Spawning Spring Crappies on Lake Wisconsin

Doug Kuiper is a crappie fishing nut! He absolutely loves fishing for these speckled panfish and simply can’t get enough information about how to catch them.
The morning temperatures were considerably colder than the last couple of days. It was 42 degrees at the boat landing but as you moved a few miles away from the lake, it was several degrees colder yet. Still, Doug and I found the surface water in some of the more protected bays had not dropped much from yesterday. The first bay we pulled into was still full of 61 degree water.
I had Doug cast one line shallow with a bobber while I kept the boat in the deeper water. Depending on where we were, the boat was over anywhere from 8 to 15′ of water. Doug’s second line was dropped right over the side of the boat.

We pretty much found fish about as fast as you can. Doug’s first cast with a bobber resulted in a nice eaten size crappie. Ninety percent of the crappies we have caught so far this spring have been between 9-1/2″ and 11″ long. All of those crappies are probably three year old fish.
As we continued to work our way around the bay, Doug continued to catch fish.
One spot in particular though, was giving up some bigger fish. We were hovering over an area of water that ran from 8 to 11′ deep and the longer we stayed in that spot, the better the percentage was on bigger crappies. These probably had pulled back to this slightly deeper water to protect themselves from the cooling effect of chilly overnight temperatures.
Doug caught and released several of them. We took pictures first of course, but he released most of them in favor of those average size fish for eating.
By 9:00am, Doug already had his limit and since the bay we were fishing was just starting to get busy, he decided to call it a morning.
It was great fishing with you again this morning Doug! Look forward to doing it again this fall.

Scott Billings and Steve Fausnaugh met me at 2:00pm this afternoon at the boat landing. They were looking forward to getting in on some of the great spring crappie fishing that they’ve read and heard about on Lake Wisconsin.
There timing could not have been better!
Surface water temperatures were right at 61-62 degrees and lots of crappies were making there way up to the spawning grounds in shallow water. Shallow water crappies makes for some of the fastest and easiest fishing of the year.
The techniques we use are quite simple. Each angler uses two rods. One is rigged with a bobber set approximately 18″ above a minnow hooked on a plain gold hook. This is cast into the shallows to check for fish that have moved up onto the beds. Another rod is rigged with a split shot set 8-10″ above a plain gold hook and minnow. This rig is dropped right over the side of the boat and cranked up off the bottom about two turns of the reel handle.
A foot pedal controlled bow mount electric motor allows us to slowly maneuver around the bay as the guys cast there bobber rigs into good looking areas. Once a crappie is caught, the bow mount is used to hold in that position until the guys can no long consistently pull crappies from that spot. At that point, we continue moving on until we find more fish.
The first spot we fished had some decent crappies but the action wasn’t quite as fast as we had hoped for. The second spot however, was loaded with crappies and most of them were in less the three feet of water. The next hour or two was filled with laughter as Scott and Steve pulled one crappie after another from a stretch of shore line no more than 40 yards long. It sure is fun to see a couple of grown men act like little kids and nothing will do that faster than getting into an area that is full of shallow water crappies during the spawn.

The highlight of the afternoon was when Steve hooked into a better fish. We knew right away that it probably wasn’t a crappie so the net was ready when an 18″ walleye finally gave in to the 4lb test and ultra-light rod that Steve hooked into it with. The fish bit on a small fathead minnow set below a bobber in less than two feet of water. That was a pleasant surprise indeed!
The next spot didn’t produce any for us at all and with only a small amount of time left in the day, we headed back to the area where we started the afternoon at. This location has proved to be a good late afternoon area for me in the past and today was no exception. I kept the boat in 6-8′ of water while the guys cast into the shallows. Both the shallow rod and the rod over the side of the boat were catching fish just fast enough to keep the guys attention from straying. And these crappies were some of the best ones of the day.
By 7:30pm, we decided to call it quits. Scott and Steve still had to drive back to Janesville and I had to get the boat back in order for tomorrow mornings trip. The guys ended up keeping 41 crappies and one walleye.
It was another great day on the water. Good weather, light winds mixed with some sunshine and a couple of fun loving fishermen to share my boat with.
What more could a guys ask for! I sure had a blast watching these guys catch crappies today.
Thanks again Scott & Steve. Sure hope to see you two again!
Boog