Page 12 - Crappie NOW - July 2017
P. 12
By Josh Gowan
makes it tough to pin down Overstreet’s
Fishing for crappie has as many “specialty,” finding out his favorite way
tactical approaches as any other game to catch crappie is simple – just ask him.
fish, including bass, and anglers are only “Pitching a weedless jig into tight cover on
limited by their own effort and capabilities. the Alabama River is just about as fun as
Although most “old school” fishermen it gets for me,” said Overstreet.
began by utilizing a single pole and a Weedless jigs have been around
bobber, suspending a minnow or hair jig forever, but have historically been much
over their favorite springtime honey hole, more prominent in bass fishing. Over the
today’s avid angler employs a myriad of last ten years, crappie fishermen have
equipment and techniques to put fish in been catching on to the advantages of
the boat year-round. going weedless, and with social media
Two mainstays when locating crappie becoming an information sharing hub for
are cover and structure. Cover refers to any anglers of all ages, the trend will only
object in the water providing – you guessed continue to grow.
it – cover for a fish (tree, stump, rocks,
etc.), and structure is the contour of the Find the Anomalies
lake or river bottom. Experienced anglers Overstreet utilizes his Humminbird
are always on the lookout for one feature Helix Mega 12’s and 360 transducer as
in particular when it comes to both cover well as anyone, but when looking for fish
and structure: anomalies. An anomaly is on the river, the most important tools
just a difference, an irregularity, a glitch at his disposal are good old-fashioned
in the matrix and could constitute anything eyeballs. “I look for current breaks in the
river first; that’s the most important thing,”
Utilizing a weedless head will said Overstreet. “I want to find areas with
slack or slow-moving water over the ledge,
keep you fishing longer and usually created by bends or points in the
hung up less. river. Once I’ve located the right water,
I’ll look for wood, first above the water’s
surface, then underwater with my side
from an isolated patch of lily pads to a imaging. Finding a single stump or log in
steep drop on a ledge. These anomalies the right water will hold fish, but locating
often hold fish, and the only thing better a downed tree is generally what I want,
than one anomaly is two, often combining because that’s where you’ll find numbers
to create fishing hotspots. of crappie, and there’s no better way to get
Fishing guide and tournament angler them out than with a weedless jig. A big
Gerald Overstreet knows how to find these downed tree in an eddy is almost always
hotspots, and just as importantly, he knows going to hold fish.”
how to put fish in the boat, even during a
negative bite. Overstreet’s Guide Service When to Fish Cover
operates on the Alabama River at Prattville, Cover on a river ledge, especially
the Lower Tombigbee, and Millers Ferry, downed trees, will often start in a few
and aside from professionally utilizing feet of water and end up in 20-plus feet,
many different techniques to put clients making it possible to catch fish there all
on fish, he also offer on-the-water tutorials year long, but for Overstreet’s weedless
on Humminbird electronics. Although his presentation, he targets these areas in the
overall knowledge and fishing prowess spring and the fall when fish are actively
12 Crappie NOW July 2017
