Crappie Fishing Tips

This article will explain some simple crappie fishing tips that will enable you to catch more crappie. This article will focus on anglers that don't have a boat, because for most of my fishing life, I've been in exactly that predicament. No boat to help you get to the "right" areas. The first thing to understand is that most areas throughout the United States have accessible crappie fishing water for those of us without the help of a boat. On many lakes and reservoirs there are man made piers that provide excellent crappie fishing opportunities. Your local bait shop should be able to point you in the right direction. Once you locate your local fishing pier, and know that people fish for crappie there, follow these tips, to help you catch them.



A crappie's favorite meal is live minnows, there's no doubt about that. You're going to want some small jigs in a variety of colors as well, but a crappies favorite meal is a live minnow. Therefore you're going to need a minnow bucket to keep and carry your minnows. Once you have a couple of dozen live minnows, you're ready to head to the fishing pier.

The best time to catch crappie is at night. Under certain conditions they can be caught all the time, but as a general rule, most anglers fish for crappie off of these piers at night. The first trick, as you will quickly find out, is to position a light above the water once night falls. There are "crappie lights" that a person can purchase, or you can simply attach a propane lantern to a rope, lower in off of the pier, and position it right above the water. The purpose of doing this is to attract bugs and small underwater creatures to the light. That, in turn attracts bait fish to feed on the bugs and small underwater creatures. That, in turn, attract larger fish (such as crappie) to feed on the baitfish. You then lower your live minnow, attached to a bobber, into the water and wait.

What about rigging your live minnow? What's the best way to do this? A set of #8 or 10 gang hooks is the best way to rig a live minnow. A set of gang hooks is simply two small hooks tied in tandem. You simply hook the minnow's lips through the top hook and leave the trailing hook alone. As long as you're using size 8 or 10 hooks, they won't be noticed by the fish. When crappie fishing, the minnow must be alive and swimming around under your bobber. If the minnow is hooked in a manner which doesn't keep it alive long, you're just wasting the money you spend on bait. Hooking it through the lips keeps the minnow alive for a very long time, and presents it in a completely natural manner. A set of gang hooks is the best way to present your minnow to the crappie, and with two hooks, will increase your hook up rate as well.

These simple tips will help you catch more crappie, and we all know why we want to catch more crappie. These little black and white fish are absolutely delicious. We fish for some fish for the fight or their beauty, but crappie? We fish for crappie so that they can grace our dinner table. Crappie are easily one of the best tasting fish that can be caught in freshwater.

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country.....Montana!

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Crappie fish are unique, crappie fishing tips are rare! When fishing for crappie, whether that's fall crappie fishing or winter crappie fishing, grabbing as many crappie fishing techniques as possible, will only help in the long run.