Alabama crappie guide Lee Pitts demonstrates how he casts a float & fly –
one of his favorite December crappie-catching techniques.
Crappie Basics: Winter Float & Fly
by Richard Simms, CrappieNOW Editor
It may not be true everywhere, but in many southern reservoirs, crappie don’t always retreat to deep water in early winter. Especially on warm days when baitfish are more active, it is time to break out the float & fly combination.
When fishing the Alabama lakes of Guntersville, Weiss and Neely Henry in late fall and early winter, Alabama guide Lee Pitts finds crappie migrating to the deep creek troughs where the fish will stage for winter. But they’re not following bottom structure, they’re following bait.
“There are times when my boat is sitting in 20 to 25 feet of water and I am seeing a giant school of crappie in 8 to 10 feet,” Pitts said.
Long-line trolling catches some staging crappie in the creek troughs during this time, but Pitts says he prefers a float & fly presentation. Pitts said he sets his float 7 to 9-feet above a 1/32-ounce jig with a Minnow Mind’R or a Baby Shad or a 1/16-ounce jig with an Itty Bit Slab Slay’R. to complete his float-and-fly rig.
Pitts casts his float-and-fly rig to the fish and lets it sit still. He occasionally slightly pulls the float so it will quiver. He says the light jigheads provide more action.
“A heavier bait will fall too quick and won’t get the same action,” Pitts said.
Watch Pitts in action here:
Capt. Richard Simms is the Editor of CrappieNOW magazine as well as owner of Scenic City Fishing Charters. Formerly he was a game warden for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency before becoming a photographer and PR guy for TWRA. That lead to a 30-year career as a broadcast journalist and freelance outdoor writer. Follow Capt. Simms’s other writings on his “Richard’s Ramblings” Facebook page.
