OPENING CAST 

I can’t believe 2021 is winding down to just a month left this year!!  I think some mischievous Christmas elves stole our time this year!  We do have one month left to not only celebrate Christmas and see family but, also to steal away a couple days to catch some wonderful late fall/early winter crappie.  On warm days before cold fronts can be awesome.

This year, the crappie are still on timber and about to transition to suspending in open water near clouds of shad.  So, if you like catching the crappie near brush piles, docks, etc., this can still be productive until they move to the open water.

Once they move, it can be lots of fun pulling hair jigs, Road Runners tipped with Bobby Garland Strollers and Crappie Pro heads with Itty Bytes.  Once you locate the areas where they have grouped up, make passes through the school(s) of crappie and fill your live wells with a limit.

Some of the bigger crappie will sit on the bottom when water temps get really cold and if you are in an area where you have hard water (ice), they will feed near the bottom as well.  I like to “bottom bump” for these fish.  Drop you bait to the bottom and raise it up a foot or less and keep it motionless.  Then do it repetitively varying the location until you find the “sweet” bite spot.

If you don’t use live bait for these techniques, be sure to use scent to eliminate humor and unnatural odors on your baits.  I like to use Bobby Garland’s Slab Jam.

The bottom line……. don’t let the holidays hold you back from catching some great crappie in December.

Have a very merry Christmas and the next time I write it will be 2022.

God Bless,

Dan Dannenmueller, Publisher