Fall Crappies

[Mobasser]

Crappie fishing often picks up in the fall here in Missouri. On the lakes I fish, most of the crappie are in flooded treetops, or if we can time our trips good, hanging around more shallow weed or wood cover.                                                        We've used standard open hook jigs, and some with a thin wire weedgaurd. These help, but we still snag up a lot. It's part of crappie fishing.                        I dug out some Charlie Brewer weedless Crappie Slider jigs I've had for years. Mine are 1/16oz, chartruese with a red head.               I caught crappie on these years ago, and they worked well both for vertical jigging, and slowly retrieved through sunken brush, weeds, and treetops at various depths.                                 Has anyone else used these jigs? If so, do you like them? I've used Slider heads for bass fishing for years, but looking to add some crappie to the freezer this fall. Have you had good luck with the Weedless Crappie Slider?

[Todd2]

I use them casting or vertical jigging for Crappie. There is an old technique out on Crappie sites called "Vertical Casting"..drop it straight down below the Crappie and a very very slow reel up. No jigging.. I forget the fella's name who wrote the article. It's a great way to catch suspended Crappie. I use the slider head for it and really works well.

[Dorado]

8 hours ago, Todd2 said:

I use them casting or vertical jigging for Crappie. There is an old technique out on Crappie sites called "Vertical Casting"..drop it straight down below the Crappie and a very very slow reel up. No jigging.. I forget the fella's name who wrote the article. It's a great way to catch suspended Crappie. I use the slider head for it and really works well.

I can’t wait to try that!

[Todd2]

1 hour ago, Dorado said:

I can’t wait to try that!

I'm usually dropping it down standing timber below where I'm marking the Crappie..and slow slow retrieve...I've spent many cold winter days with hot coffee doing this and it works. 

[Team9nine]

Our waters are just now starting to cool, and the crappie have just started to group slightly and make their first moves toward the shallower water. Lots of guys like to fish the laydowns throughout the fall around here, especially on a few of our reservoirs that have them in abundance. In those cases, the little weedless slider grub is about the best bait for a cast and retrieve type presentation that doesn't spend more time hung up than not. That said, I don't like fishing the laydowns much because everyone else likes to, so I avoid the easily spotted ones and just fish those I find out deeper using SI that are out of visible eyesight.

 

Was out Tuesday casting Bobby Garland shad baits over stump flats in about 8'-12' of water and managed about 50 crappie, including a limit of decent sized fish, the first good ones I've seen all summer. Think they're finally moving in from being suspended out over deep open water much of the past few months.

 

[roadwarrior]