New PB Ottawa river crappie

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Big Bass 444
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Big Bass 444 »

Last night someone came to me with a statement...I've been asked to do better reports which makes sense but like I told this person I was waiting to check a few things on here. What I mean by this is that there was a time on Fish Hawk where it was a fun place to be...at first I mean like way back when..many posts...many good reports...interesting people.Then later things got a little corny and honestly I had a little bit to do with this....and I left the site like many did. Then recently there as been some changes on this site which makes things interesting.With that said,this is my first post in a long time. It seems a lot better for what I can see and that is a good thing. So I will do my best to contribute to it in a good way of course because I think it's worth it.

Now, I will had some more stuff to this report which I hope can help some of you at one point.It's not the bible of course but hum...this is how I do it so here it is:
.....

When it comes to crappie fishing and Winter patterns I get the jitters every time I get into it because it is quite a challenge to target crappies and to be successful doing it with constancy.It's a challenge with ups and downs that will stimulate you as an angler ...like an obsession almost. For the longest time I've been into bass fishing but there is something very addictive about crappie fishing. Once you get hooked on it...it's for the long run!

Patterns for crappies can be very complicated in the Winter months but not not all the time. There will be times where the frenzy will be on and at that point you will feel like you're the king of the world! It will be very easy to get them and everything you will throw at them will work very well. When this happens I like to work the school of crappies in a precise way to get the most out of it. Typically the formation will be like a column from top to bottom and will be tight. I like to work the school from top to bottom and most of the time the bigger ones 10 to 12 incher will be not too deep under the ice. I find that when the Frenzy is on the bite will last a long time most of the day...even days sometimes. You might say to yourself "Wow" easy fishing..there is no challenge here!...Well I will agree!..LOL!..The only challenge in this case is to find them....but sometimes that might not be as easy as it seams..LLOL...but I want to put my attention on what follows....

But how to fish crappies when the Frenzy is not on?..how to get them?..how to find them? All these questions sometimes might lead some anglers to some false conclusions like ...there is no crappie left...or.... it's been fished out! I can tell you one thing; chances are this is not true! They are still there! They just don't bite the same way and you need to adjust yourself and take the Frenzy mode off your head completely because it's a brand new game!

When the bite is normal (well not in Frenzy mode I mean LOL) I will start by establishing this by getting my lure down one foot at the time and leave it still for 20 seconds till I reach the bottom. If I don't get a bite on my way down to the bottom then I will start by working the bottom. Working the bottom means one thing to me and that is 1 or 2 inches of the bottom. When the lure is sitting still it will be no more than 2 inches of the bottom floor...not 5..not 6....2! The lure of choice is also critical!.. seriously! I won't give any brand names out but here is what I am looking for in a lure to have major success while crappie fishing. The lure must be light enough but not to heavy to get down to the bottom at a moderate rate..too fast or too slow won't be as good!..You need to put it on trial to see. You also need to match this lure with the perfect line combination to make it work. Most of the big crappies I get will hit on the fall or after a 10 seconds just sitting there after the fall. I avoid all those small repetitive small jigging movements and this is important on normal days off Frenzy mode.I do a single long jigging motion (15 inches more or less) let the lure fall and wait for 10 to 15 seconds with the lure sitting still. I get more success doing this than having my lure dancing like crazy which sometimes just spooks the crappies away. When a crappie bite it will be a very very gentle bite on many occasions so the key is to keep an eye on your line at all time and not the tip of your rod because very often the crappie will pick up the lure and rise with it leaving a sudden slack in your line...you need to be sharp...fast..and set the hook at every variation of your line.Even with a sonar you will have to perform this observation of your line because you will see the crappie sitting right there just staring at your lure without committing. A 12 inch crappie can make himself very subtle and that is very cool actually when that happens and you set the hook and you feel that weight on your rod!..I get a rush every time!...so keep an eye on your lure!!..LLOL! Now by experience when I start getting bite of the bottom I start climbing up again and maybe set my jigging motion at 2 feet of the bottom...and normally I will start getting bite closer to the top. The first few bites I get off the bottom seems to brings them around. I start with the bottom unlike the frenzy mode when the bite is normal.

Voila!..lol!
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by ShawnD »

Nice!
Thanks a lot, you ALMOST got me wanting to go ice fishing :lol: :lol:
:mrgreen:

But seriously that's a neat process you take to fishing for crappie, I'll need to check it out one of these days.
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Oneeleven
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Oneeleven »

Thanks so much for the tips. You wrote that out so well and it was really easy to picture exactly what you were talking about. 8-)
I can't wait to go Crappie fishing again!
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Big Bass 444 »

LOL!..not bad for a French dude I guess! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Spezza_Fan »

Ehhhh one update Yan!!!

Once you go with a Flasher it's hard to go back but these techniques definitely do make me wanna try them out.
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Out4trout »

Nice crappie Yan!
The write-up is good too, and might help someone else hook a few slabs!
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Big Bass 444 »

Yeah a flasher is a must when it comes to ice fishing ..I agree 100% makes your life much easier and will sure put lot's of confidence on your side before leaving the house at -35!.lol!...it's also rewarding though when you can managed without it! :wink:
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by lape0019 »

Great report with a lot of useful knowledge in there.

Thanks for sharing!
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by baz fish »

Very nice crappie Yan
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by OutdoorActionOntario »

Big Bass 444 wrote:Well we all heard about the giants in Lake of The Woods with Aaron and friends on Uncut Angling which are just RIDICULOUS!.....16 inch crappies!!!!..are you kidding me!!!!!..I go nuts just by mentioning this right now!

On the other hand as some of you might already know crappies on the Ottawa River are quite present and in numbers in some parts of the river...mostly in bays. Their size seams to be also jiving the same story across the board on the Ottawa. I have been fishing crappies on the Ottawa at several locations...some in the Spring...some in the Fall and Winter. Like everybody I have map out my preferences depending the time of the year and other factors of course. I also fish crappies in lakes on the Quebec side so it would be fair enough to say that I like to fish them...and I have learned how to get better at it over the years. I guess when you love something you give it your full attention and I do this with crappie fishing. I had some good mentors but I still think that practice makes you better.
When you are able to fish crappies without a sonar...it makes you very sharp. It makes you think what they think, what they want and how they want it which is quite a rewarding challenge when you succeed with constancy,

On the Ottawa some bays have small specimen for the most part..some have bigger ones but the idea is always the same...finding them...finding the big ones!...not always easy to do but what would be fishing without hard work! In my book regular size crappies on the Ottawa range from 5 to 9 incher. They are the common ones. The 10 to 12 are the giants...those are the ones you want to be able to find..if you can of course..llol....then there is the rare occasional 12.5/13 incher which are like the true trophies!....you don't get them very often on the Ottawa. Finally there is a chance..little chance you can come up with something that will just take your lower jaw to your knees ....the 14 plus that is! I was able to get one the other day (14 .5) and I have to say everything about it was just Oversized!....fillets were just like dam T-bones...LLOL!

Image

With all due respect, Here's what I don't get about you Crappie fishermen - you say that 12 or 13 is big, trophy size, yet you take them out of the fishery when you kill and eat them. How does that help fill the River ranks with more and bigger fish?

It seems counter-intuitive to me that a Crappie angler would take the biggest and best of the species each and every time. It makes no sense to me at all in fact. If you love the species you are after and you are admitting that the ones you are taking are the best and biggest, wouldn't it make sense to keep the smaller ones and leave the bulls and big mama's to grow some more, even? Wouldn't they have an advantage at reproducing in a River system filled with toothy predators all around them?

Just curious, that's all.
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by ShawnD »

OutdoorActionOntario wrote:
Big Bass 444 wrote:Well we all heard about the giants in Lake of The Woods with Aaron and friends on Uncut Angling which are just RIDICULOUS!.....16 inch crappies!!!!..are you kidding me!!!!!..I go nuts just by mentioning this right now!

On the other hand as some of you might already know crappies on the Ottawa River are quite present and in numbers in some parts of the river...mostly in bays. Their size seams to be also jiving the same story across the board on the Ottawa. I have been fishing crappies on the Ottawa at several locations...some in the Spring...some in the Fall and Winter. Like everybody I have map out my preferences depending the time of the year and other factors of course. I also fish crappies in lakes on the Quebec side so it would be fair enough to say that I like to fish them...and I have learned how to get better at it over the years. I guess when you love something you give it your full attention and I do this with crappie fishing. I had some good mentors but I still think that practice makes you better.
When you are able to fish crappies without a sonar...it makes you very sharp. It makes you think what they think, what they want and how they want it which is quite a rewarding challenge when you succeed with constancy,

On the Ottawa some bays have small specimen for the most part..some have bigger ones but the idea is always the same...finding them...finding the big ones!...not always easy to do but what would be fishing without hard work! In my book regular size crappies on the Ottawa range from 5 to 9 incher. They are the common ones. The 10 to 12 are the giants...those are the ones you want to be able to find..if you can of course..llol....then there is the rare occasional 12.5/13 incher which are like the true trophies!....you don't get them very often on the Ottawa. Finally there is a chance..little chance you can come up with something that will just take your lower jaw to your knees ....the 14 plus that is! I was able to get one the other day (14 .5) and I have to say everything about it was just Oversized!....fillets were just like dam T-bones...LLOL!

Image

With all due respect, Here's what I don't get about you Crappie fishermen - you say that 12 or 13 is big, trophy size, yet you take them out of the fishery when you kill and eat them. How does that help fill the River ranks with more and bigger fish?

It seems counter-intuitive to me that a Crappie angler would take the biggest and best of the species each and every time. It makes no sense to me at all in fact. If you love the species you are after and you are admitting that the ones you are taking are the best and biggest, wouldn't it make sense to keep the smaller ones and leave the bulls and big mama's to grow some more, even? Wouldn't they have an advantage at reproducing in a River system filled with toothy predators all around them?

Just curious, that's all.

Thing is it's legal and it's your choice to release if you want but some choose to use there god given right to eat what they catch.
Pestering someone online with these types of questions will lead absolutely NO WHERE....

It's like someone asking YOU why are you catching fish and then releasing it??? Do you enjoy hurting fish ? What if someone jammed a hook in your mouth ?
How would you feel?

^ I've been asked those types of questions all the time.
They lead no where. create conflict and is unnecessary, Yan is grown man and during the summer months catches and releases plenty of Bass.

Let the man eat his fish and post a GREAT INFORMATIVE post.
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by OutdoorActionOntario »

Not what I wanted to post...
Last edited by OutdoorActionOntario on Fri Feb 27, 2015 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by OutdoorActionOntario »

ShawnD wrote:
OutdoorActionOntario wrote:
Big Bass 444 wrote:Well we all heard about the giants in Lake of The Woods with Aaron and friends on Uncut Angling which are just RIDICULOUS!.....16 inch crappies!!!!..are you kidding me!!!!!..I go nuts just by mentioning this right now!

On the other hand as some of you might already know crappies on the Ottawa River are quite present and in numbers in some parts of the river...mostly in bays. Their size seams to be also jiving the same story across the board on the Ottawa. I have been fishing crappies on the Ottawa at several locations...some in the Spring...some in the Fall and Winter. Like everybody I have map out my preferences depending the time of the year and other factors of course. I also fish crappies in lakes on the Quebec side so it would be fair enough to say that I like to fish them...and I have learned how to get better at it over the years. I guess when you love something you give it your full attention and I do this with crappie fishing. I had some good mentors but I still think that practice makes you better.
When you are able to fish crappies without a sonar...it makes you very sharp. It makes you think what they think, what they want and how they want it which is quite a rewarding challenge when you succeed with constancy,

On the Ottawa some bays have small specimen for the most part..some have bigger ones but the idea is always the same...finding them...finding the big ones!...not always easy to do but what would be fishing without hard work! In my book regular size crappies on the Ottawa range from 5 to 9 incher. They are the common ones. The 10 to 12 are the giants...those are the ones you want to be able to find..if you can of course..llol....then there is the rare occasional 12.5/13 incher which are like the true trophies!....you don't get them very often on the Ottawa. Finally there is a chance..little chance you can come up with something that will just take your lower jaw to your knees ....the 14 plus that is! I was able to get one the other day (14 .5) and I have to say everything about it was just Oversized!....fillets were just like dam T-bones...LLOL!

Image

With all due respect, Here's what I don't get about you Crappie fishermen - you say that 12 or 13 is big, trophy size, yet you take them out of the fishery when you kill and eat them. How does that help fill the River ranks with more and bigger fish?

It seems counter-intuitive to me that a Crappie angler would take the biggest and best of the species each and every time. It makes no sense to me at all in fact. If you love the species you are after and you are admitting that the ones you are taking are the best and biggest, wouldn't it make sense to keep the smaller ones and leave the bulls and big mama's to grow some more, even? Wouldn't they have an advantage at reproducing in a River system filled with toothy predators all around them?

Just curious, that's all.

Thing is it's legal and it's your choice to release if you want but some choose to use there god given right to eat what they catch.
Pestering someone online with these types of questions will lead absolutely NO WHERE....

It's like someone asking YOU why are you catching fish and then releasing it??? Do you enjoy hurting fish ? What if someone jammed a hook in your mouth ?
How would you feel?

^ I've been asked those types of questions all the time.
They lead no where. create conflict and is unnecessary, Yan is grown man and during the summer months catches and releases plenty of Bass.

Let the man eat his fish and post a GREAT INFORMATIVE post.



Who is pestering who, Shawn?

I was not rude (asking legitimate questions isn't rude it should be welcomed); Second, I never said anything about legality; Third - I never said there was anything wrong with it in general or about the person eating his fish - obviously I promote Angling and this all goes into the equation...

I simply asked why take the biggest of the species since it seems counterintuitive to growing them out on the Ottawa river since the original poster made specific mention in his post that these were "trophy size fish". He also made it very clear he is quite passionate about Crappie angling, so who better for me to ask my question to? I don't fish for Crappie so I made it clear I was coming from a different perspective, but I have never forced my own viewpoints on others and everyone knows that I'm actually a very friendly person who is commited to promoting the sport of Angling on all levels and who respects all his fellow anglers. My respect for other anglers is unconditional.

To the OP - Absolutely no offense was meant. Everyone who personally knows me on this site would vouch for me being a respectful individual.

RJ sorry bud I won't post anymore on this - sorry to somehow start something I didnt even realize was starting. I respect all viewpoints brought forward here and would 100% call on others to do the same... It's borderline hilarious I even got called out for this, actually.
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by ShawnD »

OAO, I'm sure you meant no offense, it just leaves room for arguing.

What we have is someone who targets a specific species, he has posted a nice report and when he saw how his post was well received he decided to add more.
He made a great post detailing every aspect, I almost felt like I was looking at the lure myself...

Yes I do know you, I don't know Yan, I've never met him in person.
I just don't want to see someone post valuable insight and be met by questions in regards to keeping his catch.

Because I've seen and fish-hawk was witnessed what it can lead to.

My previous post may have seemed a little direct, but let's just look forward to more productive posts such as BigBass444 and move along.
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Re: New PB Ottawa river crappie

Post by Big Bass 444 »

I don't think nobody should call you on it..you have your opinion and you come forward with it..you took time to do this and you have been respectful ..no harm done here...this post was intended to have this reply at one point and you took the time to write it...good! To respond to your question ..no I didn't put it back in..these where the average size fish I was getting on those days...I kept a few..can tell you one thing...I have released lot's of crappies close to that size...I guess there was not much small fish around ..lool..but I make sure my crappie populations are doing well no matter where I fish them.
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