Crappie Kingdom 15 Mar 2018

Crappie Kingdom

RIVER TIME: FEATHERS OR PLASTIC

It’s been a long winter and time for the springtime runs. I’m asked the question where to go catch fish at this time of the year quite often. My first response is to ask what type of fish you wanting to catch. Here’s my standard answer. The Walleye will seek spawning areas first, second is the White Bass, next is Crappie and Bass, then Bluegill, and last Catfish. The tributaries will produce the first runs due to shallower water that warms up quicker. When the water temp reaches the 55 degree mark, Whites are already moving up into the spawning areas. The Walleyes will be looking for spawning areas as well and many will congregate along rip-rap close to the Dams of the reservoirs. They will continue to spawn in other areas as well. The Crappies are gonna do their thing when water temperatures (surface) reaches the 58-60 degree mark. Low light conditions is best for the Walleye and Crappie. The males will go to shallow water looking for spots to make nests. The actual spawn occurs when the female is ready. I have found that the White Bass do not really care about light conditions but tend to be more active on cloudy, blustery days. As the summer progresses, the Bluegill and Catfish will spawn.

At this time of the year, the River is the go to place for the most consistent bite and wide variety of fish to catch. The main lake area takes more time to warm and slows the spawn process. It will warm later and create a progressive spawn as the spring warm weather increases. Pre-spawn Bass can be caught in the colder water of the main lake but other species are spotty at best. Some deep Crappie are caught in the cold water. They can be found around deep structure and large shad balls. Look for shad wads on shallow flats as well. The bait fish will attract game fish and can produce some good sacks of fish. The radiant heat will warm the flats and cause an increase of fish activity.

Another question I get quite often is my preference of plastic jigs or feathers. I recall years ago when one of the forerunner of plastic bodied jigs appeared. It was called a helluva jig. It revolutionized the crappie fishing industry. The thing that was so nice about this jig body was that you could change colors without having to break one jig off and tie another one on. It was versatile and above all caught fish. It didn’t have a lot of action but for some reason the fish liked it and ate it. The feathered (marabou) jig was and is still a productive lure. The feathers on the butt of the jig give a flowing action to the bait and will catch a lot of fish. I use both. My favorite feather bait is the roadrunner. TTI Blakemore Fishing Group owns the patent on that bait and it has caught a tons of fish over the years. It has been around a long time and the only changes have been in color selection. The slower you can fish it, the better the bite will be. The roadrunner head is produced as well with or without a bait keeper. It is produced to enable it to be used with a variety of plastic bodies. I throw the roadrunner bait with both marabou and plastic for spawning Crappie. I will catch Bass, Bluegill, Catfish, Drum, Carp, Bass and Walleye on that bait. It is universal. It is a fantastic White Bass bait when combined with plastic swimmin’ minnow bodies.

Marabou jigs as well as plastic jigs will catch fish. One of my favorite all time color of marabou jig is the white head, purple body, white tailed jig. It’s a catching machine. Also the red head, green body, and chartreuse tailed jig. Any color of chartreuse in plastic will catch fish. Glow colors are my favorite. Everybody has their favorite color and I say if it works don’t change. MidSouth Super Tubes, Bobby Garland Slab Busters, and smaller 1 ½ inch tubes are my choice. Tie any of these baits on an ultra-light rod and reel combination and you will catch a variety of fish and a lot of them. You might be surprised how big of fish you can catch on these little rigs as well. One thing for sure is, you gotta get out on the water to catch fish. Good fishing and good catching!