Crappie Fishing

Crappie do not adapt well to small ponds. They compete with bass and bluegills for food, and because they spawn early in the year, they get big enough, soon enough, to eat more than their share of small bass when it should be the opposite. The pond will eventually lose its balance, and both the crappie and the bass populations run the risk of becoming stunted.

I have seen small ponds produce huge crappie in relatively small numbers, and a few years later the big crappie will seemingly disappear and the pond will become predominately populated with tiny fish just a few inches in length. Then a few years later it can turn around and start the process all over again, big crappie, but few in numbers.

However, just because crappie are ill-suited for ponds, doesn't mean they shouldn't be targeted in those places. Unless the pond is small and tightly controlled by the pond owner, crappie are going to get to the pond. It doesn't take but a handful to eventually turn into a pond full. Usually it is the well-intentioned fishermen who believes the pond "needs some crappie" who is the culprit.

Crappie love structure like old brush piles or fallen trees, actually anything submerged. Good crappie structure can be created with old Christmas trees.

Crappie love minnows - live minnows. Only the hungriest crappie will want dead ones. If you can find them, buy tuffie minnows. Tuffies are like the name implies. Some fishermen hook them through the tail. Others hook just below the top fin. I hook them through the lips because they stay alive longer. Check the minnow occasionally to make sure it is still alive and kicking. Use a size 6 wire hook for crappie. You don't want the stiff hooks. Wire hooks will often straighten enough to come loose from a hangup. You will get hung up often fishing structure.

Jigs work. You need to find a jig that looks like a minnow when it is moving. Crappie jigs with white or yellow tails seem to work best, more often. The color of water in combination with light is the main factor that determines what color is going to catch more fish, but there are so many variables involved that I wouldn't try to figure it out. Just pick a color and if you're not catching enough fish, try another. Same with the head color. I usually use white heads with red eyes, but that is probably just habit.

Stay off the bottom. There is no crappie bait that works sitting on the bottom. Other panfish, like bluegills, will feed off the bottom, but not crappie.

One jigging method that works from a boat, especially over structure, is to first drop your jig to the water bottom. Then lift your rod fairly swiftly and drop it again, over and over. Crappie will often hit it on the way down. You will lose a lot of jigs over structure this way, but jigs are cheap.

When crappie spawn in the spring, they hang very close to the bank. I have caught them less than a foot of water off deep banks. When they are spawning, it is best to fish with a float. I like the clear tubular shaped floats. Try fishing two to four feet deep at first, and adjust depth as needed.

During spawning season I like to walk the bank, casting as close to the bank as I can in the beginning. If nothing is hitting close, I cast a little farther out, then farther, and so on. Walking up the bank, and casting in an arc covers a lot of territory. If you catch one fish, you could very well not have to move again for a long time.

Late afternoon is the best time of day using this method. Cloudy days are good for crappie, and even a little wind to ruffle the water helps.

Since my website is primarily focused on traveling to the Gulf Shores, Alabama area, I debated on whether I should have included crappie on my fishing pages. Most of the better crappie fishing is farther inland, and most tourists with a limited amount of vacation time are not going to want to venture that far away from the beach. For the beach tourist, there are many more readily accessible fish species to target, both saltwater and freshwater. I decided to include crappie fishing for the simple reason that crappie fishing is extremely popular.

Not all beach visitors are going to stay a week and leave - many are going to stay for the winter. Others are going to like the area so much they eventually retire here.

The simple answer to "where are they" is almost anywhere there is freshwater. There is a small population (that has been a bigger in the past, and might be big again in the future) in Gulf State Park. Most of the small freshwater ponds, where you either need to own property or have permission to fish, have some crappie. All of the nearby rivers have crappie, except where the water becomes too salty to support them.

Any freshwater pond, lake or river is going to have potentially good crappie fishing.