The crappie bite

[Lurewasher]

Are they on yet ? I tried Tuesday of last week , (the 8th of May) , and it was too early in that particular lake.
I have caught them there on the same calendar date on previous years , but every year is different.
This was a late spring . I noticed the lily pads had not made it to the surface yet , at all. Other years at this time they would be up , or at least some small ones started. I know just a couple degrees difference in water temp can bring on the fish.
I'm gonna try the same place again this week. I just wished the good crappie holes were a bit closer to where I live. Seems they'r all 45 minutes to an hours drive away. Anybody having good luck yet in their own secret honey holes?
I can hear the black flies calling my name. ....Lurewasher

[FireFox]

Hey Lurewasher,

I was out on Sunday May 13th near Perth looking for some crappie and while the water temp seemed to be getting to the range Im told they like (58 F ), there was very little weed growth happening and I was again baffled by these fish. I did manage to find a few little snot rockets and a few OOS largies - but no crappies, bluegill or perch were seen.

I can only guess that this year is quite delayed by the late winter and slow heat up.


Lets us know if you do see some in your spots.

Fox

[zippyfx]

Got my first Crappie on the Rideau yeasterday

[Splake_Hunter]

Can't keep em off!

[FireFox]

Nice run of fish there SplakeHunter - yours sure look a lot lighter coloured than the one that ZippyFx caught in the Rideau.

How deep were you guys finding them recently ?

Fox

[zippyfx]

I found mine in the shallows. Looks like they are setting up for the spawn in old weedbeds.

[Lurewasher]

I was back there today ( same lake) . Pads are starting to appear , and managed to catch enough for a feed. It's just gonna keep getting better. They'r late , but they'r delicious .

[RJ]

Latest Hot Crappie bite that I can ever remember. Hasn't happened yet at the lakes I fish. It's been good numbers but almost all males so far. Big girls should rock this week but I'm pretty much on to other things.

RJ

[Splake_Hunter]

You are on the money there RJ. I chase these things every Spring and usually by now things are winding down. They haven't even started yet on some of the Kingston & area lakes. Targeting two lakes so far, I've seen more big females than I've seen in years. It's crazy, and fun.

[FireFox]

Just cant seem to figure these guys out. Went out near Perth on the weekend (Sunday) and while I did manage to find 1 crappie (and loose another at the net) - that was it. Did get the bites in a little pocket along a rock face in ~ 6 ft of water so spent the rest of the day combing the shoreline for more similar habitat, but nothing but lots of baby smallmouth. Water temp on that deeper, clearer lake was 59-60 F on that day.

Snuck out after work here to the local spot and the temp was up quite a bit - 65-67 F. Hit up a lot of emerging weeds, fallen timber and flats in the 4-8 ft range, and tried off the deeper segments this location has to offer (12-18 ft) and got into lots of perch and sunfish (pumpkinseed) but nothing on the crappie front.

Do the folks here who have had better luck find that if you hit perch/sunfish that is a signal to move ? Or could they be sharing habitat.

Looks like these guys are going to elude me for yet another spring/early summer ...

Fox

[CedArt]

Found a bunch in around a foot of water last wkd
we were sight fishing schools
after cleaning for an hour and half---I'm done with these for another year

[RJ]

Finally got rockin' last week. Had an afternoon to kill some time so I flew solo. 60 Craps in 10-12 fow over emerging weeds. My favorite bite.

But can you keep a secret?



RJ

[FireFox]

Hey RJ,

You certainly look like you are having fun in that video... like you waited all year for that day.

Do you have any tips for the board on how to catch some of those guys as the summer presses on and the waters warm ? I did manage to find half dozen or so of them right around the same time you did - but when returning a week later it was just all rock bass and smallies in the areas that they were hanging out in earlier. I would be interested to learn more ways to find these guys in the local waters -- searching this kind of info on the general internet gets you lots of stuff from the Southern US - which is not so relevant to our lakes.

Thanks for the post and sharing the secret

Fox

[RJ]

I do wait all spring for that bite. I really only had one afternoon free to enjoy it with a jam packed schedule but man it was fun.

I never look for them in the summer, just so much else going on. If I was to look I'd only fish at dusk over some deep weeds. I bet they show up for a little bit then.

Good Luck! If ya find some share the secret...

RJ