12-22-2017, 01:18 PM
[#0000FF]As you have already been advised, Willard crappies are not a slam dunk every year. In the days before wipers and shad, crappies were both a sport fish and a primary forage species for the cats and walleyes. Today they are only a small part of the biomass and their populations fluctuate a lot depending on water levels and other factors. They only get a good spawn when the water is high enough to flood brushy areas. That seems to happen only a couple of years in every 10 years. So some years there are good numbers of good sized crappies and other years only a few smaller ones.
Last year was not a good year because numbers were down from the previous two good years. Plus, water levels were higher so a lot of the crappies were able to find brushy cover in which to spawn and they did not school up over humps and bumps in open water as in previous years. So anglers did not do as well...especially those who did not fish the cover.
Because of their relatively low numbers...and because Willard is often murky...crappies do not form large schools in this pond. Most of the year they travel around the lake looking for food...in singles and doubles. Most catches are sporadic and accidental...by anglers trolling or casting for wipers or walleyes. Since larger crappies feed on the gizzard shad...like other predators...you will usually find them in the same areas as the other guys...and they hit the same offerings.
During the months there are no shad small enough for them to consume, crappies adapt and will slurp up midge larvae or other aquatic invertebrates. So using small jigs is a good way to entice them most of the year...either cast and retrieved, trolled or fished under a bobber. Your sonar will tell you at what depth to present your offerings. Just remember to fish at the depth the fish are showing...or just above them. They will rise up in the water column to take a lure but will almost never dive down to take something below them.
Crappies start staging for the spawn in the spring when water temps pass about the 50 degree mark. That is usually sometime in April. Between 55 and 60 degrees is when the crappies gather and get busy. That is the best time to find active schools. Around the first week or so of May is a good time. Most years, the Mothers' Day weekend is right in the middle of the spawn. After that it tapers off, with some fish still being caught into early June. After the spawn the crappie scatter around the lake and begin gorging on newly hatched shad.
As mentioned, a lot of crappies are taken by those who troll crankbaits for wipers. But they will take a wide variety of plastics in shad-imitating colors, like white, silver and/or blue. A tandem rig of small tube jigs in those colors is a good way to prospect for them. Troll them slowly, fish them under a bobber or cast and retrieve...using a count down method to keep your jigs at the right depth.
Obviously, there is a lot to know and understand about crappies...or any species. Put in the time, watch reports and keep fishing logs to consult for future trips.
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Last year was not a good year because numbers were down from the previous two good years. Plus, water levels were higher so a lot of the crappies were able to find brushy cover in which to spawn and they did not school up over humps and bumps in open water as in previous years. So anglers did not do as well...especially those who did not fish the cover.
Because of their relatively low numbers...and because Willard is often murky...crappies do not form large schools in this pond. Most of the year they travel around the lake looking for food...in singles and doubles. Most catches are sporadic and accidental...by anglers trolling or casting for wipers or walleyes. Since larger crappies feed on the gizzard shad...like other predators...you will usually find them in the same areas as the other guys...and they hit the same offerings.
During the months there are no shad small enough for them to consume, crappies adapt and will slurp up midge larvae or other aquatic invertebrates. So using small jigs is a good way to entice them most of the year...either cast and retrieved, trolled or fished under a bobber. Your sonar will tell you at what depth to present your offerings. Just remember to fish at the depth the fish are showing...or just above them. They will rise up in the water column to take a lure but will almost never dive down to take something below them.
Crappies start staging for the spawn in the spring when water temps pass about the 50 degree mark. That is usually sometime in April. Between 55 and 60 degrees is when the crappies gather and get busy. That is the best time to find active schools. Around the first week or so of May is a good time. Most years, the Mothers' Day weekend is right in the middle of the spawn. After that it tapers off, with some fish still being caught into early June. After the spawn the crappie scatter around the lake and begin gorging on newly hatched shad.
As mentioned, a lot of crappies are taken by those who troll crankbaits for wipers. But they will take a wide variety of plastics in shad-imitating colors, like white, silver and/or blue. A tandem rig of small tube jigs in those colors is a good way to prospect for them. Troll them slowly, fish them under a bobber or cast and retrieve...using a count down method to keep your jigs at the right depth.
Obviously, there is a lot to know and understand about crappies...or any species. Put in the time, watch reports and keep fishing logs to consult for future trips.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]