PUBLISHER
Dan Dannenmueller
EDITOR
Keith Sutton
SR. WRITER
Tim Huffman
ART/ CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Matt Mullikin
GUEST WRITERS
Anietra Hamper
Scott Mackenthun
Steve McCadams
Keith Lusher
Richard Hines
Larry Whiteley
Terry Madewell
Keith Sutton
Madalyn Roberts
Brent Frazee
Larry Marek
COVER PHOTO CREDIT
Sunshine, shorts and slab crappie: that’s fishing at its finest. The July issue of CrappieNOW is packed with proven warm-weather tactics. Whether you’re chasing brushpile slabs at dawn or trolling open water under a blazing summer sun, this issue delivers the tips, destinations and inspiration to help you catch more crappie all season long. Photo by Keith Sutton
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Opening Cast: Crappie Tactics for Summertime
All of us look for new ways to catch some crappie for the dinner table or just for fun. I have a couple of techniques that have worked for Sue and me during the hot days and nights of summer.
Pulling crankbaits and plastics behind Off Shore Tackle planer boards is an excellent way to catch a bunch of good crappie. Almost everywhere we fish using this technique, we catch them on various colors of crankbaits and plastics. One hot color combo is black/chartreuse.
Our equipment and rigging for this technique includes Offshore Tackle OR 12 and OR 38 planer boards with #1 Tadpoles, 10-pound Gamma Fishing copolymer line, Pico and Berkley Flicker Shad crankbaits, and Bobby Garland black/chartreuse Stroll’Rs and Hyper Grubs with Road Runners or Bobby Garland Head Turners.
We catch crappie of all sizes using this technique. Fish major creek channel ledges with concentrations of baitfish. Pulling baits with boards is especially good after the post-spawn is over and the crappie are gorging on food to regain their weight.
The second technique is jigging thick brushpiles and laydowns with the small crappie baits many crappie love. This year, Sue and I have caught numerous crappie from small to over 2 pounds on 1/48-ounce Bobby Garland crappie heads trimmed with the Itty Bit Mayfly plastics. I learned that the black/chartreuse Itty Bit Slab Slay’R was very effective as well.
Many times, if you match the hatch of the food base for any fish species, different fish species can be caught. I hope you try these methods for your next fishing trip.
Good luck and good fishing,
Dan Dannenmueller – PUBLISHER
