Here Crappie ,Crappie!

[hogstalker]

Any Crappie showing up at Willard yet?
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[Jmaze]

I saw one caught yesterday out of the north marina. That means this weekend should be packed. It should last for a couple weeks with the current weather trend. Even with 3 or 4 bad days of inclimate weather interspersed during the next month or so. They will run (in reduced numbers) through may.
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[jign]

What do you use to catch the little guys? I like to cast from shore, the boat, learning to troll...
I'm looking for new places to fish, learn something new, see something different...



[fishin]
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[CoyoteSpinner]

So when you say "it's gonna be packed" - you mean with Crappie, or People?! Maybe both. [laugh]

I haven't done well on Crappie at Willard ([crazy]goes for MOST species at Willard![mad]) but I've caught some elsewheres.

They seem to like a lot of typical jig offerings - the feather-tail marabou types - white/chartreuse/pink - or there's the plastics - curly tails, tubes. Scent can make a difference - never hurts to add a nibble of crawler, or other tasty treat to the tip.
Often cast out under a bobber, then work the bobber in with a pull-pull-pause type action. Makes the jig rise and fall...

They like shiny stuff too sometimes. Kastmasters, spoons, smaller cranks, spinners.
Sometimes they like a lot of action, get a good chase on. Other times the bite can be real finicky. Fun fish - real purdy variety if ya ask me.

Love to hear how you do. Maybe I'll make it down!

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Not likely we will see many crappies for at least a month...and mid May is the ideal time. I caught more fish in June last year than I did in May...and many were still full of eggs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are always a few stray crappies swimming in and out of the harbor but the big schools of spawners won't show up until the water temps are over 60 degrees.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But that doesn't mean there won't be a lot of overeager and enthusiastic anglers trying for them. One crappie does not make a run...but it does increase the number of bank tanglers almost overnight.[/#0000ff]
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[hogstalker]

I'm guessing that Jmaze meant that the marina will be packed with people.That has been my experience in the past.There are better places to fish for crappie but I think it's the chance of hooking some real quality slabs and maybe even a wiper or two that attracts so many of us to Willard this time each year
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[Jazzperch1]

the key to the crappie there is to hit em early before the crowds start lining the banks and make the fish a little picky. one week i caught 10 nice slabs and the next week word got out and i only caught 1 crappie and a small smally. and it was a freakin zoo there.
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