East Central MN Crappies

Well it’s been an interesting Spring and early Summer to say the least! Health issues, high muddy water…all things contributing to less than stellar fishing for me to date. But one trip that never disappoints is our annual trip to Pine City to chase crappie and sunnies around. For me, it’s a step back in time, for my kids and others it is turning out to be a destination to bring young kids and get them hooked on fishing. The crappies here always seem to cooperate, and are quite prolific in their spawning and quite easy to catch. I grew up in the Pine City area. I bailed a lot of hay, turned over a lot of dirt, and cut a lot of grass! But after dinner a few neighbor kids and I would jump into a 12’ boat with a 10 horse Scott Atwater outboard and hit the lake with inline spinner rigs and start trolling. The fish were always there, and before long the trusty Zebco 33 was skimming another “Pie” across the top of the water!

Fast forward 35 years, and insert a cousin (Drakesdemise here on IDO, and his Drakedemissy’s!), a brother, a girl friend and a son, and you have the makings of a great start to the 4th of July weekend! We are planning a family fish fry, and this is the type of fish you want for a good fry. Panfish as I mentioned are prolific spawners and can repopulate their numbers in short order. But care still needs to be taken as to not over fish lakes. I believe the 10 crappie and 20 sunfish limit here in MN helps in this cause. We wait until late June and early July to hit these lakes and Rivers in the area to ensure the spawn has been completed. Lakes in the East Central area have mostly tanic or “Tea” colored water, giving anglers opportunities to fish right in the middle of the day, which is nice when bringing younger kids along who may not be accustomed to getting up at the crack of dawn. Lakes that immediately come to mind within an hour or so of the Cities is Rush, Knife, Ann, Pokegama, Cross and the miles of the Snake River flowage.

Fishing for crappies in all of the above mentioned lakes is simplicity at it’s finest! A 1/16 or 1/32 Roadrunner jig with a BFT Super Doo tail in chartreuse glitter body. No bait required! A simple cast and a slight pumping action of the rod is all it takes to entice strikes. Of course it helps to be over fish! Crappies and sunfish love the protection a school offers. So finding them is quite easy. It also helps if you have some knowledge from locals, lake map info or from area bait shops to get started. Once on a school, drifting or slow trolling over them is the key. Lately I have been using my kicker and just figure eight over schools. I will drop an icon on them with my GPS and continue to work the schools. Yesterday with the wind, drifting was the key. We would fish 4 people out of one side of the boat with relative ease. The boat traffic (Holiday Weekend!) drove the fish from the 6-8 foot depths to 13-15 feet. Once we made that adjustment, we had rods bending and cries of “Ooh, fish on!”

I have been watching the fish I have kept from these lakes and have noticed that they are all very well fed! Stomachs have been full of bugs and bait fish. The DNR and local watershed projects over the last 30 years have really helped in keeping nitrates out of the lakes and rivers in the area. In doing so it has greatly reduced the amount of algae blooms that would choke lakes of oxygen and contribute to some nasty fish kills in years past. Most of these lakes now support nice populations of walleye, musky, pike and bass. Species we have caught in recent trips. We really have been blessed here in MN and WI to have a lake we can get to within an hour or less of our front doors where we can share the boat with friends and family. Get out and introduce someone to the outdoors and fishing! These are the people that will be taking you out when you are older! I hope everyone is having a great 4th of July weekend!