lower the bucket underwater without it tipping over.
When you are done, find a spot in 10 – 15 ft of water to drop your Crappie condo in. If you made more than 1 Crappie condo, try to place them about 8-10 feet apart so you can build a nice big structure.
Here is a very good video summarizing how you could make your own Crappie condo:
Be sure to mark your spot via GPS or with some sort of landmark so that you can find it later.
If you are looking for other ideas on how to build your Crappie condo, here is another video that you can glean some more ideas from:
That should give you enough ideas on how to build a Crappie condo structure. You don’t have to break the bank to do this. Often you will have the stuff you need laying around the house or in the garage.
Sink a Crappie condo today, and catch more fish for years to come.
A new product is out specifically designed to make jig fishing much easier. The Lindy X-Change jig system helps you change jig head color or weight, without having to cut and re-tie your line.
I got a chance to go fishing Saturday night for a few hours. I love Crappie fishing at night this time of year because there is virtually no boat traffic, and you’re not sweating to death because of the heat. In a month or so, it will start to warm up a little more down here in Texas, and even the nights will be a bit warm then.
If you are an inexperienced Crappie fisherman, then sometimes you will miss the bite. Such was the case Saturday night.
The way they were biting was that they would bump the bait, (we were using live minnows fished under lights), and then a couple of minutes later, they would start pushing the line sideways. I should also mention that we were tight-line fishing.
Experienced Crappie fisherman know that this is a Crappie, and set the hook. But if you don’t know what is happening, the fish will take your bait in nothing flat. Once that line is going to the side, lift up and reel, and you’ll have your fish.
My last trip out they were biting totally different. They would bump the line, and then there would be a bunch of slack. When you see this slack, the Crappie has the bait in his mouth and is pushing it up. Firmly jerk your rod and reel up, and you’ll have him hooked.
Be careful though, because when they are biting like this, they don’t always give you the “courtesy” bump first. You’ll just look and all of a sudden have a bunch of slack. If you are too late, he’ll have his dinner, and you will have none.
Crappie will on occasion just hit the bait, but more often than not, they will use one of the biting methods discussed to obtain their meal.
If you are using a cork, the principle is the same. If you see your cork heading sideways, jerk back in the opposite direction and start reeling. Make sure that whenever you are Crappie fishing, that you do not set the hook too hard, because it will rip out of their mouths. Many fisherman have nicknamed Crappie “papermouths” for this reason.
It can take a little practice to get the feel for how Crappie bite, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to catch all you want.
The spawn is on at many lakes across the southern US. The water temperatures have risen and if you can catch the conditions just right, you should be able to land a few slabs.
The #1 bait for catching Spring Crappie is without a doubt a live minnow. It has been estimated that over 50% of all Crappie are caught on live minnows. I am not totally sure of the accuracy of that quote, but I happen to believe it. The problem is that sometimes the local bait shops will run out of minnows if the fish are really biting.
Other effective live baits you can use are crickets and
Let's face it. None of us likes to pay taxes. It seems that government agencies have about a million different ways to reach into our wallets.
But there is a way you can get some of those tax dollars back.....at least on your boating outings. Have you heard about the road tax refund for marine vessels?
The calender has turned to February, and if you're itching to go fishing, then your best bet is to catch the White Bass Run. White Bass will start their annual spawn run in the South during February.
After about an hour of catching no fish, I realized that we should have moved when the wind shifted directions. I took a look toward the bend about 200 yards down river, and noticed a bunch of bait-fish jumping around.
If you are going to be a successful Crappie fisherman in the Summer, particularly in Southern climates, you need to understand the thermocline and how it works.
Crappie Night fishing lights come in many different forms and colors. A submersible fishing light puts really lights up the underwater area drawing plankton, minnows, and eventually the big fish.
