Page 8 - Crappie NOW - October 2017

by Vic Attardo
Crappie fishing is always about where
you’re at and where they’re at. They, being the
fish.
The factum is just as appropriate when
it comes to fishing for fall crappie in northern
latitudes. Considerations break down, first,
according to the size and depth of the water;
next, the conditions -- water temperature,
weather, clarity, etc. etc, etc.
If you’re only accustomed to fishing
below the Mason Dixon line, then you’re in for
a bit of a shock when coming north. Not only
is “crop-ee” pronounced “crap-ee” but when
November rolls around, the fish are rarely on
wide flats, unless of course, that is all the fish
have available to them. The tactic of trolling
a spider rig across an expansive stretch is
just not the number one way of going after fall
crappie in the North. Instead it’s all about spot
structure: the crappie spot it and hang there,
you fish it and catch fish.
Of the myriad types of structure
available to the Northern angler one that is
often overlooked is that of temporary cover.
Not easy to classify, temporary cover is
nonetheless something that is there today,
was not there yesterday or a few yesterdays
before that, and may not be there tomorrow.
Nonetheless if temporary cover teams up with
a place that fish normally gravitate to in the
fall then you might have a true hot spot full of
eager crappie.
Probably the most common type of
temporary cover is a log that has been swept
in during high water. The log has replanted
itself in a soft bottom or wedged against hard
structure and is now a crappie magnet.
Perhaps the funniest temporary cover
I ever fished -- yes I said funniest -- was a
8 Crappie NOW October 2017
log that had floated into a wide bay in Lake
Champlain on the Vermont side. The bay was
known to have a river channel and bottom
structure that held good numbers of crappie
in the fall. But when the log set up shop, the
fecundity of the spot grew exponentially. Thing
is it wasn’t an ordinary log that was situated
out there in Lake Champlain.
The area’s Chambers of Commerce
like to promote a sort of Loch Ness knock-
off they call “Champy.” Like the Lock Ness
Monster, Champy is rumored to be some sort
of pre-historic creature that lives deep in the
gargantuan lake. Actually this story might hold
some validity because 10,000 years ago Lake
Champlain was a salt water bay connected to
the burgeoning Atlantic by the St. Lawrence
River. A skeleton of a Beluga whale found in
Lake Champlain is on display at a Vermont
college.
For a potential boost to their economy
Vermonters have not stopped hoping that
Champy really appears. So when one particular
log with a long reptile like appearance floated
into the bay, the locals were quick to decorate
it with spines, tail and a head on an elongated
neck. They even went so far as to place a solar-
power red light where the eye should be thus
presenting a dreamlike facsimile somewhat
anchored in the bay’s soft bottom. There’s not
a lot do in Vermont on many nights.
The thing is the log turned Champy
quickly became a crappie magnet.
When a buddy and I fished around the semi-
floating log, we found crappie at both ends
and along the middle.
As with most temporary covers, it takes
a bit of stealth to effectively fish these spots.
You should come upon t.c.’s with little or no
waves from your boat and your presentation