Shoreline Tips for Year Round Crappie Action

Last night, while the wife was watching television, I was on the computer checking out articles about crappie fishing. I came across this one article about bank fishing for crappie. It was a very good article and wanted to share it. I found it on crappie.com. The article was written by tournament anglers Bruce Spangler and Chuck Good of Team Crappie. I'm going to post the article below. Hope you crappie anglers that are boatless enjoy it.

When crappie fishing from shore, there is no substitute for being at the right place at the right time. The seasonal movements of crappie are widely known, from shallow water during spring spawn and early fall, to deep-water structure during summer and winter. Despite their tendency to travel, crappie in any lake can be surprisingly predictable. Any crappie angler who eliminates areas where fish aren't likely to be can greatly increase his/her odds for success.

SPRING SPAWN 
For shoreline anglers, there's no better time to target crappie than during the spring spawn. Look for them in shallow water between 1 and 8 feet deep when water temperatures rise above 55 degrees. Favorite spawning structures include standing timber, brush piles, ripraps, docks, and bridge pilings. One of the most effective ways to fish these structures is with a minnow fished below a bobbers because spawning crappie hold tightly to structures. You can also use 1/32 and 1/64 ounce Creme jigs because of its slow fall and staying in the strike zone. They rise quickly on retrieves, and their descent along structure is slower and lifelike. A stop-and-go method of fishing is ideal when fishing visible structures like trees, docks, and bridge pilings. When fishing a riprap, a steady retrieve can be used to cover water quickly and to keep lure in the strike zone longer.

BRIDGE THE GAP IN SUMMER AND WINTER
Summer and winter present the greatest challenges for shoreline anglers. Once the spawn ends, crappie move deeper as water warms and often suspend in deeper channels, then move to shallows to feed at dawn and dusk. Bridges have been a favorite spot for anglers during this time. A bridge crossing the main river channel is a crappie magnet during the hot and cold months, because they suspend along the channel during the day and feed on the shallower pilings at night. The bridges also provide access to deep water and shade in the summer. When fishing bridges, concentrate your fishing on the down-current side. Crappie usually feed where wind and current washes minnows and other food to shore from pilings. Also, fish on the shady side during the day.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF FLOODS 
Flooding at any time of year often disrupt crappie from deeper water and move to shallows within reach of shoreline anglers. They move toward shore to escape from currents and follow baitfish to flooded brush. Techniques used during spring spawning will work equally well during periods of floods, but the presence of crappie is less predictable. If you find fish, make the most of the opportunity, because flooding conditions often subside quickly.

SMALL LAKES AND PONDS
Small lakes and ponds with cattails along shore offers great crappie fishing during the spawn and the cool fall months. Crappie spawn among cattail reefs in 1 to 2 feet of water. Fish with a 1/16 ounce white or yellow marabou jig. If you see a slight quivering cattail, its a sign of a crappie. Drop a jig using a long pole to reach next to the reed and hold on! In the summer, look for weeds that lines between shallow and deep water. Crappie hangs out in weeds for shade, oxygen, and waiting for baitfish to swim by. Try fishing with a spinner such as a white or orange/chartruse Mepps Rooster Tail. Cast parallel to the weeds and retrieve just fast enough for the spinner to spin.

One thing a shoreline angler may want to consider, is purchasing a Humminbird SmartCast. Its a wire-less fishfinder that lets you find fish, structures, and bottom depths from shore. Simply attach a floating transducer to your line, cast, and view the world below on a display unit. Confidence is the great factor in successful shore fishing for crappie. Learning the patterns in any lake takes time, but with little effort anyone can catch crappie consistently without a boat. In fact, the vast majority of boat anglers spend their time fishing within casting distance from shorelines anyway.

Lady Of The Week

Here is this week's "Lady of the Week"

Favorite Knot To Tie

I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to ask a question and I hope people will answer it in the comment section.

I know people use many different knots but what is your favorite knot to tie when your fishing? I have 3 or 4 knots that I use but I use the improved clinch knot the most. My father showed me it when I was a young kid. I will say that I am slowly using the palomar knot a lot more. It is very easy to tie. I also have a couple of knots I use if I'm fly fishing so feel free to answer the question even if you fly fish. I like to see what everyone likes to tie. Think it will be interesting.

Lady Of The Week

I'm always looking for ways to make this blog better. Many ideas go through my head and I have to decide if any of these idea will help the enjoyment of this blog. Some of these ideas are fishing related and some are not. The fishing related ideas are easier for me to decide if I want to include it to the blog. It the non-fishing related ideas that give me more of a problem. If it is not fishing related I got to make sure that it will make this blog better and more enjoyable.

Well I've come up with an idea that I feel will make this blog more enjoyable even though it is not fishing related. What I have come up with is the "lady of the week". It pretty much just going to be a pretty face that is going to be posted to the blog. Who does not enjoy looking at a photo of a beautiful  lady. The photos will be classy. You will not find trashy photos on this site. Some of these ladies will be fishing related. Some will be celebrities and some will just be a pretty face that I find. Some of these posts will just be a photo and some I may do a little write-up with the photo. My goal in the future is to post the "lady of the week" on Wednesdays.

I really hope you will enjoy this part of the blog. If anyone has a problem with this part of the blog feel free to contact me and we will talk about it and I may remove the photo. Well let's get this started. Here is the first "lady of the week" photo.

Pond Fishing For Catfish

It's been a hard year for me when it comes to my back problems. My back has been a bigger problem than I thought it would be. I had hoped to have more posts than I do on this blog but my focus has been on my back. You will start to see more post on this blog in the future. One of those post will be a short one about pond fishing for catfish. I'm going to show you a few things to look for when you are pond fishing for catfish.

One of the best things about pond fishing is that there is likely one within close enough driving distance for just about everyone to enjoy. Some ponds are on private property so please make sure that you can fish these ponds. Most of the time the owners will give you the ok, but if not then just thank him or her for their time and go looking for another pond. Also, many towns and townships have small ponds located within parks that are open to the public. Due to it's small size, finding catfish in a pond is much easier than locating them in a large lake. Most ponds you can walk the whole shoreline without much trouble.

There are several things you want to look for. Look for inflowing water. It can be a drain pipe, a small creek or just the muddy run off a summer downpour. Any inflowing water is the place to start in your search for catfish. If the water coming in is muddy, and the pond water is clear, there will be an area where these two types of water meet. Fishing that line of clear/muddy water can be very productive. The reverse is also true if the water coming in is clear, and the pond water is muddy or stained.

A dock is also a good place to fish if the pond has one. A weedline is another good place to look. Any shoreline that has the wind blowing into it on a windy day is a good place to look at also. A strong wind will concentrate the smaller bait fish along the shoreline, and the larger fish will move in to feed on them.

When considering baits for pond fishing, you need to look at what is available for catfish to feed on. This usually are small baitfish, minnows, frogs and crayfish. While liver, shrimp, hotdogs, nightcrawlers and stinkbaits will work, and sometimes work very well, the best baits are those that are available to the catfish in my opinion. If you are catching smaller cats, consider switching baits to small bluegills, or several minnows on a hook. Frogs hooked through the lips, or crayfish hooked through the tail would serve well also if you can get your hands on them.

I hope this blog post will help you when your pond fishing for catfish. Good luck!!!

2013 Goals

With 2013 being here now, I've be thinking of some of the goals that I want to accomplish this year when it comes to fishing.

My first goal is just to get my back better. If I don't get my back better then there will be no fishing for me. I should have a better idea what the future holds for me when I visit the specialist on the 23^rd of this month.

The second goal is to get on the hardwater. If my back does not get better soon then this goal may not happen but I going to try. The reason I set this as a goal is because last year I did not get a chance to get on the ice because there was no safe ice. We did have a couple of places that had enough ice for people to get out but the ice was not thick enough for my liking. When it comes to ice fishing, I will only step on it if there is about 5 or 6 inches. If I would fall though the ice then I am sinking like rock. I do not own one of those floating suits. It is one of the next things on my list to get. I will always play it safe when it comes to ice fishing. There is no fish worth more than my life.

My next goal is to catch a personal best (Size) walleye. I plan on heading up to Lake Erie with the mind set that I will set my personal best. I will have to get up there a lot more than I did last year to give me a better chance.

Another goal is to catch two new species. Those two are flathead catfish and steelhead. I have caught thousands of channel cats in my life. I even caught a blue but the few times I have targeted flatheads, I've never caught one. This is the year that I want to catch a flathead. Steelhead is the other fish I want to catch. I have never been steelhead fishing. There is really no excuses for not doing it. I just never did it. Well, I hope this fall I will catch me one.

Another goal is to fish a new stream and learn it real well. I driven pass this stream many times going to other streams. Well, I told my self that I am going to fish it this year. I am not just going to fish it. I am going to learn just about every inch of that stream. I am looking forward to fishing it.

My last goal may be one of the bigger goals I have. It is Tenkara fishing. It is a form of fly fishing. I will have a post about Tenkara fishing at a later time. Why do I want to learn how to Tenkara fishing you ask. Well, first of all I love learning different ways to fish. My love for fishing is so big that I don't want to pin myself to just one way of fishing or targeting just one type of fish. Couple of years ago I started to learn how to fly fish. Never did any type of fly fishing before but, like I said earlier, I wanted to learn different ways to fish. I picked it up ok but still have a lot of work and learning to do. Well, with me reading up and trying to learn more about fly fishing, I kept hearing people talk about Tenkara. After researching it some I felt that this is something I would really enjoy. It really is a simple way to fly fish but there also aresome changes. Again, I won't go into great detail about it today as I will have a post on Tenkara that goes into great detail in the near future. Feel free to look it up. I feel it may interest many other people.

Well, that is 6 goals that I hope to accomplish this year. If my back can get better then I feel I can get these goals done with the ice fishing goal being the hardest one to do You can't predict the weather. I love to hear what some of the goals you guys and ladies have this year. Feel free to post them in the comment section.