rsimms
Well-known member
rsimms, Chickamauga, Crappie (CLASSIC pre-spawn pattern), 3/10/2018, Phillip, Terry, Steve
When I do crappie long-lining seminars I always tell folks that this time of year "the crappie are not orienting to structure." Yesterday was classic example!
Phillip, Terry and Steve from Gadsden, Alabama fished with me. I had told them that the fishing wouldn't be fast & furious. I love it when I'm wrong! emoBigsmile
From daylight to about 10 or 10:30 we trolled Wolftever Creek Channel, following breaklines and along flats, etc. We caught 11 keepers and tons of shorts. We moved out of the creek into open water. I first start along the deep water break lines (you see on the map below) but as time went on, I realized I was catching fish mostly when I wavered out away from the breaklines. And as I should have known to begin with, I ended up just roaming wide open water, 20-23 feet deep. Long-line trolling 1/16th 0z. jigs at 0.8 mph, lures were running maybe 8-10 feet deep.
And we smacked 'em! We quit with 45 crappie, a ton of yellow bass, a few bluegill and the ever-present drum... plus a 4 lb. kicker largemouth!
It was a classic pre-spawn pattern when crappie are suspended, roaming wide open water following bait schools and fattening up before they head for shallow water to spawn. They are NOWHERE NEAR ANY KIND OF STRUCTURE!
You can cast and maybe catch a few, but trolling works best because you put lots of lures down and cover lots of water... kind of like shooting a shotgun versus a rifle. I expect this pattern to hold up until at least the first week of April. And then it will be back to catfishing for me. emoSmile
BTW, Crappie Magnets were the lure that produced. I'll admit that I don't know if it was our lures or our pattern (or both)... I just know I saw several other boats eyeing us enviously yesterday. emoAngel Color didn't matter, as long as it included chartreuse.
When I do crappie long-lining seminars I always tell folks that this time of year "the crappie are not orienting to structure." Yesterday was classic example!
Phillip, Terry and Steve from Gadsden, Alabama fished with me. I had told them that the fishing wouldn't be fast & furious. I love it when I'm wrong! emoBigsmile
From daylight to about 10 or 10:30 we trolled Wolftever Creek Channel, following breaklines and along flats, etc. We caught 11 keepers and tons of shorts. We moved out of the creek into open water. I first start along the deep water break lines (you see on the map below) but as time went on, I realized I was catching fish mostly when I wavered out away from the breaklines. And as I should have known to begin with, I ended up just roaming wide open water, 20-23 feet deep. Long-line trolling 1/16th 0z. jigs at 0.8 mph, lures were running maybe 8-10 feet deep.
And we smacked 'em! We quit with 45 crappie, a ton of yellow bass, a few bluegill and the ever-present drum... plus a 4 lb. kicker largemouth!
It was a classic pre-spawn pattern when crappie are suspended, roaming wide open water following bait schools and fattening up before they head for shallow water to spawn. They are NOWHERE NEAR ANY KIND OF STRUCTURE!
You can cast and maybe catch a few, but trolling works best because you put lots of lures down and cover lots of water... kind of like shooting a shotgun versus a rifle. I expect this pattern to hold up until at least the first week of April. And then it will be back to catfishing for me. emoSmile
BTW, Crappie Magnets were the lure that produced. I'll admit that I don't know if it was our lures or our pattern (or both)... I just know I saw several other boats eyeing us enviously yesterday. emoAngel Color didn't matter, as long as it included chartreuse.
