Any one else got the itch for grass and warm weather? I sat down last night and dug out the crappie satchel to put away some new tackle and to re-organize a bit. At one point it was almost disappointing when I looked outside and saw all this snow.
Now is a good time to clean house, so to speak, and begin getting ready for the open water season. It is, after all, right around the corner! For those of you who are ardent fans of the crappies, you may want to consider that as soon as the water opens even a little along shorelines- just enough to cast into- the fish will have started to move into the area already. Those pockets of open water can be as much as ten degrees warmer than the adjecent water still wrapped in a blanket of ice! And it is this sort of water that should be where you begin looking for these pups. If you are prepared.
Make sure that you go to the water with the right stuff. Get some #4 true-turn hooks (aberdeen) and slide a small chartreuse bead on the hook shank up to the eye, hang tthe hook on a pop can and put just a tap of superglue on the bead. Allow to dry completely and clean the eye of the hook if needed.Fish a minnow (very small ones yet) on this hook with a small split and under a float. These “beaded” hooks have proven themselves over several years! Take along a thermometer to measure the water temp. I have one that I cast out under a big enough bobber to hold it at about 5-8 feet and take readings at several locations in that pocket of open water. When I find where the warmest water is “welling up”, I trade the thermometer for the tackle. That thermometer is perhaps the most important tool for early season crappie fishing there is. If the fish are willing and readily take the minnows, I like to trade up to small 1″ twisters on very small jigs- again under the float to help keep them at the level the fish are at.Another key apart of my tackle is a small dropper bottle of cod-liver-oil. This is all natural, sticks to everything and nothing smells more like fish than it does. And crappies love the stuff!
By spending a little time now with your toys, you can get yourself , maybe not on but at, the water much earlier come spring melting. Some of these fish will be the largest of the season and come to the warmer water hungry. On one very early spring day last year I caught over a hundred craps fishing for four hours in a veritable blizzard. The bite started off on minnows, but as the storm intensified went to plastic. Another time last winter lat, I went to Foster’s to toss some spinners at the beach where the water had opened up. You could see very large trout just under the ice-lip, but they would not touch anything. People were throwing everything from minnows to the powerbait marshmellows to worms….you name it, they threw it. No way the fish would hit. I dug into my little box of wonders and came up with an old Kastmaster, tied it on and boom. Three fish wham,wham, wham. You have to be ready! This can provide for some wild fishing if the time was taken to prepare. Go that way…take both bait and artificials and let the fish tell you what they want. This is the season of the real piggies and you don’t have to chance bad ice to get them.
February 8, 2004 at 6:47 pm
#1316939
Thanks, Bill 
…….all i’m really doin is jumping over the spots i should be fishin 
……..thanks for the tip, i’ll remember that one the next time a buddy wants to go ice sheet hoppin.
Busted!!! 
Don’t think I’ve plank fished since then!
