New Hampshire > Ice Fishing New Hampshire
Crappie
nhfishaddict:
Hi All - have never targeted crappie in general before as the plan for the day. Last two outings stumbled into a few - more by accident than a focused effort. Now I am heading out with crappie as the target for the day. So been trying to educate myself on the crappie plan of attack and looking for any pointers and advice in targeting these guys. Jigs, fluttering, plastics etc. Kinda cool at this point in my fishing career to go after a species I never fished hard water for.
Ruimachado:
Concentrate your fishing at the low light times of the day or just fish at night for them, on those conditions crappie will be patrolling the edges of shallow flats.
During the day they will be on the basin of the lake and mostly suspended and lock jaw for the most part, if you can get a school fired up during the day time move quickly and don't let them rest, keep a bait down there at all times, that's when fishing with a partner can come handy, while one reeling in a fish the other is dropping down.
jigmaster5:
Crappie are fun to fish - esp. w/ a jig stick. Most important things to know about crappie is that given a choice...they'll eat minnow profile baits, they look up + they have big eyes for seeing in low light conditions.
If you want to use tip-ups, pin shiners + small hooks set high are good for finding fish (even at night). The bigger ones will eat a medium shiner, no problem.
For jigging, there's a few tricks. They can be anywhere in the water column, but in general, they will be higher than sunfish or perch. I've fished places where there would be layers of fish (crappie up high, sunfish a few feet off the bottom + perch down low). So, a FF can be a big help. Often, if you're jigging down low in a panfish spot...and a mark comes in high...that will be a crappie. If no FF, if you have clear water...a cheap underwater camera is gold. And if you don't have either, check maps, start high + work your way down the water column for crappie.
For colors, I'm partial to pinks + reds for crappie...just start somewhere.
If they are fired up, bigger soft plastics (up to 3"), small rattle baits, smaller chubby darters, small sebile vibrato, bigger spoons - stuff like that. No bait.
If they are kinda aggressive, but not really fired up, then tip the lures above w/ bait or use scent.
If they aren't fired up at all, 2 lb mono & micro jigs (1/32 oz VMC tungsten mongo jig + small plastic).
If you have no idea where to start, start big + work your way down to smaller jigs.
Good luck! :tipup:
AQUAASSASSIN:
--- Quote from: jigmaster5 on Jan 21, 2022, 06:01 AM ---Crappie are fun to fish - esp. w/ a jig stick. Most important things to know about crappie is that given a choice...they'll eat minnow profile baits, they look up + they have big eyes for seeing in low light conditions.
If you want to use tip-ups, pin shiners + small hooks set high are good for finding fish (even at night). The bigger ones will eat a medium shiner, no problem.
For jigging, there's a few tricks. They can be anywhere in the water column, but in general, they will be higher than sunfish or perch. I've fished places where there would be layers of fish (crappie up high, sunfish a few feet off the bottom + perch down low). So, a FF can be a big help. Often, if you're jigging down low in a panfish spot...and a mark comes in high...that will be a crappie. If no FF, if you have clear water...a cheap underwater camera is gold. And if you don't have either, check maps, start high + work your way down the water column for crappie.
For colors, I'm partial to pinks + reds for crappie...just start somewhere.
If they are fired up, bigger soft plastics (up to 3"), small rattle baits, smaller chubby darters, small sebile vibrato, bigger spoons - stuff like that. No bait.
If they are kinda aggressive, but not really fired up, then tip the lures above w/ bait or use scent.
If they aren't fired up at all, 2 lb mono & micro jigs (1/32 oz VMC tungsten mongo jig + small plastic).
If you have no idea where to start, start big + work your way down to smaller jigs.
Good luck! :tipup:
--- End quote ---
Well done, this is word for word what I would of wrote. Spot on with everything
Hottuna5150:
Chase the 02. Early ice they are often still beside weed lines in the morning and may hold there all day if there is still green vegetation. The basin tip is money and I’d add that if you can find an inlet to the waterbody adjacent to a basin that area tends to be great fishing.
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