Page 4 - Crappie NOW - May 2017
P. 4
Story & photos by Darl Black
…Enjoy Success with Only the Bare Essentials
cover so you need to go the extra mile
W ith the arrival of May up north, to up your catch. Visit your favorite
it begins to actually feel like spring. manmade reservoir during winter draw
Temperatures are finally warming and down. Sketch a map of cover which can
trees are greening up. Although some be accessed from shore but not visible
anglers have been fishing since the during spring high water. Possibilities
ice went out, most fisherpersons wait include stump rows as well as man-
for pleasant days in May to take to the made cover like low stake beds, cribs
waterways. And the species most sought or brushpiles that are not visible during
by May anglers across the northern tier? normal water levels. Fishing piers likely
Crappies! have a few scattered cribs or brushpiles
While crappies in southern states placed within casting distance of the
have likely completed spawning activities deck; see if you can locate the tops of
by the first of May, the crappie spawn in them during low water and make note of
states around the Great Lakes, in the their location in order to cast to them in
Upper Mid-West and New England is May.
yet to come, with peak bedding ranging
from mid-May to early July.
Of course not every fisherperson “…a slip float has the
has a boat, or a friend with a boat.
Therefore, lots of anglers fish from the advantage for both accuracy
bank or wade-fish the shallows. and distance.”
However, simply plopping down in
your chair with a fishing rod and bucket
of minnows at a random spot along the 3. Get off the bank and wade. A
bank offers no guarantee you will catch pair of chest waders can get you down
crappies. Here are proactive steps the shoreline to both visible and unseen
anglers without a boat can undertake to shallow cover that anglers stuck on the
improve their catch results. bank cannot reach. On some lakes,
ID Crappie Location water temp may be warm enough to
wet wade in late May, but chest waders
1. Fish natural visible shallow guarantee you get in the water when
cover. You rarely catch springtime fish are biting. If you do not have boat
crappies on featureless bottom. or kayak, a pair of good waders is a
Deadfalls, flooded brush, emerging necessity for the serious crappie angler!
pad beds, protruding stumps and dock
pilings are among the most attractive Presentations
cover. Getting your lure or live minnow
2. Find shallow unseen cover. close enough to the cover (or right
Every angler will be targeting visible
4 Crappie NOW May 2017
