Hi,
I have some chartreuse, white, and pink jigs ready for catching the crappie. I was wondering if I should bait it with some grass shrimp, meal worms, or crawfish bait?
I saw the grass shrimp and the crawfish on Sportsman's Warehouse online website. They are 3 dollars each.
Also, should I try the shallows or hit the deeper water?Planning a trip to Quail Lake next week so will probably fish for trout as well. Temps will be in the high fifties so not to bad.
thanks for the help in advance.
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I've had good success for black crappie using small (1/32 oz, 1/64 oz ) tube jigs or curly tail grubs. I will fish heavier jigs if the crappie are deeper. I will tip the jigs with a piece of earthworm or wax worm. I've never used grass shrimp in Utah but I do know they are a decent bait for panfish where I grew up. I wish I could help more with techniques but I've never fished Quail Lake. Black crappie are structure oriented fish so if you have a good sonar plus knowledge of the structure in the lake, I bet you can locate them since a little bit o' structure seems to attract crappie like a magnet. Hopefully someone with more experience with that body of water will chime in.
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I don't have a fish finder yet but will get one in a couple of months. Do you use a float with those jigs?
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I would use 1/32 oz tiny tots marabou jigs in any chartreuse combinations, maybe tipped with a chunk of nightcrawler or just smelly jelly. Crappie eat mostly zooplankton so small is the way to go. Don't fish quail so no idea on location but since winter, they are likely very deep so you would find them suspended in moderately deep water or even on bottom.
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It's been a funny year I have been catching some crappie on spinners, cranks (crawdad pattern) and lately 3" plastics with 3/8 oz heads. Obviously this has been in low numbers but still they are taking things I don't expect them to take. The ones I have caught are larger fish most even over my personal nice fish mark of 12", so it's been fun. I'm going to try some of the smaller stuff and see if it will help me find more than one or two a trip. Thanks J
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All good advice IMHO. I'm no crappie expert, though I've managed a few (mess) this summer. In this post (
http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gfo...69;#775069) you can see one of the curly tails I've had good success with. Sometimes tipped l with crawler, sometimes not.
I like bobbers, but have better luck with crappie when there's something for them to chase. Though a slip bobber can allow you the reactionary need to hit em fast when they bite.
I've used curly tail plastics, spinners of various sorts (including my own), the marabou type can work well. White, chartreuse being popular.
I'm not familiar with Quail, but as with many lakes now is the time of turnover, so you'll fund the baitfish moving into deeper water, and along with them the panfish to prey upon. Perch are likely to hug bottom, while Crappie tend to suspend and school, but if you don't have sonar you might want to seek out dropoffs, ledges, edges of weeds, points based on shoreline structure.
I would expect to start downsizing as the waters cool and actions slows. I'm ready to start digging into the ice-chest myself!
Yote I think on the forum you have told more crappie success stories this year than anyone so I'd think you're one of the better ones to give advice on them. Still need to have you show me what you do to change up between bass and panfish. I can't do that and I'd like to. I floated a short while today and was able to take a LMB might be my first one this year and I really wanted to catch the crappie or gills. So I tried one pole with small jigs the other with my money size. Nothing hit small but did get one more on the large. I want to go back and try this spot again I had to quit before I was ready to and I'm off Monday so maybe then. Later J
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[quote Trout_lover]I don't have a fish finder yet but will get one in a couple of months. Do you use a float with those jigs?[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]I hate to be a "Negative Nellie" but fishing crappies without sonar is a lot like looking for gold without a gold pan. But that is only one of the factors that are against you on Quail...and at this time of year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]First, there ARE crappies in Quail...and some big ones. But it is not a HUGE population. They coexist with several other species and are usually found only in small numbers...anywhere. And without sonar you can fish a lot of fishless water without ever knowing it...especially this time of year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As with most waters, Quail's crappies change their habitat and their habits throughout the year. Best time to find and catch them is durng the spring spawn. They move into shallower water and look for stickups, rocks or other structure around which to lay their eggs. The area at the inlet part of the lake is traditionally a good place to look for them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When the spawn is over the fish typically move out into the main lake and cruise suspended over deeper water. Again, without sonar you are really handicapped in trying to find them. But even if you find them it is no guarantee you can catch them. During the warmer months of summer they often feed on zooplankton...at night...and are seldom very active during the day. And about the best way to fish them is just like ice fishing...tiny jigs...UNDER SONAR...and being able to feel the lightest "tick" or back-pressure on your line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As the water cools in the fall, the crappies will once again move nearer shore and feed on larger food items...aquatic invertebrates and minnows. They feed aggressively until the water temps drop below their comfort zone and then they follow their food sources deeper. If shad or other small fish move down to the bottom in deep water, crappies will follow. It is not uncommon on some deep lakes to find them on the bottom in 50 feet of water in the late fall and winter. Otherwise, they will be cruising around at different depths in the water column and you really have to look for them...with sonar.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In short, there is not a whole lot of optimism right now for you being able to find and catch crappies at Quail. Yes, there are a few caught all the time by folks fishing for trout. But even crappie "experts" have a tough time on that lake...even during the spring fling at times. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For someone who is not familiar with the lake or the species, you have two strikes against you. My suggestion is to target the trout, but to also work some of your jigs in deeper water and hope for the best. You might even hang one of those hog largemouth bass that are in there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Tip your jigs with a piece of plain worm...or wax worms when they become available for ice fishing. You can also buy the artificial "crappie nuggets" in a bottle. They work well for ice fishing as a jig tipper and will also work for crappies under other conditions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In most cases you will do better by fishing without a bobber...vertical jigging. But that is a science in and of itself. Not something to "learn by doing" on a finicky fish in unknown waters. At other times you will be able to catch fish under a bobber...like during the spring when they are shallow, next to structure. If they are more than 4 or 5 feet deep you will need to learn to rig a "slip bobber". But that can pay off for a lot of species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But don't let me stop you from going fishing and learning the reservoir a bit better. Once you get a good handle on the shoreline contours and bottom structure you will be better prepared to find and catch the fish when they come in to play with you. And in the meantime there are some nice rainbows in that lake that are angler-friendly.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck.[/#0000ff]
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I don't usually target crappie, but we did this year at Willard once. I highly recomend Berkeley's Gulp alive soft baits. They worked wonders. Both the crawdad and minnow variety. Catch rate was like 5 to 1 vs regular marabou jigs, and even managed a couple drover Walleye on them in the same "crappie" spots.
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I will target the Rainbows first before going after the Crappies. I plan on trying the gold and rainbow Kastmasters for the rainbows then trying the jigs for the Crappies.
I realize I am shooting bullets in the dark without sonar but that is part of the fun of fishing.You never know what is going to hit until you try it. I could try the shallows then slowly troll deeper. I believe the structure on that lake is on the east shore. That is where they told me to find the bass. There are more rocky points on the east shore than the west. I'm just beginning to learn the lake because last winter I didn't have a motor yet. The water is still around 66 degrees so I don't know if the fish have gone to the deep water. Maybe the rangers at the park will know.
Part of the fun of fishing is learning as you go. It is kind of exciting to target a fish you have never caught before. I caught my first bass last spring and it was kind of cool although the fish tasted like grass. I still like to fish for bass sometimes cause they are a little more aggressive than trout.
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Sorry for the late reply. Looks like you have gotten a lot of good advice already. To answer your question though, yes I typically use a bobber with these types of jigs. I like to use slip bobbers for a lot of species but especially for crappie. I agree with what has been said about using sonar to locate crappie. A lot of times they like to suspend above the bottom and if you can figure out their depth (this is where sonar helps), you can set the depth of your bait/jig with your slip bobber and keep it in the zone. Hope you get into a lot of fish!
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