If you love to catch big crappies, then late August through the middle of October is the time to visit Lake Wisconsin.
The average crappie runs between 10-13" long and 14" are not at all uncommon.
Don’t believe it! Then check out a few of these fish.
Five of these bad boys would be big enough to win a lot of bass tournaments!
Not only are they big, the techniques used to catch them are not very hard to master. Several different methods are productive at this time of year.
As always with crappies, its hard to beat live bait. I like both fathead minnows and waxworms. On any given day, one can out fish the other. The following day, the opposite bait may end up catching more and bigger crappies.
Plastics also work very well at times. Mini-tubes on a 1/32oz jig are always a good bet along with numerous other excellent plastics aimed specifically at panfish.
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These fish tend to suspend just off and/or near break lines that drop into deep water at this time of year.
If your looking to catch the biggest crappies in the lake, thats where you should be fishing.
Get that bait up off the bottom. You won’t catch many if your dragging your bait on the bottom. Try 1-6′ above the bottom. Vary it until you find the best depth. Be prepared to move it up or down depending on conditions. If they stop biting, check higher off or closer to the bottom.
This late summer/early fall pattern will come to and end when the lake flips over in late October.
But the pattern is consistent and the fish can be caught in the same locations year after year.
Get’em while the getten is good!
Its really hard to beat late summer and early fall for big crappies on a reservoir system like Lake Wisconsin.
WOW those are dandy crappies!
Nice Job
WOW!!! Super nice crappies.
Thanks for the report and pics. Those pics say it all. Keep reporting, love reading and seeing pics of crappies like those. On light tackle those babies would feel fantastic on the end of your line. 
Any certain colors of plastics producing better than others?
Thanks, Bill
Opps I’m sure Jackie is going to see those and get the urge for crappie fishing. Those are some excellent slabs. We will have to get after some for a fish fry. Thanks for the report.
Gotta go (send Jackie the link).
Bill,
I like chartreuse, pink and blue on bright days.
Red and purple on overcast days.
Haywood04 – Many of these large crappies are released. I spend a lot of time pre-fishing, trying to locate good spots. All of those fish caught during prefishing are usually released. Some of the smaller ones do go home for the fryer.
I often wonder just how long much longer they live when they get that big though.
JWB