Crappie report

[YooperTroll]

As Chris and others here have been good to give me info over the past couple of years, I thought I'd share back a little. My son and I have pulled some nice crappie out of the Esky river/area the past week. If I can figure out the photo system at this site, I'll post some pics. Most (yes, most) were in the 10-12+ inch range.

Weighted jig heads (color varied) tipped with perch minnows was the ticket. A few on crawler pieces. We're having two of the bigger ones mounted.

We didn't go looking for them...they found us while bass fishing.

*Plug for Chris: I can't say enough about his minnows...he's always (really) generous with the count, the price is fair, and they're good-quality minnows.

[WalligatorGetter]

That’s funny; I was just bass fishing at the Esky a couple days ago and saw a couple of guys nailing big crappies like you wouldn’t believe. I wonder who that could have been . . . :rolleyes:

Anyway, thanks for the report. That was very generous of you seeing as how that is such a small, confined area. Also, great job and congrats on nailing the crappies like that! I bet that was fun.

By the way, it was a near strike-out on the bass for me and the guys with me. We ended up with one 16 incher, a couple more nice blowups on surface lures that missed, a couple lost bass, a few rockbass, and a couple hammer-handled pike.

[YooperTroll]

Walligator:

I doubt we were the only ones that got into them...as I told Chris, we've got enough for a couple of good feeds...it's not like we're fishing on some private river or lake. I don't want to be one who simply asks for info and doesn't give anything back here.

I will note it was much slower last night on them...

I don't have the rig to get out on the big water that far, so my experiences are more limited than some here...still, I'd like to contribute here and there. I've gotten some useful tips from this site and through members sending me private messages. It's only fair to offer something (however) modest back once in awhile.

I think this thread is more or less about giving a heads up that it might be profitable to target crappies right now in the general area...I highly doubt they're in one tiny place only. And if you do target them--see Chris and get your gear and bait!

The biggest kick I got was seeing the smile on my 8-year-old's face as he pulled in more than a couple of the slabs in the 12-inch range. He's getting two of those mounted to go along with his 13-inch brook trout he caught a couple of weeks ago (his very first one). A somewhat expensive summer so far--but priceless as far as the memories.

Get out and take your kids fishing! No matter what the outcome, the memories will be priceless.

[The Bait Shop Guy]

Thanks for the comments. If you want a REALLY good count, have Diane scoop the minnows for you. She makes me look downright stingy sometimes, LOL! Either way, you'll get a pretty good "dozen" for your money.

Some of Bill's recent fish, below.

[YooperTroll]

Thanks, Chris! In the three trips we made last week we took home 24 total...all but a few were in the range of top three in the picture.

I normally don't like cleaning panfish...but these were a blast to clean. I got 2 pounds of fillets off of the last 7 I cleaned.

We're having fried crappie tonight...tomorrow: crappie chowder.

The biggest challenge is trying to convince my son this doesn't just happen every time out!

[Batman407]

Those are some good lookin fish. Down south in florida where im from we called them specks. I used to catch big specks in the winter on minnows down there. The only place ive really been fishing up here is down at ludington park. Mostly bluegill and rock bass. The occasional large mouth. My brother caught a 19 inch large mouth today.

[YooperTroll]

Something I haven't done but would like to do...pitch jigs from a boat under the docks at Ludington Park. Gotta believe you'd catch some nice fish doing that.