Take a Fish Break -- CRAPPIE TIME

[CaptainMal]

What a frustrating thing this is for me to see.

Been fishing in my little boat on Lake Manatee, near Sarasota, Florida this winter. Winter here has been .like two days ago when the wife and I fished for crappie - fire hot and in the mid 80's. For the umpteenth time we fished all over with every crappie lure and bait in existence to catch ...

Nothing.

All winter I see people with crappie and have caught one catfish and a bass all year. You have made me despondent with this post. You have a bunch of crappie. All I can get is crap.

 

[timeout]

For a quick version of this just add Tony Chacheres or Zatarains to your corn meal mix--tastes same to me...

Love Tony's seasoning. We use it on several meats for grilling.

 

[Ccrider]

Cc, I had two questions for you; first what is the piece of whit paper for in the vacuum packed fillets?

Very observant. The white paper is a piece of paper towel folded. It serves two purposes. It will catch excess moisture. It also helps to improve the vacuum process. Don’t know why but try it and you will see what I mean. I have owned some type of vacuum sealer for at least 20 years. Started off with the cheap home model and worked up to the commercial unit I have now. There is no substitute for them.

Second why are you using that type of vacuum bag in your chamber vacuum sealer, those are for the cheaper style vacuum pump style sealers and are a lot more expensive and don't work as well.

I agree with you that they are generally more expensive and generally don’t work as well. I got them at a better price than the regular bags and they work the same using the paper towel. I think the paper towel allows the sealer to clear the air out of the bag more effectively with both types of bags.

 

[KMart]

What a frustrating thing this is for me to see.

Been fishing in my little boat on Lake Manatee, near Sarasota, Florida this winter. Winter here has been .like two days ago when the wife and I fished for crappie - fire hot and in the mid 80's. For the umpteenth time we fished all over with every crappie lure and bait in existence to catch ...

Nothing.

All winter I see people with crappie and have caught one catfish and a bass all year. You have made me despondent with this post. You have a bunch of crappie. All I can get is crap.

Maybe a guide could help

 

[Ccrider]

"I can't get the initiative to go"... Sounds kinda like the guy that lives just down the road from prime deer country but doesn't go cause it's so close to home... .

I do favors for a couple that live on a retention pond in their back yard with a walk on wood pier. They thank me by letting me take one of their lawn chairs to sit on while I fish for gills , crappie & bass. I return the bass. Best part is...there ain't nobody else fishing on the whole pond ! I only keep gills that are better than 6 "., usually like 7 or a tad better , but they are not my favorite to CLEAN !

Try some of those smaller brim (gills). To me they eat much better.

 

[timeout]

What a frustrating thing this is for me to see.

Been fishing in my little boat on Lake Manatee, near Sarasota, Florida this winter. Winter here has been .like two days ago when the wife and I fished for crappie - fire hot and in the mid 80's. For the umpteenth time we fished all over with every crappie lure and bait in existence to catch ...

Nothing.

All winter I see people with crappie and have caught one catfish and a bass all year. You have made me despondent with this post. You have a bunch of crappie. All I can get is crap.

Mr. Twisters, use a bobber to pull them at the correct depth where the crappies are. Chartreuse has been the optimum color most of the time. Slays them here in WI. and OK.

 

[Ccrider]

Maybe a guide could help

This is spot on. My guides, my brother and one of my friends, consistently catch crappie year around. That friend of mine is the best I have seen live or on tv.
He called me early one Sunday morning in June and told me “turn that damn pillow lose and come on, I’m gone show you how to catch crappie in the summer.” I reluctantly complied. We got in the water about 7:30 and fished to about 11. By then it was 90+. This is what we caught fishing 15 to 40 feet deep with jigs.

 

[Ccrider]

Mr. Twisters, use a bobber to pull them at the correct depth where the crappies are. Chartreuse has been the optimum color most of the time. Slays them here in WI. and OK.

Around here, most of the guys are addicted to Bobby Garlands. Creme and Mr. Twister have worked fine for decades.
A light cylindrical bobber works real good. Twitch the bobber and let the bait fall.

 

[timeout]

A biologists told me once that fish are color blind and only react to contrast and movement, so why does the color matter?
IDK

Certainly no expert but my best guess is it correlates to the clarity of the water. Meaning from clear to muddy. I just know that changing colors has sometimes worked for me. I'm no Al Linder by any means.

 

[Ccrider]

A biologists told me once that fish are color blind and only react to contrast and movement, so why does the color matter?
IDK

He may be right about them being color blind. But if he says jig color of the jig don’t matter, I strongly disagree with that.

 

[284winner]

Lost my favorite crappie lake to the lake Dams collapsing from heavy rains. They say it'll be another 3 years till they restore the lake level. Can't launch a boat so may have to invest in a canoe or kayak for access. We were about a day or two from hitting the spawn and the Dams went. Go figure. Hopefully I'll hit it just right this year around mid May.

 

[okie]

yesterday...while i was at work...

 

[Joe Maisto]

Try some of those smaller brim (gills). To me they eat much better.

CC---you are probably right about that , but they are so miserable to clean ...unless you just cut off the head and gut 'em out, which is ok too. Working a fillet knife around that rib cage is a turnoff. Besides...they taste better with the bones in, like a bone IN chuck roast !
I usually use a wax worm or a small garden worm on a slip bobber with a bobber stop. The extra weight gets me to cover more water. My 7' one pc. ultralights from Gander mountain with 4# test is just as much fun as shooting competition. A whole bunch cheaper too ! And I only got to go 3 miles to that pond !

 

[LarryDScott]

I listen to a crappie guide give a seminar at a boat show.
He said, "there are 2 crappie colors, the first is chartreuse
and the other one doesn't matter" LDS

 

[Ccrider]

Scrape the small brim with a spoon, cut head off and gut them. Same as I do with crappie. I like the bone in. About the only time I use a filet knife is on catfish.

 

[Joe Maisto]

Scrape the small brim with a spoon, cut head off and gut them. Same as I do with crappie. I like the bone in. About the only time I use a filet knife is on catfish.

My "home-made" scaler. 2 beer bottle caps , a piece of 1/2" round wood dowel 6 " long, , drill a hole in center of each cap, screw into the wood dowel ( with "caps" touching ) and you will have the best scaler I have used..
I should be on "shark tank"

 

[Gman]

View attachment 1242500yesterday...while i was at work...

Now theres some SLABS !!!

 

[muleystalker]

"I can't get the initiative to go"... Sounds kinda like the guy that lives just down the road from prime deer country but doesn't go cause it's so close to home... .

I do favors for a couple that live on a retention pond in their back yard with a walk on wood pier. They thank me by letting me take one of their lawn chairs to sit on while I fish for gills , crappie & bass. I return the bass. Best part is...there ain't nobody else fishing on the whole pond ! I only keep gills that are better than 6 "., usually like 7 or a tad better , but they are not my favorite to CLEAN !

An electric fillet knife makes real quick work of a big mess of crappie and blue gills. I started using one on the Rock cod we catch in the Pacific, the rib bones are tuff and filleting 50-80 of those at a time is a but of work, the electric fillet knife cut the time by 3/4.

 

[muleystalker]

A biologists told me once that fish are color blind and only react to contrast and movement, so why does the color matter?
IDK

Colors change the deeper you go in the water, some hold their color deeper than others, at a certain depth things go to almost black and white. If I remember correctly purple holds its color the deepest, it has to do with the color spectrum and the light penetrating the water.

A rule of thumb in fishing is match the color of the bait the fish are feeding on. Also the muddier or murkier the water the darker the color you want to use, it shows up the best, think shadows. In clear water lighter colors show as brighter and can be seen from far away. Also if its darker or at night you want to use a black bait or real dark color, it shows up better. All of this info is in general not just for one given species, and like anything else there are always exceptions.