No Lights Required

One of my “go to” waters must be shifting in the crappie/walleye balance. The crappies are getting a bigger per average catch size and more of them, while the walleyes seem to be in decline. Well, it seems there’s no season in which the crappies won’t bite after dark so I thought I might throw this out there for whoever might benefit from it. Instead of busting your hump on hot summer days or busy weekend hours, put your boat to use and pull some cranks after dark. This is only one of a dozen we hooked up with this night during a 2hr. run and the only one I turned the video on for. This one went 12 1/8″ long and most were between 11″ and 12.5″. Crankin’ for crappies! Actually, the target was walleyes…….

After dark pulling crankbaits is my favorite time to be on the water.No boats and cooler weather

This particular body of water is classified as a “Premier Lake” and it’s got tons of development and recreational boating on it through the summer months. It gets a crap load of fishing pressure as well. Anyway, I’ve been coming to this 3 lake chain since 1998 and I feel like the average night is still only 6 boats or less still putting on the chase after sundown. What’s odd to me is that it’s a rare occasion that I’m not the last one off the water. People have no idea what they’re missing BUT…… that’s fine by me. Bugs have been really thick this year but that’s the only negative I can drum up.

I kinda like the water to myself after dark.

That’s just begging for a smart aleck response but…… too easy. Gotta let that one go……

Once ya get past the skeeter hour, its usually beautiful out there… what kind of setup are ya running in terms of cranks and line back??? Oh and BTW, I am like you, virtually the last one at the landing every time…

Mark

Set up this year has been consistant and basic. Rapala Shallow Shad #5, Shadow Rap #11, and BX Joined Shad #5. Between these 3, we’ve been poppin’ crappies amongst all the other fish willing to give us a try. We got 9 more keepers the other night. For line out, we’ve been varying from only 25′ out to 40′. All depends on what structure we’re targeting.

No tricks to the trolling either. Periodic jerks or sweeps along with leaving it be and moving 1.3 to 1.6mph. We usually get away with this game well into September.