Live Bait: Article # 20 Special Details On Crappie Baits Details Here!
November 30, 2009 by admin
Filed under Fishing Boats
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Our article today is going to focus on some crappie live bait selections that are often over looked as crappie baits. Any combination of these crappie live baits can fill your crappie basket so read on for details. Most crappie fisherman never use these crappie baits because they probably never need too 80% of the time if they are fishing with crappie minnows such as fathead minnows. So why bother with these other types of live bait selections for crappies? Well there are times that crappies turn off of the standard crappie live bait selections and you need to try something different or go home empty handed. We will talk about two of the most common alternate crappie baits that work quite well.
Bluegill fry make an excellent live bait selection especially if you want to target crappies in ponds where the young fry that crappie feed on are from bluegill or sunfish hatch. I would recommend you check with your local department of natural resources because in some states using these fry as bait may be illegal. The best size fry to use to catch crappie are 1″ to 2″ in length. You can use a minnow Seine, cast net or minnow trap to catch these fry. You won’t find them at any bait shop. Actual bluegill and sunfish fry make up a big percentage of the crappies natural food source. Make sure when you fish bluegill fry you stay just a little bit farther away from the cover then if you were fishing standard crappie minnows. Bluegill or sunfish fry will tangle very easily in any standing cover. It will take a bit of practice because the bluegill fry may feel exactly like a actual crappie bite to you. So you will need to be able to figure out the difference quickly. But to be honest most of the crappie bits you will get using this live bait will be hard strikes.
One of the most under used crappie baits are small threadfin or small gizzard shad especally if you want to catch a creelful of crappie! The shad actually makes up from 50 to 90 percent of the crappies food source in some locations where there are large populations of shad. Amazingly shad is not often picked as a crappie fishing live bait selection. Probably the main reason is they are hard to keep alive in your bait bucket. But if you can catch them fresh and use them right away you will be surprise how many crappie will hit this bait and hit it hard! The two types of shad that are populated throughout the united states are the threadfin shad and the gizzard shad. You can use either of these shad in the 2 to 3 inch size range to catch crappie. The smaller size fish make excellent a excellent live bait selection. The best way to catch fresh shad is to use cast net. Go to areas such as bridges, power plants piers and rip rap where shad tend to school. The best way to keep shad alive is to use a bait container that floats in the water and has freshwater moving in and out of it. If you use a bait container on your boat it needs to be aerated. these fish like I said will die easily. You can hook shad through the lips or just below the dorsal fin. Shad work great where the water is very stained and traditional crappie minnows are not cutting it.
We hope the information in this article about catch crappie. Have a great day!
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