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Early Season Crappie Tools

by Steve Welch

Way back in the early 1980’s I grew too old to race ATV's and dirt bikes, so I needed a new obsession. So I got my first boat, which was bought for me by my then mother-in-law who needed a tax loophole, and a gift was the perfect solution. Hey, who am I to complain?

I was as thirsty for knowledge as a kid in preschool. The problem was that my friends who crappie fished were as tight-lipped then as they are today. I was out to prove to them and everyone that I could read, research, and most of all, just spend more time on the water perfecting my passion for this sport of crappie fishing.

It wasn’t long before I was winning big crappie tourneys on Clinton. I once had a streak of seven in a row, one while fishing by myself. Back then my partner and I were winning or placing in the top five places at all of them. He soured on tourneys though and would just rather fish, so we quit the tourneys for the most part. I then started my guide service and worked hard to get it where it is today.

Early on I saw the advantage of logging everything down that I did and what I saw each day on the water. I started putting together patterns that hold true to this day.

I immediately found that surface temperature readings were crucial during spring. I used to get together with friends who fished and ask them what water temps they got. None of them had a gauge or even cared about the temps.

To me it was obvious that certain temps caused the fish to suspend in standing timber, certain temps got males moving towards the bank, and certain temps brought females up on nests.

Back then we fished Clinton Lake a lot more and it was a much better crappie lake than it is today. I still believe the power plant has something to do with that.

Anyway, Clinton Lake coves are full of hedge trees that spread out on the surface, allowing the fish to hover right under the branches.

I noticed that surface temps of 48 degrees or higher this caused the fish to suspend, with two or more days of steady full sun being the best condition. The trees would be in 15-25 feet of water and the fish were down just a couple of feet. This still goes on there today, but there aren’t near as many fish since the plant came on line.

I also noticed that 50 degrees would get the males from the deep water up into the 6-10 foot range. At 55 degrees they would be even shallower and start to make nests. Sixty-two to 68 degrees would get the spawn under way. The males would remain shallow until the mid-70 to low 80’s range. If you give them a rest until you see mid-80’s temps, then you are on a summer pattern for them. This same pattern works at Lake Shelbyville, Mark Twain Lake, or any lake that has a lot of wood cover on the surface.

Another tool for success that I saw back in the early 1980’s, long before they became the norm, is the long, stout 10-foot crappie rod. We would buy a steelhead rod and wrap new eyelets on it. Stiff and strong was the word. We needed it to get the fish out of the heavy hedge. Today rods are much lighter and aimed at different fishing situations, but you can still buy a good stiff rod.

During 2000 I jumped on the GPS bandwagon and all my buddies followed as soon as they saw how accurate and handy they were. Yeah, they jumped on that surface temperature gauge also, since they didn’t want me to get too far ahead of them.

My newest system has a built-in, 30 gigabyte hard drive so I have current mapping of contours, old roads, foundations, boat ramps, and barge lanes all buoyed off.

I have two color systems networked together to share waypoints so that when I enter one on my rear unit, it automatically brings up that same waypoint on my front unit. By having a GPS on the bow of my boat, I can now stop short of my destination and sneak up over it by using my trolling motor.

My buddies haven’t jumped on the color bandwagon yet, but they soon will since new systems will be in color. Don’t fight it because once you get the hang of them, you can easily tell if fish are in the cover by the darker color on the screen. I can tell you if the fish have left a stake bed on Kentucky Lake by using this technology. Brush is a little more difficult since the heavy branches will also show a darker color on the screen.

My newest tool is the side-imaging from Humminbird. It allows me to see out to the side of my boat 150 feet, while my Lowrance systems show what’s underneath the boat. I can search a lake so much quicker now and can easily find objects such as stake beds or old tires for bluegill nests. It also finds fanned bluegill nests on the bottom. I can see fish if they are close to the bottom or any stump on a flat. I can freeze the frame, move my cursor over, and get the waypoint from 150 feet away.

This year I will be sporting a new look up front on my Ranger. I have the Black Widow spider rig set up made by Tight Lok. I intend to use it during every tourney that involves tight lining. In tourneys that I know I am throwing a cork, I don’t want the clutter up front but I will use it for the rest.

I use spider rigs differently than most people. I pull up short of a brush pile, set my rods to hover just over them, and move slowly over them while gradually letting out line to get in the heart of it. I then saturate it with bait and plastic, reel up, and move to the next brush pile.

I have bait casters on all my outfits to quickly adjust depth and this system is deadly. I did this at the classic and the fall tourney that I fished back home and it was very effective. It allows you to get those fish on top of a brush pile quickly before you spook them. Be ready though, because it is pure chaos with four to eight rods going off at the same time.

To find out more about fishing and guided trips with Steve Welch visit: www.lakeshelbyvilleguide.com