Fall is here!

Fall Crappie fishing is the best thing in the world. Yes I said it. Hoodies, changing leaves and feeling the powerful thump of a

hungry Crappie is what gets us out of bed on a chilly morning. These fish become less picky about wanting small subtle baits or

needing live bait presentations. They are putting their feed sacks on and not worrying too much about whether or not it’s a perfect

meal. This is when 3″ baits on a 3/16th ounce jig head will out fish a minnow. What else is better than that? I’m getting kinda

sweaty and worked up just typing about it. The fish will be leaving main lake haunts and following the bait closer to the bank. On clear

water lakes things tend to get a little more tricky. The thermocline disappears and the fish can move from a stable depth to anywhere

in the water column. A lot of the times it gets tougher cause they can be in 4′ to 40′ and they sometimes do go much deeper in clear water

than they will in stained water lakes. Finding stake beds and brush piles close to the first drop off not too far from the bank is your best bet

usually. The colder it gets the less action you want to impart on the bait. As the water cools the fish and the bait seem to become more lethargic.

No need to bounce and hop baits this time of year. Once the water hits the 50s is when things really pick up as we  have a Shad die off and the feeding

frenzy goes haywire. So get out there and enjoy this brief but exciting time of the year. I have lots of friends that hunt this time of year so they will

go kill a deer in the morning and go catch a limit of Crappie in the afternoon. How’s that for a day off work? Better than sweat dripping off the tip

of your nose right? Take care and enjoy folks.