By Josh Gowan
This is CrappieNow Big Fish issue, so here are a few of my thoughts. First and foremost, you’ve got to go to a lake with big fish in it. Sounds simple but you can’t catch them if they are not there. Obviously, Mississippi is the prime place for a really big slab.
Work hard if you are serious about catching a big fish. Longer poles aren’t fun to use but if you switch from 12- to 16-foot poles you’ll not be spooking all of the bigger fish. The big fish are like big bucks, they get smarter as they get older.
A big fish is relative to the water you are fishing. I love to catch a 2-pounder at Reelfoot. That is a really big crappie there. Every lake has a different size fish that can be considered a slab. Big is relative so a 1.5 or 2 pound fish in your lake might be equivalent to a 3 pounder at Grenada.
Josh Gowan is an avid outdoorsman, crappie tournament fisherman, works at Grizzly Jig Company, and operates Josh Gowan Outdoors (www.joshgowanoutdoors.com).
