Crappie Crappie Crappie

[Frozenfish]

Crappie fishing has been pretty great for us this year. Not slamming them everyday but catching enough to keep it interesting. Jigawhat caught a hog last night. Pushing 13'', we have had several like that this year. That is all you need for a dinnner, one large crappie. The shoulders on these are huge. Can't wait to eat em up tonight for dinner. Has anybody tried a sweedish pimple for crappie. It works great with a walleye minnow on it. There is also another hot lure that we are using that has produced a ton of fish. We bought it for Simcoe perch but has been killing the pike and crappie. I'll let Jigawhat explain his technique when he posts. ;)

[Scoop-D-Bear]

I just started using a small gold swedish pimple this year for the crappie. Seems to be working real good for me. It has been outfishing my killer from last year which was simply a 1/16 oz white jighead, white mr twister and minnow. So far this year I haven't caught any of those hogs, the largest was a 14 incher and that was actually on a waxie.......go figure. Haven't been able to get out nearly as much this year as last though.

[Burksee]

FF, I've been doing some crappie fishing of late and like you its not been overly spectacular but some what steady. I see your from Waterford. I'm on the east side of White Lake Township nearest to Waterford. If you dont mind could you PM me and advise on what lake your fishing? I'll return the favor. I'm not looking to move in on anyones hot spot, just wondering if your fishing the same waters as I am and to compare notes! :)

Also, if you dont mind sharing a few trade secrets......I'm mostly fishing jigheads and teardrops with minnows under bobbers. I have used SP's for walleye, white fish, bass and cisco but never calico. I would like to give it a try.......... What size Swedish Pimples are you using? Are you leaving the small treble hook on or changing to the single? And, what color "flasher" that comes with the pimples are you using? Thanks in advance!

[Frozenfish]

Burksee,

I honestly couldn't tell you what size SP I am using. It is one of the smaller ones, maybe the smallest. I am using a green and silver SP with a orange flasher on it. I was at simcoe and kept the treble on there for the perch. The treble hook that I was using actually broke. Now there is only 2 hooks on it. So my buddy told me to put the single hook on and I decided to try the double, it worked, go figure, It works great. Put a walleye minnow on there and hook it in the back. Walleye minnows seem to be the trick for us, perch minnows haven't done the trick or waxies. Using a spring bobber with it. It seems (shouldn't say this) that we are catching some fish everytime we head out. By no means are we limiting out or even close but it is a great time. We have a permanent shanty out there, I'll have to get he pics out.

How about yourself where are you fishing?

[dinoday]

I can vouch for that lake....heck...I probably been in your spot before :lol: I pulled a 15" crappie out of there last year :yikes:
If you can get access it can be a heck of a spot(MONSTER pike too ;) )access is the problem for most people.
Never tried a swedish pimple for them though,I usually use a very small chartruse jigging spoon....1/16 oz.
It can be a real hot and cold spot,but when it's hot look out!I may go there this weekend...haven't decided yet.Have to try the pimple's Ihave lots of them.

[Burksee]

Frozenfish, Sent you a PM.......

Nice signature line! ;)

[Jigawhat]

...a #25, orange, Hali lure. Like FF said, I bought one before we went to Simcoe for perch. I had read on some Simcoe posts some people were using Halis. I had never heard of them and we went to BPS and they were out of everything else.

I think they only have three sizes: 25, 35 and 50. I bought orange with black stripes. It's been great. So far, this year, it's caught perch (with minnows and waxies), pike and now crappie (with walleye minnows). I've also been using a yellow 4# test line. I'm no expert, but I think the chain hook gives the lure a very "real" presentation of a minnow in distress. It takes the weight of the jig off the minnow and allows them to swim around a bit (almost like a leash).

Elizabeth Lake has been a dud for us in the past few years, but we tried a new spot this year and it has really paid off. A little love from the Fish Gods, I presume... :bowdown:


haven't caught any of those MONSTER pike dino was talkin about, but we haven;t really been fishing for them to often either. All of ours have been in the 20-29 range.

[bigfly29]

I have fished this lake for ten years and went two time this year and pulled one fish out.It is not a hot spot any more .four years ago if i told you i would have had to kill you.Now I don't wast my time the lake is geting raged out just like all the rest in the area.1 or 2 fish is crappy. p.s. go tell the bait shop too :mad:

[Jigawhat]

Yeah, I've heard other locals say the same thing about that lake too:
"Boy, this lake was 10 times better, 10 years ago". Although, that seems to be a reoccuring story everywhere you go.

I think it has more to do with one's expectations. I don't expect to go out and bring home a limit everyday. One or two fish here, 3 or four the next day, skunked the third. It's all good to me. Keeps ya honest. ;)

[Scoop-D-Bear]

Another part of the problem is the "LIMIT" people think they have to leave with every time they fish. If everyone that fishes these public waters, limits out every time they go out.......with the pressure the lakes see today, it won't take long for this scenario to occur in many public lakes.

[walleyechaser]

A ggod case in point is Kent Lake, aka Kensington. For a number
of years there was a fabulous spring crappie fishery. You could
catch all of the nice crappie you wanted and in many cases,
that meant bags full for some fishermen, all this accomplished
from shore without a boat.
I remember the particular year we found the crappies in a shallow
bay which opened up before the ice was off the main lake. Every
day it was like clockwork----1:00 pm and the crappies came in.
It didn't take long for a couple other fishermen to take notice
and catch on. Within a few days it was near shoulder to shoulder
with a couple guys "buying" all the crappies they could lay their
hands on for resale in a further North city---to my knowledge
they never got busted although a number of compaints were
filed.
Its hard to imagine the thousands of crappies that came out of
there during a 2 year period but it hasn't been the same since.

[Frozenfish]

I have heard of such acts occuring in E. lake. Some people taking out hundreds of blue gill in a day. I'm sure if that happens a few times a year it would affect the fish population, it being a smaller lake. Rarely do I fish for pan fish in the spring, summer, fall but I can't wait to try it this year.....

[dinoday]

I can belive that something happened in that lake....we used to catch really nice gills a few years ago and they seem to have disappered.Haven't got a nice gill in quite a while from there.