Crappie Spawn

While I continue to prepare for my FLW Tour Leech Lake Tournament it is hard not to take some time out to take in the great fishing associated with the crappie spawn.  This time of year the large crappies are staging to spawn and for the most part, very willing to bite when you find them.

The last few days the kids and I have been fishing crappies in the hardstem bulrushes for fish that are actually in spawning and then the first shoreline breaks in 6-8 feet of water for those fish that are staging to spawn.  Typically you will find the biggest crappie in the system in the shallower water in the prime spawning areas.  This process can take several weeks and with the water temps continuing to hold around 60 degrees the bites should remain good for some time yet.

For the fish in shallow hardstem bulrushes we are using a simple crappie minnow under a bobber.  It doesn't get much easier than that.  We are fishing 2 ft down in 4 ft of water focusing on the dark bottom areas in the bulrush patches.  With these cold temps, the bulrushes are not growing yet and there is very little weed cover established.

For the deeper fish staging to spawn we have been using a different technique this year.  These fish are about 3 ft down over 6-8ft of water and seem to move along the breakline just outside the prime spawning area.  To stay after these fish I have been using the larger 1/16th ounce Black Flu Flu tipped with a wax worm or small crappie minnow.  Instead  of a bobber we have been using the Off Shore Tackle Mini Planer Boards http://www.offshoretackle.com/OR34.html and moving along with the trolling motor at about .5-.7 MPH.  This combination has been deadly for picking up these suspended fish and works really well fishing crappies in all the wind we have been getting lately.  You don't have to run the boards out very far away from the boat.  I am moving along with the Minn Kota and running the mini-boards about 15 ft to the side.  The large crappies just crush this combination and it is an absolute blast catching these fish.

With the speed and weight we are using you want to let out about 5ft of line and then clip on the board, that will have you fishing about 3.5 ft down where the fish seem to be willing to bite.  With a MPH wind every day you have to be creative at the way to go after these fish and I think this method will really help those looking for a nice meal of crappie or that trophy of a lifetime.