Who knows the best way to fish for crappie through the ice?
I do very well when it comes to perch, but I lack the knowledge for crappie or bluegill. Do you use the same tackle and bait as for perch. Do they stay on the bottom of the reservoir or are they suspended? What are your secrets?
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From my experience, you have really move around a lot until you locate a school. They'll bite almost as readily as perch if you find them, and they certainly fight better. When they move on, you do the same and look for them again. I've found them mostly suspended in deeper water, close to access to a shallow flat, &/or a drop-off.
Good luck!
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[cool][#0000ff]I have caught lots of crappies through the ice...Willard and Pineview. There are several things that seem to hold true.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]1. They tend to school more in cold water. If you can find one there will usually be more in the area.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]2. They like structure...either underwater or over water. They hang around stickups up off the bottom, or under docks or other floating cover.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]3. They are more prone to suspend than perch. Look for perch near the bottom and crappies somewhere between the top and bottom. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crappies never move far or fast to grab a lure or bait. They swim in slow motion and they look a jig over very carefully before flaring their mouth to suck it in. The strike is usually nothing more than a light tick, if you are holding the rod. If you use a strike indicator it will barely twitch. If you are using a small float, it will sometimes only move a little to one side of the hole, or give off the slightest wiggle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have taken crappies on many different lures and many different colors. If I had to limit myself to one color, it would be white. Use small stuff, like little ice flies, tipped with waxworms, a small piece of crawler or a bit of minnow meat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That being said, my favorite crappie jiggin' riggin' is a tandem setup...with a teensie chartreuse tube or twister on the bottom, with 1/32 oz red head. About 18" to 2' up, on a short 4" dropper, I will have a similar jig in white...with a white head with a red eye.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If my sonar tells me what depth the fish are holding, I drop my rig just under them and then start raising it slowly, using the rod and not the reel. Don't jig it a lot, because crappies are more susceptible to slow movement. Keep slowly raising the tandem rig until you feel a tick, or there is a bit of resistance on the line. Then flick your wrist to set the hook.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Even though you know the fish are holding at 8', in 15' of water, the bites will not always come in that zone. Often a fish will follow slowly behind the rising jigs and slurp one in only a couple of feet below the ice. I have watched them through the hole in clear water. Sometimes several will follow but none will bite. Makes ya twitchy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That is a good tactic for fishing beside the docks at Willard. However, you should approach from the ice and not walk out on the docks. Drill quietly and don't bang around your tackle. They are sensitive. Also, you are more likely to find a walleye on your line if you are quiet. If some %#@*^ comes stomping out on the docks while you are fishing next to it, you are perfectly within your rights to blast them with whatever armament you have handy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The shallower the water you are fishing, the less difficult it is to find the zone. The deeper they are, the more difficult. There are times they can be taken in less than two feet of water, seemingly with their dorsal fins rubbing the underside of the ice. Other times you have to drop to over 20 feet deep, and fish them precisely above a tree top, donating a few jigs in the process.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am betting that with the higher water level in Willard this year that there will be some decent crappie fishing in both the north and south marinas.[/#0000ff]
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TubeDude has said it all, do what he said and you should do fine.
One point is I have found is that lets say they are holding about two feet off the bottom then I will use a drop shot setup and put my MOJO weight two feet down so all I do is drop right back to them .
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[cool][#0000ff]Good point. I have used a Mojo/dropshot rig with unweighted ice flies very effectively for a lot of different species under the ice. It is good not only for crappies, but for perch and bluegills too. [/#0000ff]
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Yes last year at rockport I would get there and be on my home in less then an hour by useing the MOJO drop shot way, and it is simple to use and deteck bites with.
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[cool][#0000ff]I also use heavy jigs to reach the perch quickly. I started with my old "perch urchins" and have been using molded casting spoons since. I also use "depth chargers" on heavy jig heads. The big jigs get the bait down fast, and serve as a dropshot weight for a second lighter hook above. Sometimes you get fish on the heavy stuff...sometimes on the light.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I started using those heavy things to get down deep in Deer Creek and Yuba. They work well anywhere the fish are deeper than about 25 feet. They get down fast and help you keep "touch" of what is going on down there. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught perch only slightly larger than the lures on them, and I have caught some humongous trout and hefty walleyes on them too.[/#0000ff]
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I have some lures that look just like the ones in the first pictures second role, do you know a Rick Johson?
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[cool][#0000ff]Are you kidding me? Rick was my bestest old fishin' buddy. I have been trying to track him down since I moved back to Utah. Too many Johnsons in Utah. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here are a couple of pics of him from "LONG AGO"...with fish hanging from a couple of my old first version perch urchins.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let me know how to get ahold of Rick.[/#0000ff]
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The jig that I have I got from him we use to fish Yuba and other places back in the late 70's an 80's if I can find the picture of the perch at Yuba there is some big (Yubaens). new word?
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[cool][#0000ff]Here is a picture of Rick and his boat, and a small take of decent perch from the early 80's. I fished with Rick until I moved in '84. We stayed in touch for a few years while I was in Arizona, but then no more contact.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We routinely got perch over 14 inches then.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff](Edited In) I am attaching another picture of Rick, on the ice at Willard, fishing next to the docks, as I suggested. Note the fishies on the ice. It works.[/#0000ff]
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I though you looked like I had seen you before, we have met before I would like to get together give me a call when you get home.[
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey Dale, sorry we hijacked your thread. You and I have not had a chance to meet up yet, so why don't we monitor the hard water situation and first chance we get I'll hook up witcha and we will go a crappie huntin'. It's been awhile since I fished Willard through the ice and I got a hankerin' to renew old acquaintances. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have tubed it a bit since I got back and have caught all of the current species...including crappie. But, I would like to both meet you and search out some of those papermouth perch. You down widdat?[/#0000ff]
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OK Pat.
Now lets all open the door to our freezers and see if we can help get things going!
I look forward to fishing Willard with you. That is one place that I have not drilled a hole in.
The only problem that I see with going to Willard with you, is the big crowds that always seem to follow you where ever you fish![
] I just hope that I will be able to get close enough to hear your words of wisdom, Dale.
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[cool][#0000ff]Fear not, DKS, my popularity is vastly overrated, and my ability to draw a crowd is mostly limited to mosquitoes and flies...not too common in the winter.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm sure we can put something together through PM's and emails that will allow us to fish in "stealth mode".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since I last fished Willard through the ice it has developed populations of wipers, yellow perch and a greater number of smallmouth. That's in addition to the anticipated crappies and walleyes. I plan to set up a checklist and get 'em all. Heck, I even used to catch channel cats under the ice at Willard. [/#0000ff]
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I had a dream of nailing a wiper throu the ice last year. The problem was that willard didn't freeze from what I heard so I never went. So the dream lives on.... or something like that [angelic]
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[cool][#0000ff]Wipers are worthy quarry for ice anglers. They catch the heck out of them in Colorado, up to 20 pounds.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There have been a few taken through the ice at Willard, but there are few who know how to do it...and then do it. It also helps to have both enough water and enough ice to be able to fish it with positive expectation. We haven't had enough of either for the past couple of years. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This year it's gonna happen.[/#0000ff]
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Ok Patty I will hold you to this.... Hey due to me haveing to go out of town. I will see about saturday bringing you the minnows. [crazy]
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[cool][#0000ff]Dead minnows wag no tails.[/#0000ff]
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WHAT HAPPEND TO THE SLAB CRAPPIES WE USE TO GET FROM WILLARD. I HAVENT SEEN A BRAGGER OUT OF IT IN YRS?
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