live bait

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Fishing with crappie minnows is the most accepted way of fishing for both black crappie and white crappie throughout the united states. You can take your children out for a fishing outing with just a simple fishing rig such a inexpensive cane pole with small bobber split shot sinker and a hook to catch crappie. Or you can become a skilled crappie angler and target large slab crappie. In both of these examples the use of live bait such as crappie minnows is an important part of crappie fishing. In our article today we will discuss crappie minnow rigging methods.

Crappie minnows as a live bait presentation can be fished in many ways such as under a bobber at a fixed depth, tight line with no weight, just a hook and a minnow, trolled tipped on a crappie jig, casted and retrieved tipped with crappie minnows on spinner baits to name just a few. There are so many ways to catch crappie I could not mention them all. You would think these great tasting table fair would get fished out but that is not true, because these fish populate and grow very quickly. My point is that crappies plain and simple love crappie minnows and it will bite on just about any live bait presentation you put in front of them if you use the right presentation at the right time.

There are some crappie fishing basics you need to understand even for the simplest of live bait fishing used to catch crappie.

#1 Hook selection for crappie fishing.
You want to select a light gauge wire hook with a long shank such as a gold Aberdeen hook. The hook size will depend on the size of the crappie minnows you are using for live bait. For small to medium crappie minnows the hook sizes range would be from a number 4 to a number 1 hook. If you are more experienced and you are going after the elusive slab crappie you will need to use large crappie minnows so your hook selection will increase in size to between a number 1/0 to 2/0 hook.

#2 How to hook crappie minnows.
Now that you have selected your hook size it is time to rig your crappie minnow. You are probably think this is so trivial but rigging a minnow correctly can make the difference between catching crappie or going home empty handed. You want to hook your crappie minnow live bait presentation so it looks as natural to the fishes environment as possible. The most common and excellent way to hook your crappie minnow is by pushing the hook up through the lower lip through the upper lip so the barb of the hook is pointing at you when you are finished. This method works great for fishing under a bobber or while you are drifting or trolling.

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crappie bait

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The crappie is one of the most popular game fish in North America. and parts of Canada and understanding some basic crappie bait fishing information may help you to catch more crappie. The crappie is called many things and go by names such as calico bass, speckled perch, speckled bass, white perch, pole crappie, strawberry bass, and papermouth throughout the United States.

The main reason pole crappie are so popular is their abundance. pole crappie are not one of the best fighting fish that are caught while fishing but they are very tasty. Another good reason is because the fishing rigs to catch crappie are reasonably inexpensive. In fact for about 20$ you could be ready to go crappie fishing. Even when you decide to get real serious about crappie fishing you can purchase a really good crappie bait fishing rig for under 200$. Actually the pole crappie species of fish is a excellent fish to target if you are just learning to fish. Once pole crappie are located they can be caught using a simple crappie fishing rig that has a bobber, split shot, a sinker, a hook and a crappie minnow as bait.

There are two types of strawberry bass species that you can target when you go bait fishing and they are the white strawberry bass and the black white perch. Both are found only in North America. Both white and black pole crappie are part of the sunfish family. Both white crappie and black white perch can be caught using the same bait fishing methods. And both white and black pole crappie can be found in the same water locations.

White white perch prefer stained or muddy waters that have soft substitutes. The black calico bass is a little bit more particular about the water they live in, and they prefer cool clearer water and they like to habitat close to aquatic vegetation with a firm bottom. Many crappie anglers who go bait fishing for crappie on a regular basis don’t care what species of they catch just so it’s a crappie.

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ARTICLE 112 Understanding the crappies feeding habits What Do Crappies Eat?

One of the most important key ingredients to developing a consistent crappie fishing pattern to find and catch crappie begins and ends with the golden question: What are the crappies eating? Determining what the crappie forage is and learning the habits of the crappies food chain means one thing catch crappie!

 The the crappie is a very sought after species of fish which goes by many different names through out the country such as calico bass, speckled bass, speckled perch, white perch, pole crappie, strawberry bass, and paper mouth. The strawberry bass has exceptional night vision and their eyes are the biggest of any other game fish when compared to their body size. This fact gives the crappie a distinct advantage over it’s crappie food such as zooplankton ,small shad,perch fry,shiners,crappie minnows,fathead minnows anywhere there is low light conditions.This is the main reason that strawberry bass turn on at dawn, and sunset and feed aggressively at night. If you have ever thought of going night fishing for crappie you would make a good choice because the   speckled bass is very active at night.

 The white perch is like many other preditors in the sense that they develop a close relationship with their prey. Once the conection is established where you find one you will find the other. Foe example if you notice that there is a new hatch of crappie minnows swimming near some weed growth you can bet there are some strawberry bass  close by feeding on them. You can use this connection to your advantage when you are selecting your crappie fishing baits. Determine what the forage is the strawberry bass crappie are feeding on at a certain location then select either your crappie artificial baits or crappie live baits to match as closely as possible. The more detail you include here the better your crappie catch will be. For example if the crappie are feeding on crappie minnows than an excellent crappie bait would be a crappie jig tipped with live crappie minnows or a artificial crappie jig and soft plastic that resembles a crappie minnow.

 The connection between the prey and the speckled bass normally begins when three conditions occur.  The number on condition that triggers the start of the connection is when there is a large population of a certain crappie forage food such as in our example crappie minnows. The number two condition  is the prey are vulnerable such as when they are moving in migration or spawning. or example at night where the crappie have a distinct advantage. The number three connection is when a certain forage exsists in locations that the pole crappie are spawning.

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Article number 111 Natural lake Fall Crappie Movements

As the water starts to cool in natural lakes much of the weed growth on the flats dies off. Some deep lying weeds will remain along the deep edge of weed growth along drop offs. After the weed growth dies off crappies holding in shallow flats will join crappie along drop off edges, so this is one of the locations you will want to target your crappie fishing efforts. Crappies holding in open water will also head for drop off edges. The the crappie is a very sought after species of fish which goes by many different names through out the country such as calico bass,speckled bass,speckled perch,white perch,pole crappie,strawberry bass, and paper mouth. Once the papermouth have moved to drop off ledges normally they will continue to hold there or move to close by deeper rock cover if it is available. You can catch crappie by using crappie jigs tipped with live crappie baits such as crappie minnows,flathead minnows,shiners,and shad if they are there. Fish your crappie baits just vertical or horizontal to identified drop off edge locations or deep rock cover approximately 5 to 10 feet off bottom, speckled bass will typically hold at these depths during the late fall going into winter. In natural lakes you will find drop off edges in a variety of different crappie fishing locations. Look for edges there is remaining weed growth such as at locations inside bends in the lake. You will also find excellent drop off edges where there is combination of remaining weed growth and rock cover. Your prime crappie fishing locations to concentrate on in the fall season will be where there is remaining weed growth, and rock cover combined together and adjacent to a drop off into deeper water. You will normally find these locations along bends in the lake contour. Fall strawberry bass will be normally be feeding on plankton or crappie minnows or shad that are feeding on the plankton. A good fall crappie bait would be artifical crappie baits that resemble crappie minnows or shad or Live crappie baits such as crappie minnows,small shad,shiners, and fathead minnows. You can also use small crayfish when you are fishing off the bottom in rock cover. As the remaining weed beds die off pole crappie will move to rock piles, humps, sloop points, that drop into the lake basin, and transitional points that go from a hard pan bottom to a soft mucky bottom. Concentrate your crappie fishing efforts after the weed die off to the areas just mentioned.

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 Article 110 Seasonal Changes and crappie How Do they relate?

The crappies behavior will change as the seasons change.  crappies can adapt and live in just about any type of lake and they go by names throughout the country such as calico bass, speckled bass, speckled perch, white perch, pole crappie, strawberry bass and papermouth. The The speckled perch  will suspend more in late summer and through the winter and will stay close to sructure during the long spring period into the early summer period. You can catch crappie with a variety of crappie artificial baits such as crappie jigs, or you can use crappie baits like crappie jigs tipped with soft plastic grubs and wax worms. Crappie live baits like crappie minnows, shiners, small gizzard shad,maggots,panfish leeches, and crayfish will work well too. The clearer the water is the more likely that The pole crappie at greater depths no mater what seasonal period it is.

 Under the ice, The strawberry bass  will suspend 5 to 10 feet from the bottom and will feed primarily on zooplakton,or they feed on crappie minnows, small crayfish and other small crustations. The The speckled bass will also feed on thread fin shad that are feeding on plankton, and small gizzard shad populations in habitats that they are available. To catch crappie under the ice you can use nice shinny crappie ice fishing jigs tipped with live crappie minnows. You will want to use a portable fish finder to locate the crappie , then cut at least three hole in a triangle and set 3 different crappie ice fishing set ups set at different depths. Once you start catching crappie in one of the ice holes reset your other lines to the same depth.  In the south where there is no ice follow the shad schools or target suspended crappie to catch fish. You can use conventional crappie fishing tackle such as crappie jigs and crappie live bait here.

 At the end of the winter period crappie will start their migration to the shallows or staging areas until ice out or the water temperature rises above 42 degrees. Some of the shallow areas will be black bottom bays,closed end channels,and old reed beds. These areas tend to warm faster in the early spring period. Typically fish will stay and will stay shallows until after the crappie spawn and into early summer. Where they will migrate to main lake, or main reservoir locations. In rivers there may not be much of a migration because crappie do not like current.

 The strawberry bass  migration right after ice out will be to find crappie food and will not be related to the spawing grounds. In natural lakes the speckled perch will stage near shallow structure during the early spring or pre-spawn period. The speckled perch will be feeding aggressively and just about any crappie fishing bait such as crappie jigs or crappie bait fish such as crappie minnows or shiners will work. Some popular crappie artificial baits include popular crappie fishing jigs such as the Flu Flu, Chubby Jig, Puddle Jumper, Zetabait Wobbly Eye Jig, Custom Jigs & Spin Shrimpo, Blue Fox Foxee Jig, and the Lindy – Little Joe Timber Jig. For added excitement you can tip these artificial crappie baits with wax worms,maggots,crappie minnows,shiners,redworms,live nymphs,or crayfish. To ad some flash for even more attraction add a safety pin spinner to your crappie jig, or switch up your crappie bait to one to a popular crappie spinner bait such as a Blakemore Road Runner, Tad’s Cricket Spin,Terminator Tiny T, and the Bomber Mini – Whacker.

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 The crappie thrives in reservoir environment and they are easy game fish  to catch in reservoirs if you understand where too look. The crappie is one of the most sought after game fish in America and they have been named odd names like calico bass,speckled perch,speckled bass,white perch,pole crappie,strawberry bass, and paper mouth across the country. In my article today I want to talk about classifying reservoirs for crappie fishing.

 There are typically six categories that a reservoir can be classified to too. There are canyon, plateau, highland, hill land, flat land, and lowland (sometimes called wetlands). All of these types of hold populations of white perch and if you understand where to look you can rig up your crappie rods with good crappie bait and catch crappie. Both man made and natural geological specifics will be combined together to determine classification of each reservoir. Thes classifiecations are to be used as reference only and they make good starting points when you plan a crappie fishing trip but every reservoir has it’s own unique classification components that may crossover to other reservoir classifications in some areas.

 Typical reservoir features are the head water or inlet area, the upstream area, the mid lake area, the downstream area the river arm area, and the dam area.  You can catch crappie in all areas of a reservoir depending on the season. Typically you can use crappie baits like crappie jigs tipped with live bait such as crappie minnows,small threadfin shad,small gizzard shad,flat head minnows,shiners,and small crayfish. You can also fish with crappie jigs with plastic grubs and tipped with wax worms.

 During the cold water period speckled bass will be in deep water so they can be located in the downstream area close the the dam. Durring the spring period the calico bass will be located in the shallows which typically will be in the upstream areas or coves and feeder creeks. These areas are the where the speckled perch will spawn also.

 The middle of the reservoir is a transitional area for the calico bass during the changing of seasons where they migrate to different areas of the reservoir. Typically there will be some papermouth crappie holding here during all but the during the cold water period. A good way to catch crappie in the midlake area is by drifting. If you are located in a state that allows multiple crappie rods, set they up at different depths and start drifting or back trolling until you start to catch crappie. Then anchor off and change all your crappie rods to the depth that you started catching crappie.

We hope the information in this article about Ppapermouth. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!

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top live baits

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Most people think that the crappie jig catches the most and the biggest crappies, but contrary to popular belief it is live bait that has caught the most and also that largest trophy slab crappie over the years. According to studies and statistics that have been kept and the studies that have been done since the early 1970’s crappie live bait has come out the winner for catching the most and biggest crappie. It is key to know crappies are some amazing and very adaptable fish species. These fish have so many aliases such as calico bass,speckled bass,speckled perch,white perch,pole crappie,stawberry bass, and papermouth. The best live baits that have caught the most and biggest crappie are such crappie baits as crappie, minnows, crappie shiners, waxworms, small gizzard shad, small threadfin shad, and earthworms. These crappie live baits were used in combination with slip float fishing rigs, crappie jigs, worm harnesses, crappie spinner baits and crappie ice jigs. Crappie spinner baits were tipped with crappie minnows, shiners, and night crawlers. Crappie jigs were tipped with crappie minnows, shiners and nightcrawlers to catch crappie. Worm harnesses were used using small earth worms or pieces of night crawlers. Top live baits that have produced award winning crappie catches are large crappie minnows, shiners, waxworms, fathead minnows , small gizzard shad, small threadfin shad, leaches, earthworms, creek chubs, and herring. These live baits were used with jig head and spinner bait combinations.

The best artificial crappie baits used to catch crappies were in the size range of 1/16oz to 1/2oz. The crappie artificial bait types varied greatly. Crappie jigs in the size range of 1/16oz to 3/8oz tipped with a plastic grub or other soft plastics in combination with a crappie jig head of a variety of colors caught a good number of award crappies too. If the jigs were tipped with wax worms the number crappies caught increased even more. Plain crappie jig heads of a number of colors tipped with crappie minnows or shiners were a producer when bait fishing for crappie also.

Over the years there are a few crappie fishing jig head and soft plastic combos that have consistently caught large numbers of crappies. A jig head painted different colors in the size range of 1/16 oz to 1/8 oz tipped with a Mister Twister curly tail is the top producer of crappie catches of all times. Mepps crappie spinner baits and small floating rapalas have also been top producers of large award winning crappies. When you combine these artificial crappie lures with crappie live bait they have produced even more consistently.

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Article 108

Catching suspended crappie in confined open water

True open water involves vast expanses of water over 20ft feet in depth. “Confined open water” defines areas of open water adjacent or near to shallow structural elements. The crappie is a very popular game fish that young,old, and novice and experienced fisherman have given names such as calico bass, speckled bass, speckled perch, white perch, pole crappie, strawberry bass, and papermouth. The paper mouth is a suspending species of fish but not a true open water fish like the steelhead, stripper bass, or salmon. True open water fish are streamlined, and powerful and able to cover large distances in a short period of time. The calico bass is not built for speed or power and stay near structure where most of the crappie food is located.

In lake and reservoirs where there is submerged timber lines key suspending crappie depths will be 30 to 55 ft deep. Using a slip bobber rig with a crappie jig tipped with a plastic grub and wax worm will work here. Try using weedless hooks on your crappie jigs and make sure you have enough weight to get your crappie jig down 30ft quickly. The weight of your crappie jig and a large split shot should do the trick. You can also use crappie jigging spoons tipped with crappie minnows and shiners. In stable weather there also will be suspended crappie just above the timber tops of the trees located out on the edge of the timber line.

Environmental circumstances will determine the paper mouth position on a timbered point. When weather conditions are mild and stable suspended crappie will be located high in the tree tops or they will move to shallower trees, but rarely in water less then 15ft deep. Yo can sometimes run suspended crappie artificial baits such as crappie crank baits at a specified depth and you will catch some speckled bass. Cold fronts, and fridgid wate or a drop in water levels will push the pole crappie into deeper water and into dense cove in the heart of the trees. These fish will have a negative feeding mood and will be hard to catch.

Suspended crappies in timberline areas are fun to catch once you learn where they are located at and at what depth. Just keep in mind that you can use a variety of different crappie baits such as crappie live baits like crappie minnows, gizzard shad, threadfin shad, shiners, fathead minnows, and even small crayfish to catch crappie. Or switch it up and a use a combination of artificial crappie jigs tipped with crappie live bait. Just use your imagination. 75 percent of you fishing is going to be finding the  paper mouth location.

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crappie fishing rigs

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Yes crappies which go by peculiar names such as calico bass, speckled perch, speckled bass, white perch, pole crappies, strawberry bass, and papermouth can be caught during the coldwater period of fall and early winter. The cold water period typically starts after the water has turned over and the thermocline stratified  Also The water temperatures will have dropped below the mid 50 degree mark. Surface water temperatures will be the same as the bottom water temperatures. As the weather continues to get colder the water temperatures at the bottom will be warmer than that at surface. One the water has turned, Coldwater crappie fishing patterns will start to emerge.

 Although the papermouth’s metabolism has dropped the cooling envirement has also triggered the speckled basse’s instinct to feed for the upcoming winter months. The crappie may move slow during the cold water period but they will not pass up a good  meal if you present a good crappie bait.

 To catch crappie in large deeper lakes and reservoirs during the stable coldwater period you will need crappie fishing rigs set up for a deep water crappie fishing presentation. And ideal crappie bait to use during this period is any small invertabrates such as small crayfish.  During the cold water period the water turnover sends the the warmest oxinated water to the bottom , and the coldest water goes to the top. Soon after the water turnover period has stabilized all the crappie and the natural forage will they need will seek the deep water area where the waters are warmest.

 To fish the a deep water presentation you will need to use a good deep water slip bobber rig with crappie jigs and crappie jigs with safety pin spinners. A excellent coldwater crappie live bait selection to catch crappie would be small crayfish, crappie minnows, fathead minnows or shiners. You can also catch crappie with a deepwater slop bobber rig fished on the bottom using enough weight and a crappie hook tipped with a live small crayfish as your crappie bait. In larger deep lakes and reservoirs you will find calico bass at deep areas off main lake shorelines in 3o to 45ft of water loacated on a soft bottom area. In shallow bowl shapped lakes with little structure, pole crappies may suspend right in the middle of the lake in 20 to 30 ft of water. In any strawberry bass habitat area, calico bass will suspend 5 to 10ft off the bottom. During the stable coldwater period coldwater period you will seldom find paper mouth near the surface.

Well that concludes my article about Crappie Bait. We wish you the best of luck on your next fishing trip!

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Not all rivers just like not all lakes hold crappie. Crappies all over their habitat range are called a lot of different names such as calico crappie, speckled perch, speckled bass white perch, pole crappie, strawberry bass, and papermouth. Typically warm water river basins like the Mississippi will hold pole crappie in their back water areas which can be quite expansive.

Typically you will catch crappie in river systems that are middle aged in geological terms. These rivers are slow flowing, shallow and have large flood planes that many times create large back water areas that are excellent calico crappie habitat areas to catch crappie. River systems from Minnesota to Louisiana that have back water areas will hold large populations of  white perch. You will find papermouth in backwater areas that are out of current. pole crappie will thrive in these areas if there is an abundant crappie food chain for forage. Head for brush piles, stump fields, deadfalls, and wood cover.

The average depth in many of these river back water areas is typically 5 to 6 ft so a flat bottom boat will work best to get to these areas. Because of the numerous stumps make sure you use a prop on your motor that is not stainless steel so you will shear your pin or just dent your prop if you hit a stump. This will save from loosing a lower end on your outboard motor.

There are many different crappie fishing baits that you can use to catch crappie in these areas. Crappie live baits such as small threadfin shad and gizzard shad work well if they are caught fresh and fish while still alive. Crappie minnows, flathead minnows, shiners, small crayfish will work well too. Crappie fishing jigs with soft plastic grubs tipped with live baits such as crappie minnows, wax works work well also. Or you can use a crappie jig with just a small crayfish.

You can also use crappie jigs with soft plastic grub imitations or a small crayfish Imitation also. To make these bait more inticing to the papermouth you could tip them with wax worm to make the speckled perch Crappie crank baits will work well fished on the edge lines of brush stump fields, and weedlines. To fish your crappie jig setups use a small fixed or slip bobber that is easily adjusted for depth. You will want a long crappie fishing rod to extend over into hard to get to brush areas. Also.

I have had a great time writing this article we hope you enjoyed our information about Crappie Jig Setups. Have a great day!

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