Crappie Fishing Questions

[Clintontwpspartan]

I think this Winter I want to try to target Crappies and I have a few questions . If you have any suggestions please feel free to pipe in.

1. Are they a minnow only species or can you catch them with grubs/wigglers, etc.?
2. Do you try to hunt them down on the ice or fish over good structure and wait for the school to come to you?
3. Are there preferred times during the day to fish?  Can you fish for them at night?

Thank you for all your help in advance and Merry Christmas! 

[jer204]

I have my best luck with minnows.

[DR.SPECKLER]

i fish them at nite with minnows get um every time .theres other ways but ya cant go wrong with minnows find 1 find a bunch.

[Kziceman]

...I have had the best luck with minnows....fish usually start biting at sunset and are active through the night. Crappie are usually suspended...early ice they are closer to the bottom since the water is warmer. A lantern close to the hole will help.

I have also had some luck using a Shrimpo, black or chartreuse,  with and without a wax worm.

[westt5]

i set up on an opening to a small bay on the lake as the sun is going down with minnows and when the crappie move into the small bay i hammer them

[Vexilar Prowler]

Crappie are known to be night biters, but that doesnt mean you wont catch them in the middle of the day.  They normally congragate in large schools, sometimes hundreds at once. Minnows are the gold standard for crappie fishing but they will eat waxies, spikes, mousies, pretty much anything.  They are also know to suspend in deeper water.  In mid winter they often congragate in the 30 to 40 deep basins of the lake.  Drill holes around the edge of the basisn and fish for a moment in each hole with a good sonar unit.  Most of the time you will be able to see fish on the screen before your bait enters the water.  Those marks are usually crappies.  When you find them, catch em untill the action slows, the continue around the deep basins to follow the school around.  Good luck!

[spartaman12]

maybe im just weird because i catch 99% of my crappie during the day... and on things other than minnows- minnows work but i dont bother with em

[fishhead16]

Find them suspended at dark, get the latern next to the hole. I'll seach for them but once you get on them you can be on them for a while. Use minnows from a good bait shop, some minnows you get are on the verge of death, you want good active minnows. The crappie seem like they attack a good minnow.

[bigfjr]

in my experience,,,,if i'm fishing during mid day, i like to jig a hali with either a waxie or butterworm, i start from the bottom and work my way up. for late afternoon into the night i like a jig tipped with a minnow, and after dark i have found it works pretty good to have a lantern next to your hole.

[CDJ]

Fo those of you that use minnows, how do you hook them? Through the lips or the back?
Thanks for the info.

[quiter]

Back

[spaz]

I hook mine through the eyes results in more hook ups.Learned this from an old timer.sorry dad

[CDJ]

Never heard abot hookin through the eyes. I guess I will have to try that one. Thanks.

[fishhead16]

I hook them on the top inline with the fin,not through it.

[brokenline]

what do the lanterns do?

[icecaptain]

what do the lanterns do?

Anytime your night fishing, whether it be for crappie/smelt or other species the idea behind the light shining down the hole is to draw in plankton.  This hopefully will draw in baitfish and in turn draw in more of the targeted specie of fish.

I too love fishing for crappie at night although you can catch them during the day too. They are usually most active after sunset and right before sunrise, but they can be active all night. I have found minnows work best either baited through back just behing dorsal fin or through the lips. Be sure to try other baits such as spikes/waxworms because they may sometimes work too.  A vexilar/marcum/other flasher will help to find them, especially if the are suspended. 

good luck fishing

[Higgins]

I think this Winter I want to try to target Crappies and I have a few questions . If you have any suggestions please feel free to pipe in.

1. Are they a minnow only species or can you catch them with grubs/wigglers, etc.?
2. Do you try to hunt them down on the ice or fish over good structure and wait for the school to come to you?
3. Are there preferred times during the day to fish?  Can you fish for them at night?

Thank you for all your help in advance and Merry Christmas! 

If you want to try them at night a submersible light works great.
Here is a good sight to buy one, and if you do get one it will double if you ever want to go for smelt.

http://www.fishinglightsetc.com/AquaStarcombo-IV.html

[bigfjr]

Fo those of you that use minnows, how do you hook them? Through the lips or the back?
Thanks for the info.

i've had good luck hooking through the front

[10FrozenToes]

if you have the means take a sealed head light off a car and hook it up to a battery stick it in the hole same Principal as the lantern only 100's of time better. attracts fish from all over the lake.

[walleyesteve]

 I've had good luck at sunrise as well as sunset. One of our best days was during a severe thunderstorm! The thunder was so loud the ice was shake'n! Crazy! They seem to be spooky, when they start bite'n be quiet as possible!
Later, Walleye Steve

[its an addiction]

I catch crappie every now and then while gill fishin in the day...But once that sun goes down it gets busy.  I like to deadstick a rod with small bobber and minnow in one hole, and the other i'll use a small jig, teardrop or marmooska usually with waxie, or mousie.  I like to hook my minnows PARALLEL TO THE DORSEL FIN with the point of the hook facing the head of the minnow.  It's known fact that crappie take the minnow head first the majority of the time, and with the hook pointing forward it results in more hook ups.  It is very important to have a sharp, sharp hook though, that way you can just barely hook the minnow and it stays very lively.  I was never able to decide on a particular way to hook a minnow, i'd do it through the lips, through the gills, through the dorsal, and then i was reading an infisherman article and they showed how to do it.  Ever since i switched to parallel with the dorsal i've definately had more hook ups, ice or open water. 

be careful not to set the hook too hard on the crappie, they are called paper m ouths for a reason. 

[fishybill]

Its an addiction is spot on.

Crappies will suspend very high after dark.  Sometimes only a couple feet below the ice. 
I'll deadstick and sometimes use a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow on a different rod.

[Richard Cr]

For specks I like to use a very small (size 14 -18) treble hook with either wigglers or minnows. They are darn hard to find and a real treat to tie on- especially with COLD fingers but the fish don't get off. Last year on last ice we were catching specks in the 11"-13" range with chartreuse tear drops with two spikes about 1"down

[zwalleye]

Along with an underwater light.  I will suspend a jar or two liter bottle with minows in it to help attract and keep the crappie around my hole.  They'll see the minows in the bottle as a school of bait fish.

[addicted2ice]

if you have the means take a sealed head light off a car and hook it up to a battery stick it in the hole same Principal as the lantern only 100's of time better. attracts fish from all over the lake.

Once I caught a 14" crappie 13' down in 67' of water on Hardy Pond, using a seal beam headlight outof a 79 chevy pickup.  It was the only thing we caught that night.  Thank god for the Vex or I would have never known he was there.