Crappie Kingdom 19 Jul 2016

Crappie Kingdom

SUMMER SLAM BEDS

I have talked about beds for many years in seminars, classes, and my writings but I can’t express enough how important they are at this time of the year. I have been putting in beds at the local lakes for over thirty years. Surprisingly, some of those first beds are still there and holding fish. The type of material that was sunk in the lake did not deteriorate. The “beds” are nothing more than man made habitat. Not only do they provide a mainstay for Crappies but they attract Bass, Walleye, and Catfish as well. The structures provide a genuinesmorgasbord for all the predator fish. The zooplankton is abundant which attracts the bait fish which attracts the game fish. What could be more important than plenty of structure to attract feeding fish? The Mo. Dept. of Conservation and Corps of Engineers have done a good job of planting structure for the management of the fisheries which in turn has provided great opportunities for the angler to cash in on good fishing spots. In addition, local fishing clubs have contributed by dumping Christmas trees in the lake as fish attractors. The work I have done “making beds” has paid great dividends for my success catching fish. The structures I have placed in the lakes are strategically placed close to “fishy” areas and have provided me with many places to fish. I never have to worry about someone else fishing one of “my beds” because I always have another one to go to. I say “my beds” with tongue in cheek because I know the beds are community property once they are placed in the lake.

This time of the year is my favorite for catching crappies. Most of the fair weather fishermen are gone thinking that since the spawn is over so is the crappie season. Wow is that far from the truth. I wait anxiously for this time of the year when the crappies migrate to the beds with one thing in mind and that’s feeding. Another misnomer is that a host of fishermen think the fish go deep. That’s not true. The crappie will go only as deep as the thermocline for extended periods of time. Consequently shallow structure is a target area for summer slam fishing. When I speak of shallow structure, I’m talking 4 to 20 feet. The hot weather doesn’t seem to effect the fish that much. There might be a subtle change with changing water temperature but generally it is a depth change that can be figured out quickly. The exciting part of this time of the year is which “bed” is going to hold the fish and which method is going to catch the fish. It’s a day to day issue and fun to figure out.

I have talked about “drift fishing” and “vertical jigging” in previous articles and will continue to promote these two types of methods. I use 6 ½ ft. ultralight or light action rods and ultralight reels spooled with 4# monofilament line. I also use 1/16oz. jigs with artificial tubes. The light equipment is best particularly for the drift technique. The drift is simply pitching the jig across the structure and allowing the bait to fall just above the structure and swim it across the top. The key is to keep the jig just above the structure and not get hung up when swimming the jig back to you. The bite can be ever so slight so line watching and rod tip watching is extremely important. The ultralight action rod will allow you to see the bite much better than the heavier action rods. The lighter line allows the jig to fall and swim more naturally than heavier line. The vertical jigging method is nothing more than dropping the jig to the perimeter of the structure bottom or in the dense part of the bed and slowly retrieving the jig upward. The key to this method is determining the difference between a bite and a limb. Hang ups are frequent and can be frustrating but practice will help you determine a bite from structure. The bite can be very aggressive or ever so slight. Line watching and rod tip watching is also important with this method.