If you have never fished for crappie before having a few simple tips and tricks can help you to be more successful at catching these tasty pan fish. Here are some tips that should make crappie fishing for beginners easier.
A Few Crappie Facts
Crappies are members of the sunfish family, but they are somewhat bigger than the more familiar bluegill. Full-grown crappies, often referred to as slabs usually run no more than about 16 inches long and normally don’t weight more than 5 pounds. Although most crappie fishermen catch somewhat smaller crappie.
There are basically 2 types of crappie known as black and white crappie.
Crappie prefers living in clear lakes with very little current and muddy bottoms with plenty of vegetation for shelter. During spawning season and early mornings, crappie can often be found near the shore. During the middle of the day, crappie moves to deeper water.
Tips For Catching Crappie
- Different fisherman will give you different tips for being successful at catching crappie and this can be quite confusing for someone who has little fishing experience. For that reason, the best tip we can give a beginner crappie fisherman is to find someone who is highly successful at catching crappie to be your mentor. Many fishermen like to share their knowledge and will go out of the way to help beginners get the hang of crappie fishing. These men and women can give you valuable information that you won’t be able to get anywhere else.
- Don’t Invest a lot of money into crappie fishing until you are sure you will enjoy it. Although long rods for crappie fishing will allow you to cast further, beginners to crappie fishing can use any rod they may have. You will want to spend a little money to get a braided line and thin hooks between 1-4 if you are planning on using minnows for bait.
- Pre-spawning is the best time for beginners to catch crappie since the crappie are often close to the shore. Some people say that men winter through early spring is the time of year, but keep in mind as you get the hang of crappie fishing and learn different fishing techniques crappie can be caught year-round.
- The best time of day for catching crappie is very early morning when the fish are still near shore or at dusk (this is also about the time they feed) Another good time is from midnight to 2 am when crappie tend to feed again.
- Before going crappie fishing read up on the rules and regulations for catching crappie and make sure you follow them. You may also want to do a bit of research to familiarize yourself with the various techniques used to catch crappie as well as what type of bait works best for each method.
Keep in mind that like anything new, you’ll likely need to practice a lot and improvement may come slowly. However, if you enjoy your time in the great out of doors and are willing to learn from those who are more experienced you’ll soon become a successful crappie fisherman yourself.
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