Clearwater Crappie Hunters….

Well as I said today I was going out to check the crappie bite for you crappie lovers..
Well there is good news and bad news, I will start with the bad news,I did not catch a single crappie in fact I did not catch a single fish,I did not move around either for my youngest son was with fishing and it was a cold one out there for him.
Now the good news is using the LX-5 we knew there were fish present and using the VS-250 we knew we were on crappies and these were some BIG crappies made the 2 inch crappie minnow look like it was only an inch long. I would guestimate there size to be about 3/4 to a little over a pound. Nice thick humps on there heads. These fish are not that size by biting anything presented to them. They showed a bit of interest to our minnows but moreless just bullying our minnows around. I was using a red hook and my little guy was using a mini mert but they were not falling for the bait. Should have grabbed some grubs out of the fridge..
We were sitting in 45 F.O.W. topped with 14 inches of ice. So we now know where the crappies are and all that is left to do is find what is going to get them to bite.
We were seeing at any given time 3 to 10 crappies suspended about 2 feet off the bottom.
Any suggestions on what to throw at them I am open to suggestions..

1 lb fl-carbon and the smallest minnows you can find ,hook by the tail ,lips ,dorsal anything you can think of then wait for a response with the camera. Good luck sleeping tonight!

Sleeping whats that??? Your talking to a guy that has insomnia,I might get 2 hours sleep tops and usually that comes mid morning after I come back in from a early morning fishing..

Whoa my post odometer just flipped 800… Now 801…

Glad to hear there still around. I had’nt heard any good reports in a couple years.

You know how Jim gets though. Guess I better invite myself along before to long.

Try a small black ant(#12), or a natural colored fly fishing fly tipped with a maggot or waxy.

Often extreme downsizing will get them to bite, on the other hand, I couldnt keep them off a 2 1/2″ long jigging spoon with the head of a fathead.. many of those fish were TINY, but some good ones mixed in, they wouldnt hit a crappie size jig.

On Geneva, which is gin clear, I use only the head of a small minnow. I will also use only a very small fly hook many times.

Has anyone tried fishing lake Agusta in the winter? I used to fish it in the summer when I was a kid about 15 years ago. We caught huge crappies in front of the river on the north end in the summer.

Try using the smallest Rat Finke, white with 2 Eurolarve on it. I usually don’t fish Clearwater until Mid Feb. The bigger Crappie’s barely hit the lure, you have to watch the line, not the rod. Good luck.

I have not tried Augusta yet this winter due to the ice conditions, but have talked to some that have. They told me that they were doing ok on Augusta but nothing this year in real good size. They were fishing the bay on the Northeast corner just on the other side of the channel running to Clearwater…

As for everyone elses ideas of baits to use I will give it a try and let you all know how it goes…

If all else fails drop a stick of dynamite down the hole and hold on. Might want to leave the little one at home for this one.

Use a pounder loaded with maggots. Keep it hopping!

Went out to Clearwater Sat 2/3/07, WOW it was cold!!!
-8 below. I was able to locate crappie’s, Rat Finke with 2 Euro’s was the ticket – glow up the lure every 5 minutes or so. Caught them suspended, was fishing in 30 feet of water, adjacent to a hump that comes up to 6 feet, the suspended fish were down 12-15 feet of water. Will post pix’s soon as I locate the camera.

Craig~
Sounds like you done found my hole…

I tried the 50 ft hole, nothing but small crappie’s. West of Bungalow Island is where’s they be. Glowing the jig is the ticket.

Yep that is where I have been working the bite just west of Bungalo by the spear houses. The one spear house is on the hump at 6 feet other side of him it drops to 17 F.O.W. the northside of him drops to 48 F.O.W. I try setting in the 30 to 42 foot area…
Last time out there I had a stare down contest with some nice crappies but I could not get them to bite that day…
But then again I was mainly just scouting them out at that time. So I did not go out with waxies and larvae just minnows and jigs..
Hope to catch you out there sometime…

I can’t believe that these crappies don’t bite during the daylight periods. I only have been able to locate them at dusk or dark. I think the bite will only get better with the zoo-planktin and micro-organisms becoming more active as days get longer and warmer.

Oh they will bite once we find what they want to eat and it may just be what you have presented them this last week.
As far as the plankton and stuff becoming more active,oh they are active now I turn the lights on the camara and there they are scooting all over the monitor..
Now if the weather can just stay steady for a while and stop its quick changing the fish may hold there spots long enough for us to get out there and nail them..