Page 8 - Crappie NOW - February 2018

by Ron Presley
apply to new waters is a great lesson for
The first visit to a new body of water other anglers. It includes observation,
produces feelings of anxiety and hope. The technology and experimentation. Learning
anxiety comes because of the unknown the lesson they offer will help recreational
factors at a new location that will impact the anglers catch more crappie.
fishing. The hope comes from the fact that
most crappie anglers are naturally optimistic
and start their day with expectations of the
best day ever.
When the American Ethanol Team of “Within the first hour we had
Terry Richard and Casey Rayner travelled two large black crappies ...”
to Deland, FL for their first look at the St.
Johns River they not only discovered good
fishing, but the beauty of the river as well.
“Traveling the country in chase of the
paper lip grey ghost is always an adventure,”
said Richard. “You never know what to Observation and Technology
expect when you approach a new body of One of Yogi Berra’s famous Yogism’s
water. For Casey Rayner and myself, this says, “You can observe a lot just by
was our first time to wet a line on the St. watching.” The statement is true in crappie
Johns. What a beautiful body of water it is. fishing. Observing and making notes of the
It has a variety of things to fish. Ledges, opportunities presented by a body of water
flats, creek channels, plenty of lily pads, and can help anglers catch more crappie.
miles of beautiful river banks with laydown “Any time you launch your boat in
structure to fish.” new water, it is always best to search an
Having the luxury of fishing the same area thoroughly before fishing in the blind,”
body of water over an extended period of instructed Richard. We do the same thing
time can pay big dividends in locating fish with any body of water. We spend the first
and identifying what their biting. Richard and day, using our Humminbird, graphing and
Casey were in town for a Crappie Masters observing the areas to fish. On the St. Johns
event and planned a few days of pre-fishing we spent most of our first day graphing and
the river. marking creek channels, ledges and brush
The methodical approach that they piles.”

8 Crappie NOW February 2018