Many of you have heard me mention “wood” and probably wonder what I consider it to be. That can be answered best by describing it.
Shorelines have many sources of wood which will grow down to and even into the water. Some wood only affects the water during high water periods.Much of this could be brushy, some may be big and burly fallen trees. What do I look for in wood? Several things are looked at when considering whether I am going to fish wood. If there is high water and growing vegatation has now got water half way up it’s growth and it has straight stems, I will fish it. Crappies love the vertical growth and can even be found right up shallow sliding between the stems picking bugs or hunting small minnows.The best stuff will have stem diameters of about 1/2 inch, stems will be straight and branch-free with roots set in the mud.
Trees with branches in the water, reaching from shore outward, are good selections…IF you can find such cover which has seen a few seasons already.The small branches , twigs and leaf cover will drive a guy buggy trying to fish it just after it has fallen and not been allowed to shed some of this vegatation for a couple years. When I find something which has been in the water for three years, I consider that fishable. This is good cover to fish early and late season, during those transistion periods.The best of this will have deep water within fifty yards of it.Fronts and radical weather changes at this time will put the crappies in the deep water, thus the need to have it just to keep fish near this sort of wood.
One of the toughest woods to fish is sunken wood…that which is not visible to the eye outside or under water. This is the wood which time has anchored in deep water, generally has no limbs other than very large ones, and lays almost flat to the bottom. If you cannot read a graph or know from experience where this cover is, it can be hard to locate. It is this sort of cover that supports fishing when the thermocline comes into play and again in the deepest part of winter fishing.This will be a mainstay during major cold fronts in the spring and fall. On good electronics crappies may appear to look like barnacles growing on the wood because they are so tight to it. A note here: these are tough, but catchable fish. I can promise you that if you drop a SMALL jig down there, on a tight line, with a plastic having a single long tapered tail that has been shortened to about an inch the fish will hit it. But you can only just hang it there. Hair will get you fish as well as long as it is SMALL. Bait will make you go blind in this instance….no amount of its use or staring at the water will make these fish hit bait and your eyes will fall out looking for a hit.
The absolute best wood in the world, and least findable, is an old tree which is straight up and down in the water column, but not necassarily attached….like it is still standing.Something on this order does it all…captures the attention of moving or suspended fish, offers them deep water safety and comfort, draws in plankton-feeding minnows and offers shade. I found one such piece of wood early one spring and quite literally fished it for two full years before spring’s high water the third year swept it away.One fall day I was tied up to the deadhead while fishing and was able look down into the water and CHOOSE which crap to drop to. It was wild!
Here is a trick I used when I was a bait dunker to keep me in the wood but not in the snags. I got a hold of a bass tube that was almost clear in color and cut some 1/16 inch wide srtips from its body that were about an inch and a half long. I’d thread half that length up onto the shank of the hook, put a minnow on and then take the tag end of the plastic and “just barely” push the point of the hook into it. You did not want the point to go thru the plastic, but yet be covered by it.This would allow me to go down into the twigs ,branches and limbs without getting too hung up. If you don’t use something on this order, your interest in fishing wood will have a real short lifespan.The same system can be used with waxies on small jigs too.
Wood is perhaps THE biggest attraction for crappies, right after deep water. Find wood and you can figure out how the craps are using it.I find a good rule of thumb to follow on using wood is this: sumeer and winter fish will be active even though they will be relating to the deepest wood. Spring and fall fish found in wood will show a decreased activity level as they get deeper. The deepest fish are the most negative in mood. But remember, I said that these fish can be caught. You get rid of the bait and put something with “fine” plasic or hair down there right in front of their noses and they will hit it. The biggest asset you can take on the water if you want to fish wood is speed control and patience.Fishing wood requires that you slow way down. If you are in a hurry, forget wood. Do give up on a piece of lumber because you haven’t caught a fish in the first ten minutes. You will often need to change bait sytles or colors several times before you come on one that is getting fish.
Wood is good. I hope this will help you to understand a little more some of the differences which you need to look at in order to better understand it. 
March 30, 2004 at 12:30 pm
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