Getting ready for pre-spawn fishing?!

[mamabear]

Got my gear cleaned & am ready to go. Wanna do some pre-spawn bass & crappie fishing. Do crappie lay up in deep areas like bass do this early? Now to the really important question, what's your choice of weapon with crappie? (I already have my favorite for bass.) This early would you go minnow? or ? We just got more ice & snow, & the edges of the lake are frozen up again, but not very far. So would you try fishing it now? (I'll be in the boat) I really want to go fishing!!

 

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[releventchair]

Would like to be there to help. In spring I hunt crappie in shallow dark bottomed bays eventually when spawning begins thats where they end up.. Out of the wind and exposed to sun will warm first. When not in bays they can be on first drop near them especially if brushy or downed tree type cover to hold in.. Focus is on earliest warming water though. Have seen them suspend high for warmth before as if it helps them prepare for spawn.A slow troll with an electric motor or quiet rowing around 12 foot depth working shallower on a zig zag course and occasional small change in speed for locating.
Locating can be with a white jig,or pinkie type ,pink head white body. A small beetle spin,or tiniest rubber crawler with in line propeller and a couple beads,purple a favorite.
Once located a switch to minnows perhaps, presented from a stationary boat position. Rigged on a slip float for depth control and keeping them above cover. A rod could be deadsticked with a minnie and another used to keep running small lures, or a jig also below a slip float.Any casting with out slip float would result in the old countdown before retrieve to duplicate depth to redo after a catch. A variety of fish should be found in the early warming area(s).Times they will be stacked in water even as shallow as a foot up against shore edge when a breeze pushes warm surface water into an area where coldblooded creatures can hot tub in it,turtles a good sign.
Good luck mamabear.Good eating too.

 

[mamabear]

Don't know where you are located, but is purple a color of a natural bait there? We have black & yellow salamanders that spawn right about now. I know the bass will strike anything with those colors, & I suppose crappie would to? If I don't have minnows, I use a white rubber crawler & that seems to work, at times. Never thought about purple though. Will give it a try. I am hesitant to go til I have someone with me cuz the lake I fish is where the mountain lion tracks were seen, (& verified) I promised my oldest child I wouldn't go by myself. Hmm I wonder if I took Smith & Wesson if it would count as 2?
Thanks for your quick response.

 

[releventchair]

Few crappie best bite lures here in Michigan really match any food source to me.. The possible exception of the flashing blade of a beetlespin, combined with purple or crawdad colors,( its a go to for trolling.) That lil purple worm has brought a variety of fish to hand,its prop blade a sure factor. Purple with white stripe plow jockey type for bass. White rubber crawlers ,cut to a couple inch length on a jig head a great jig but white not real common here in a plain jane straight plain crawler. Mr. twister type curl tail a poor substitute but available in white. There have been times and different water bodies where pinkie jigs ruled. Cast,count down sink thousand one ,thousand two ect. a few seconds ,maybe after a couple along the bottom retrieves were tried,twitch,reel,twitch,reel,twitch,fish on!

 

[mamabear]

Thanks Relevent. I guess I got it bad. Just looking at the pics makes my heart beat faster.

 

[Hillbilly Joe]

You guys are really making me miss running around the ozarks! They dont bass fish and crappie fish up in Montana that much, there are other fish for sure, but nothing beats a mess of crappie in the fryer or feeling that big bass grab a jig!

I used a lot of the marabou jigs for crappie, and sometimes the louder the colors the better the bite! Hot pink was a good one.

 

[mamabear]

Hey Joe, you got some mean trout though! Would love to fish a nice brown & fry it up with a mess of taters. Or maybe a Dolly? Oh I don't care, just wanna go fishin. Right now I can't even get out of my drive way. Not deep snow, but solid ice with a sheet of water (melt) over it. Do salmon ever make it in to your area?

 

[releventchair]

 

[mamabear]

Ha!! I have one just like that! Or rather I had. My daughter (also a fisher) absconded it when she went back to college. she is using it for blue berry pancakes. Mine was handed down from Gramma to Mom to me, & now my daughter. Although I think I'm gonna try & get it back some how.

 

[Hillbilly Joe]

LOL! I got tons of cast iron and LOVE it! We do have some landlocked salmon the state breeds and then re-releases. I thought it was funny the first time a guy pulled up a five pound cat and thought it was a HUGE one! I catch all kinds of trout, and some year round when Ice fishing. The Pike are fun to catch, and are ok pickled. I use to fish a lot of Bass tourneys, and while the smallmouth bite is good here, just not a lot of those big ones hanging around!

 

[bsloan]

Hope you get out and wet a hook soon mamabear. At Lake Sommerville, here in Texas, so far this year, jigs have far out produced minnows. The best jigs so fat have been 2 inch black body with chartreuse tail. I have tried minnows and rosey reds, and have yet to land fish of any kind. The last trip to the lake, nobody was catching anything except carp.

Best of luck, and please post pictures of you catch.
Bill

 

[mamabear]

Joe, the second fish my daughter caught was a 5 lb. Dolly. She was 3. she's been hooked ever since.
I have never tried it but a friend says he had carp where they slit the sides & deep fried it. Said it was really good. My dad use to pickle carp & gar. But there's nothing like fresh caught salmon, grilled on a camp fire. That's how I spent my honey moon. My hubby caught a 30 lb. salmon. I know there's bigger, but that was awesome! Here, bass & crappie are what I fish. Y'all post pics of your catches. For those of you with grey ice & ya can't ice fish or boat fish, my condolences.

 

[mamabear]

bsloan I am copying the info you shared. How warm is it there?

 

[dustytrails123]

Try a crappie rig....they work well and you sometimes catch 2 at a time ;-)

 

[mamabear]

hmm that looks interesting.

 

[dustytrails123]

You can buy them pre made ...eagle claw crappie rig ...been using them for years and they work well

 

[xrunndonex]

Got my gear cleaned & am ready to go. Wanna do some pre-spawn bass & crappie fishing. Do crappie lay up in deep areas like bass do this early? Now to the really important question, what's your choice of weapon with crappie? (I already have my favorite for bass.) This early would you go minnow? or ? We just got more ice & snow, & the edges of the lake are frozen up again, but not very far. So would you try fishing it now? (I'll be in the boat) I really want to go fishing!!

Ahh fishing miss the great state of mn even more. Fished on a disclosed lake and in a certain part of it you could throw a worm on a hook throw it in the water and crappie would bite if you didn't get a bite every minute they all must of died. Lots of northern to they are fun. Don't unhook them if you hate blood. Ohh the crappie spot was in the deepest part of the lake.

 

[bsloan]

bsloan I am copying the info you shared. How warm is it there?

Today the temp peaked at 52, but the water temp isn't high enough for the spawn yet. It almost made it last weekend, and then monday morning it was 21 with ice everywhere.

Bill