They say don’t mix work and play, right? I strongly disagree!! Today after work, right at our jobsite, we got into BIG crappies!! I decided to throw some rods in the truck this morning, before heading to the job, and I am thankful that I did!!
We were casting 1/16 BFT precision head jigs, with Big Bite plastics. Green was our most productive color. The water has been steadily cooling down here in Iowa. Yesterday we had a cold front move in, and I wasn’t sure how the fishing would be. But it definitely turned out to be hot!! We were targeting fish suspended over deeper water. Some were relating to structure, and others weren’t. The key to finding these fish, was locating the deeper water, with current and slack water adjacent to it. The were sitting right in the "seam". I am not sure why these fish were biting extremely light, but they were. I did not have any live bait, but I am going to give that a try soon, to see if they are more aggressive with live bait.
We probably caught 20 crappies in 45 minutes. The biggest crappie I measured was 14". Those are long fish for any smaller river in Iowa. Come to think of it, they are actually the longest crappies I have caught in an smaller Iowa river. But, what impressed me the most, was how these fish were shaped like footballs. They were extremely strong and heavy!! They were a blast to catch!!
On funny side note, these crappies may looks small in Nick, and I’s hands, but that is because I am 6’5" 240- and Nick, well he is a lot bigger than I!!! 
All fish were released!! Good Luck, stay safe, and we’ll see you on the water!
Thanks for the report and pics. Very nice crappies for sure. Must be rough working right next to some crappie hotspots.
Thanks, Bill
Those are some nice slabs.
dave
Those are some true slabs,the wapsi used to be very under utilized when I grew up there in the 70s.Hows the presure down there now? Stuart
Nice craps luke
Stuart- there area quite a few spots that are “community” spots, and they get a lot of pressure. 15 years ago, not very many people fished it at all. The spot that I was fishing, is not well known…at least to my knowledge!
right nows a good time with a small boat or canoe in both the wapsi and the cedar. Find a nice hole in the wapsi and back waters of 2′ too 4′ in the cedar with some cover around and you should find crappies. I know of two holes in both rivers that hold crappies right now.
Nice report Luke. Dandy Slabs.