Summertime Crappie patterns.

All the hype, the not so serious anglers, the ones who can’t handle the heat (I’m getting there) have packed up and gone home. That leaves the 12 months/year fisherman.

Those are the ones that simply can not stop fishing for a few months just because it’s hot out. We just figured out how to re locate and make these hot water fish bite. There

are several different ways and I recently posted to Facebook a question about Summertime techniques and got many responses. It seems the crank baits definitely come out

to play when the water warms and the Crappie are no longer using shallow cover to hide and spawn. Long lining, trolling and jigging deep brush piles also fill the mix when it comes

to finding these big, hungry fish.

Make no mistake, just because these fish aren’t fat and readily willing to eat anything you put in front of them does not mean they are not hungry. They absolutely are and happen to have

many available choices when it comes to dinner time.They can simply filter the plankton in the water, eat some of the different species of fry that recently hatched or gorge on Shad.

It seems to me that this is the most difficult time to trick big fish on plastic alone. They simply are not desperate for a meal. Also, they are thinner due to the fact that their metabolism

is in overdrive.

I am looking forward to getting much more efficient at spider rigging this Summer. I plan on getting new rod racks and even a new umbrella. If you are too proud or think you are too

cool to sit in the shade when it’s 95 degrees then you need your head examined. I see no point in frying like a pound of bacon for no reason. Plus, I’m sure Hank will be thankful as well.

So have fun, stay cool and let me know how you plan on catching your Summertime Crappie this year. Thanks for reading and take those kids fishing/ swimming! Andy Lehman.