Page 3 - Crappie NOW | July 2015

EDITOR/ SR. WRITER Opening Cast
WRITERS
Darl Black Summer is finally here.
Vic Attardo With summer comes many
Jeff Samsel concepts as to whether
Keith Sutton crappie are catchable. In
Ron Presley my opinion, this can be one
Vernon Summerlin of the best times to catch
John Neporadny, Jr slabs but with different
techniques.
© Copyright 2015 As I travel to fish the
Crappie Masters Bass Pro
Cover Photo: Shops tournament trail, I get
Garry Dollahon and Gary Rowe a chance to fish very diverse
lakes and rivers in different parts of our beautiful
with a Fort Gibson crappie. country. I also get to meet crappie fishermen on these
Photo Brad Wiegmann trips and hear their stories. I’ve learned that many
fishermen stop fishing for the slabs after the spawn
thinking they are uncatchable or too allusive. In reality,
they are catchable and can be easily located.
Crappie, although very sensitive to changes in
their environments, are very basic in their lives. They
must seek areas with food, protection, and appropriate
water conditions (oxygen, clarity, and temperature).
After the spawn and a short recovery period,
their number one priority will be to eat. Summer can
be one of the best seasons to catch them as they
begin to seek food to replenish their bodies. This can
mean they will feed daily based on the sunlight, moon
phase, location of newly hatched shad minnows and
insects.
Mornings, nights and evenings can be bonus
times to catch some sizeable fish and in good
quantities. Here in Alabama, before 10:00 a.m. and
after 2:00 p.m. are best as the light penetration
will be lower as the sun is on an angle. This allows
shadows to be formed underwater for the fish to use
for protecting their eyes and hide from the food.
Many fish will follow schools of shad and eat
based on when the daily weather and moon conditions
are right. One of the appropriate baits to catch these
fish are crankbaits. I like the new Johnson Fishing
Shad Cranks as they mimic this food source. Pushing
or pulling these baits can be very productive.
Be sure to check out our articles in this month’s
edition to see the varying ways to catch a bonus limit
of fish during the summer!
God Bless and Good Slab Hunting,
Dan Dannenmueller, Publisher

3 Crappie NOW July 2015