Page 9 - Crappie NOW - October 2018
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TIDAL CRAPPIE
King and I have spent years marking
those spots and learning when the crappie We followed the tide into a creek profuse with
will make their hungry appearance. Just as docks, houses, moored boats and winding
tidal bass fishermen have to “keep ahead of ways: so different from the backwater creek
the tides” to opti-mize their catch, when we we fished first.
are looking for a big day we also have to be
cognizant of the time, tid-al movements and
key locations to score. Sometimes we’ll fish a water of a full or new moon to catch tidal
small area hard for an hour, do-ing a number influenced crappie. In fact, large flows can be
on the crappie, then we’ll have to move a a determent to good crappie fishing -- things
considerable distance in the same creek, like the water is speeding by a creek point
or even to another creek across the bay, to or back-creek dock so quickly that it doesn’t
continue catching. And this is not just on the suit the fish, or makes presentations difficult.
Chesa-peake system but also the Delaware Sometimes a half moon tide is better.
River tidal area and a number of tidally If there is already enough to spin your
influenced water along the Atlantic coast. head consider one other factor in tidal crappie
And there are a few more variables that fish-ing that can change everything -- the wind.
make this crappie fishing the most tactically Not only does the tide move water so does
chal-lenging I know. the breeze. If, for instance, a southwest wind
The amount of water in a creek just sucks water out of the backbays, consider
isn’t influenced by time changes, it is also what three days of a strong southwest wind
influenced by the gravitational forces of the might do. It actually prevents the tides from
moon. Full and new moons push more water doing their thing. When you think there should
than small moons. It’s the same in the back be enough water in the creeks, based on the
creeks as it is along the coastal shores. Now moon, the tides and whether the Baltimore
don’t get the impression you need the “extra” Ravens won or lost their Sunday game, there
9 Crappie NOW October 2018
