Noticed a new book listed as a bill on my account.  I can hardly wait for it to get here.  So much that I thought it might do a lot of us some good to share the topic separately for a while from just pan fish.  New Book:  "CRAPPIE TACTICS"
With the Fall season just ahead why not share some of those little tactics that put slabs in the box.  Uncle Tom

for the past 2 weeks i been slam'n the slabs under bridges on the local river system. using small minnows sometimes under a bobber and sometimes just letting the minnow swim without any weight. most have been 10 to 12" long but have gotten a couple that was over 13

September to October is big crappie river fishing for me. I will be using slip bobber set between 6-12 feet. When I'm lazy, minnow on a 1/16 or 1/32 oz jig. When I'm working them, it will be power bait tubes on a jig 1/16 oz jigs. Mostly try to hit the evening run and fish into the night.

I haven't been catching a whole lot of crappie for the last few years.  I don't know why.  Maybe I'll catch some this fall.

I swear the crappie can read a calendar. Went out yesterday to use up some bait and the crappie were all over my bait. I'ts like someone threw a switch! Tom

i hear ya tom........the crappy have been turning on big time around here and their not the little guys either.

I'll second the part about not small! Size is relative but a 9" crappie is huge in my pond. I caught and released a 12" fish today. Personal best for this body of water. I may just go down tomorrow with a bucket of ice and see if I can catch dinner. Tom

good luck there tom.........i'm having some fer tonites dinner

Sorry guys and gals!  I mentioned the other day about bill on my account for "Crappie Tactics" but I had not received at the time.  Well, it came yesterday but it was not a book but a DVD.  Hopefully, I'll get to watch it later today if I can get my 7 year old grand daughter to put it in the TV and turn it on for me.  I guess I am what you would call a "High Tech Wreck".
I'll put out another post and let you know how it turns out.  Uncle Tom

hope ya enjoy the dvd tom.....i hear ya on being high teck reck.......man try and say that 3 times fast........lol

wife and i enjoyed them crappie last nite.....hoping to go add some more to the freezer tonite and tomorrow.

Could not find anything on TV to watch last night--decided to get my new DVD on Crappie Tactics out and watch it.  My wife put it in the player for me.  Honestly, I thought I knew just about everything there is to know about crappie fishing since I have done it with the best--my Dad.  I was surprised to find a couple of things on it that I had never thought of before.  I would highly recommend it for anyone who crappie fishes and especially for the beginner.  My only complaint is that it seems like they charge way too much for DVDs.  Surely Life Members & Trophy Life Members ought to get a break on these library deals.  Noticed a low hanging fog on the lake this morning--need to try some of those tactics on crappie for the next few days.  Uncle Tom

Wanted to check with some of you about using crank baits for crappie fishing?  We have a lake full of large crappie and seldom do you go that you don't catch at least one or two that weighs well over two pounds.  Most of the others range around one pound--never really catch anything smaller.  What has been your experiences in catching some real slabs?
Methods?  Bait-live or artificial?  I want to get on top of them this Fall & Winter.  Uncle Tom

Tom: The biggest crappie I ever caught was probably close to 3 lbs and came on a 1/2 oz spinner bait (blue/grey w silver colorado blade) while I was casting for bass in a creek arm off Table Rock. Tom

As far as open water fishing live bait or soft plastics have gotten me most of my crappies in +14 inches. Had a few on occasion hit 1/2 oz rooster tails or kastmaters. Had one very memorable 14 incher hit my 2 3/4" topwater propbait.

For ice fishing, my big crappies have sometimes come on the smallest of lures in weights of 1/64 oz or lighter to even 1/128 oz. It's like their barely even skin hooked most of the time.

not sure why but tyou do get big crappies on cranks but never really put on a consistant bite with them. the closes i've ever come to big numbers in 1 outing is with beetle spin type rigs or grub body soft plastics.

and like slipperybob said...throu the ice it seems the smaller the better. taken many big specs on a small ice jig and a waxworm er spikes er mousies.

The problem with cranking for crappies is that it can be preferential to use a crank that will suspend rather than one that floats back up. That way you can get them to come at a lure on the pause or very slow twitching it. Very few crappies are caught on a steady retrieve. They just don't want to chase down a lure that fast. Crankbaits are merely search tools as far as crappies are concern. Maybe a tool to pick up the most aggressive and largest one's in the school, but it will never be a numbers thing lure. A roadrunner, whistler, or crappie thumper jig would be a better tool to pick up some slabs after the crankbait. You can always tip the tail of the crank bait with some plastics or a snipped minnow head or tail. Of course that's sort of cheating, but that's about catching numbers.

Went back to my old slipbobbering techniques. A road runner jig with powerbait and tipped with crappie minnows earlier on the day. As night time approached I switched to a glow jig tipped with crappie minnows.

I still haven't caught a Crappie this year. I guess the "switch" hasn't been pulled for me yet.

Strange how fishing defers in different places.  Right now in the deep South (Georgia I can speak for) crappie are just tearing it up.  Certainly some times are better than others.  Small lakes and huge reservoirs are producing remarkable amounts of crappie and this year's crop seem to really be slabs.  For the last couple of weeks my Dad, several friends, and myself have just enjoyed the weather change and the fishing.  Most of the fish we are catching are at least a pound and several each trip tip the scales at  two to three pounds.  Some are being caught on jigs but mostly minnows.  Look for brush tops in ten to twelve feet of water and just drop your minnow in the top, after a little you can sense the difference between a limb and a bite.  When you sense a limb ease up your minnow and drop it back down until you find a hole, then ease it up and wait for another bump.  Don't jerk it like you were going to break a jaw--just ease it up and yep, there's another one.  Our structure was around twelve feet but most fish were caught around eight.  I've been sick for a long time but these crappie seem to make me feel a lot better.  Now, if I can just convince the wife to clean them.  Seriously, when they are this size it doesn't take long to render up a nice bowl of fillets for the fish fryer.  Now's the time to try out those hush puppy recipes.  Thanks guys and gals.  Good luck and good fishing!  Of course, it you just use fillets you don't get to bite those crunchy tails off.
Uncle Tom

Fisherfanatic, if you're lookin for a nice slab, try using something shiny, they tear up spoons, inline spinners, or small spinnerbaits, especially burned just under the surface.