My uncle will be taking me out fishing on the 27-30,for walleyes. I am also looking for crappies he doesn’t know where to find them. Because my grandpa and my uncle fished for walleyes their whole life. So they just don’t know where to go. They say black bay. Other then that, they don’t know. Any tips for me. Jigs/baits? And depths I should look for. Dates are 5/27-5/30. Will the crappies be spawning yet… thank you!
Black Bay is definitely a good place to go looking for some of those giant crappie Rainy is known for. It is also a treacherous piece of water to try and navigate at high speeds so do use extreme caution when getting off the main navigation routes leading into and out of the bay.
Here’s a previous thread on this topic worth checking out. It is related to fall crappie but for the most part the crappie are doing similar things in the spring… in very similar areas.
https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/rainy-lake-black-bay-crappies/
I’ve caught crappie on the shallow rock piles that are sprinkled around in the back of the bay as well as caught some dandies out of the bull rushes. The crappie around the rock piles and rushes bite well on calm, warm days and can be incredibly difficult to catch in the shallows if the temps drop or you get a stiff wind.
I like to cast a small bright plastic on a light jig head and swim that back to the boat while others do the bobber and minnow thing. Both work.
To add to this from last fall, we ended up going thru Black Bay back to the Rat last fall each day. While we were there in early Oct and Sept was a very warm month, we still managed to find a few crappies back in the Rat each day (didnt spend any time in Black Bay itself). We found working the main river channel once in the river was the best. Baits were small jigs w/ plastics.
Thank you for the tips. What type of plastics do you use. I normally use live bait. Never really use plastics.
I like to cast a small bright plastic on a light jig head and swim that back to the boat while others do the bobber and minnow thing. Both work.
Spring crappies can be real depth specific too so don’t ignore the jig/plastic under a float.
@” or less paddletails are a good plastic on a 1/16 -1/32 head. The minnow baits similar to and including the 2″-2 1/2″ Gulp and Powerbait products work very well. The time proven 2″ twister tail is a great one if you’re casting/retrieving. Southern Pro makes a great crappie stinger bait that should find its way with you too.
Plastic colors: purple or junebug with a chartreuse tail is a must for color. White to use on a hot pink head should go along. Anything shad or smelt colored too. For the Gulp or Powerbait the chartreuse shad and smelt or the dark-backed shad colors will get the job done if they want something that smells.
Well weather was rainy/windy on rainy Lake. The only Sunny day was Friday. We went to cranberry and worked our way home. Stopped in lost bay. Nothing. We caught most our walleyes o. The rainy days just on the north side of the Rainier bridge. The lock system was closed at that time so little to no danger underneath the bridge. We worked the river on the way back to the landing. Caught a few nice ones on the way back on rock piles and drop offs. The small mouth where jumping out of the water north of the bridge. My grandfather had a 4-5lbs on and it broke his line at the boat. Fishing was over poor. The lake…. always beautiful!
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