Rainy Lake, Minnesota Crappie fishing report!!

Today marks the first day we’ve focused energies chasing the highly touted Rainy Lake Crappies. As we were fishing walleyes I couldn’t help but notice main lake surface temps increasing rapidly in the sunshine. I asked the crew if they wanted to go chase some slabs…. They were more than eager to give it a shot!! Good call on there part!!! We fished for less than 2 hours and boated 29 SLABS!! Biggest fish were measuring 14 inches with the bulk of the fish between 12.5 and 13 inches.

When it comes to targeting Slabs we like to focus on water temps first and structure second. You can be on the Crappie Hall of fame spawning grounds, but if water temps aren’t right the fish won’t be there. With that being said water temps are prime when they SUSTAIN around the 60 degree mark. I realize many will hang there hats on 56 degrees, but I’ll put my money on 60 degrees for numbers of quality fish. Most of our DONKS were caught adjacent to likely spawning grounds. My guess would be these fish are preparing for the spawn, and simply out feeding in nearby waters. I wouldn’t consider them staging by any means, but didn’t find the big numbers on spawn grounds. Remember when fishing these freaks to watch your graph carefully. A lot of the new weed growth will not be visible to the naked eye especially with our cool start to the season with limited sunshine. Anglers will need to detect new weed growth with a nice scan of areas with your electronics.

When fishing slabs I love flipping a Pink and white Flu-Flu tipped with a minnow under a Thill float. I know I know…..I fish what turns fish period. That is where it is at in the Daze Fish Casket!! Work the bobber like you would work a jig using the bobber to detect light bites. Remember Crappies have “Papermouths”, so do not give a Rolland Martin hook set. No Crappie no matter the magnitude of the fish feels like a mailbox!! A great crappie rod is a 7 foot med-light rod with a fast tip. A simple lift of the rod will set that hook in the upper roof of the crappies mouth more often than not. I like to refer to it as brain hooking slabs!! Another thing I like to do is to slightly bend out the hook. I feel it gives anglers a higher hook up percentage.

Sometimes I catch myself speaking about “MY FAVORITE TIME OF YEAR” I’ve come to realize when you fish Rainy lake on a daily basis it is all a great time to fish. It all depends on what bite you choose to fish. I love giant Pike!! I love giant Walleyes!! I love Giant Smallies!!………..BUT I LOVE LOVE GIANT SLABS!! Nothing gets my heart pounding like the pop of a float with a Ri-Donk-ulous Rainy Lake crappie shaking her head at the surface!! I know I have many Slab hunters emailing me, so in a MASS Broadcast……..We’re Getting them Team!! We’re getting them right now!!