Rainy Lake, Minnesota Crappie Fishing Report

Sometimes you are torn with what to fish this time of year. Big Pike, Walleye and Smallmouth have been my main focus for the past 3 months. Today I gave those Rainy Lake Trophies the day off to chase some September Slabs!! Rainy Lake Crappies are some of the most beautiful crappies in the world. I love doing battle with these giant papermouths with ultra light gear. During the spring we absolutely pounded the fish with Shrimpos and Ratsos. During todays trip we focused on Flu Flu’s. What a fantastic jig set up!!! We found the 1/16 oz. Pink or Black was HOT!! The sparkle strand in the feathers really gives it a nice flash in the water. I chose to add two small plastic “Wedgees”. I used white Wedgees with the pink Flu Flu and Black Wedgees with the Black Flu Flu. We had our best success tipping these with shinners. Had far better results with this set up than a simple jig and minnow!

As is almost always the case duplicating an effective pattern in different locations away from more popular spots seems to increase your success rates. Many people are trolling beatle spins around. We found pitching Flu Flu’s much more effective. In fact we boated around 70 Crappies in a half days fishing. Most of our fish measured 12 inches with a few bigger and some smaller.

Crappies will tend to gather in the deeper holes of areas your fishing. Not all deep holes hold fish. If fishing main lake Crappies this time of year I’ve found 32 feet to be key. If fishing bay or river Crappies I’ve found 11-13 feet to be magic. Locating active schools of slabs is only effectively done with a quality graph. Without that you are throwing darts. Might make a connection every once in a while, but there is a reason people get so fired up about big slab Crappies. Crappies can be the hardest fish to catch and the easiest. Getting on the big pods of fish which haven’t received massive amounts of pressure is key. Light precise presentations is critical to optimum success. In otherwords you can likely catch a few stragglers on many things in your tackle box, but officially putting the “Rainydaze Hammer Down” will require a refined presentation. Thanks Custom Jigs Our group today has a few meals soley based on your line-up…. AGAIN!!

SOOOOO… Catch monster walleyes, eat shore lunch, and bang some slabbers, eat supper, and chase some big pike. WOW!!! As a guide I for one am darn glad the fish don’t bite at night here on Rainy!!! These fall Crappies seldom get the press as the spring spawners. Maybe fish are tougher for many to find in the fall, or possibly many outdoorsman are putting down their rods in exchange for shotguns. I for one will only be putting down my fishing rod in exchange for the landing net. I’ve got a nice 16 inch Crappie with my name on it. Oh by the way we happened to land a fat 25 and 26 inch walleye today on our 1/16 oz. Flu Flu’s. You can bet that was a big battle on our ultra lights!!! Slab trips are still available!!!! Good Fishing!!!