Saturday, 9-9-06
Jim Rhodes and daughter, Jane O’Malley had a pretty good day catching walleyes with me earlier this year on Lake Wisconsin. During the course of their outing, I remember telling them about the good crappie fishing we had in late summer, early fall. That sounded like a lot of fun to them and shortly after, they booked a fishing trip for September crappies. That day was this past Saturday and Jane brought her oldest son Dallas along for the fun.
Dallas is a senior at Stoughton High School where he participates in wrestling. And for those of you who are unaware, Stoughton has a very long history as one of the elite wrestling programs in the state. So if you manage to be a starter on this team, that means your going to get treated with a great deal of respect when you go fishing in my boat. I learned a few years back that it’s best to keep these wrestling guys happy!
This was the first really cool, breezy day of the year. Air temperatures only reached into the low 60’s and a cold east/northeast wind blew all day long at about 10-15mph dropping the surface water temperatures down to about 71 degrees in the main lake.
The fish didn’t seem to mind to much though and Dallas put several nice crappies in the boat at the first spot we fished. The winds did make boat control difficult but not impossible. Normally, I would encourage people to use two rods. But with the windy weather, Jane, Jim and Dallas decided to use just one rod rigged with a minnow.
Removing my foot from the remote control for the bow mount electric trolling motor even for a few seconds would allow the wind to quickly push us away from productive areas. Using two rods in situations like this create’s more problems than benefits. Better to stick with one rod on a rough day like this.
Dallas ended catching the most big crappie but everybody got in on the action one way or the other. There were plenty of white bass coming over the side of the boat along with a few bluegills, sheepshead and even a few smallies.
As in the past and despite the chilly weather, I had a great time fishing with the two of you Jim and Jane. I enjoyed fishing with you to Dallas. And I’m especially pleased that you didn’t have to wrestle me down and pound and anchor somewhere it doesn’t belong!
Just kidding. Good luck this year in the Badger conference and at the State meet in February.
The minnow rigs we use are very simple and consist of a plain thin wire hook running lightly thru both lips of a fathead minnow. Ten inches above the minnow we pinch on a 1/8oz split shot.
We do not cast this out or fish it below slip bobbers. Simply lower it down to the bottom and reel it up one to three turns off the bottom. Let the fish tell you how far off the bottom to fish. If one person is catching fish at two turns off the bottom while the others catch none, then it’s time for the other people in the boat to fish two turns off the bottom as well! Be sure to try different depths when moving into new area’s.
The boat is used to put the minnows right over the crappies which tend to suspend very close to the first major break out from shore. This is generally right around 10 feet but could also be 8′ or 12′ in some places. It’s not critically important that the break be at one particular depth. What is important is that your minnow be placed at about the same depth as the first major break and that the boat is slowly worked along side that breakline.
Watch your depth finder for brush piles or fish cribs located along or close to this breakline as they are major crappie attractors. They can be a pain in the butt because of all the snags, but in the end, it’s worth losing a few rigs if your catching big crappies.
Along the way you can expect to catch tons of white bass. They’ll chew thru a bucket of minnows in a hurry to. For this reason alone, it’s always worth it to try different jig/plastic combinations to see if the crappies will bite on them as well.
Most of the time I will cast the jig/plastic combo’s but not always. If the fish are fairly deep, then another good way to fish a tiny jig/plastic combo is exactly the same way as you would the minnow rig. Simply clamp on a 1/8oz split shot 10" above a 1/64oz jig and drop it right over the side of the boat. I like to tip it with a waxworm before sending it down. You’ll catch everything in the lake with this rig. Crappies, bluegills, white bass, smallies, largemouth bass, sheepshead, walleyes and saugers will all take this rig in a heartbeat and my clients do catch them all. You never know what you’ll pull up for sure.
There are a ton of plastics out there to choose from and many of them will work very well. Tube jigs are always a good bet and you don’t always need a big one. Small tubes will take big crappies weather you tip them with a waxworm, minnow or nothing at all.
Cubby-Mites and Mini-Mites are both tiny jig/plastic combo’s that take a bunch of big crappies for us. Nail Tails, Ikes and other straight tailed plastics can work very well also. Tiny Shad by Bass Assassin is another good one and Tiny Worm by Southern Pro is one of my favorites.
Fish them all on a tiny jigs from 1/64oz to 1/16oz on the large end. Some days it pays to change things up a bit by fishing those plastics on a Blakemoore Road Runner jig. The tiny blade on the bottom of these jigs can really pull in the fish on certain days.
When fishing any of the jigs or plastics mentioned above, try not to let it settle on the bottom. Bluegills, sheepshead and other fish will occasionally go down and pick it off the bottom, but crappies won’t. Swim the bait along a few feet off the bottom or if your casting into shallower water, allow it to sink just a little at first, then retrieve it at a pace that will allow it to swim parallel to the bottom as it descends down the drop-off and over the first major breakline from shore.
In the case of 1/64oz jigs, you will usually have to stop your retrieve after about two turns of the handle, watch your line and let it hit the bottom a couple of times just so that you can get an idea of how long you need to wait before turning the reel handle a couple of more turns. Stop and wait again for it to sink but this time try to start your retrieve again before the jig hits the bottom. As the lure gets closer to the boat, you will have to wait a little longer for the jig to sink due to the increasing depth of the water. If you keep trying, you’ll quickly be able to judge the amount of sink time needed to keep your bait within a few feet of the bottom and not on it.
Most of the time, the bite will be very light but occasionally, they will smash it on the run as they head to deep water. It’s fun when that happens, but more often than not, you won’t even know their on the end of the line until you start your retrieve again.
The lures, techniques and area’s to target as described above are extremely effective for catching big, early fall crappies on Lake Wisconsin, but I’m willing to bet that they will work on almost any similar reservoir in the Midwest.
Big river or small, when the first chilly days of early fall arrive, it’s time to start chasing big crappies on a reservoir near you.
If the walleyes start to slow down a little, give big crappies a shot. You’ll be glad you did!
Good luck and have fun out there!
Boog
Great report, and thanks for taking the time to explain the presentaion you were using as well as the locations. It sounds like great fun and Im going to try this the first chance I get.
Rootski
Thanks Rootski and good luck with the crappies. Hope you get some nice ones.
It may take a little time and effort to to find some good locations but once you do, it is great fun and the locations tend to produce year after year.