Author Topic: Where to learn the basics???  (Read 6624 times)

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Offline TODDTHEFROG

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Where to learn the basics???
« on: December 22, 2010, 09:03 PM »
I'm new to the forum and checked a lot of the posts looking for basic info and haven't found specific info. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places.
I've caught a lot of crappie over the years but always while fly fishing for bass and always just one or two. I caught a 12 incher at TTL last Sunday on a white Simi Seal Leach.
I've seen groups of boats I assumed were crappie fishing moored close together and was always uncomfortable getting close enough to check out the scene and see how they were doing it.
I just bought a bunch of conventional fishing gear and would love to learn how to get into a bucketload of these fish.
Would you experts recommend any particular book or youtube video or what?
Thanks very much.
BTW, I found your forum through the Zone and it looks as if this is a much friendlier forum so, I won't pretend to be a gay Muslim transsexual to anger the rude rednecks.

Offline PhishingPhreek

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2010, 11:10 PM »
 :welcome:
lol Most, if not all, of us came from TBZ. For years it was my home page and I was a very frequent visitor. However, we, as a club, needed our own place to do our club meetings and figured why not have a site designated for crappie fishing in AZ since AZ crappie fishing seems to be slightly different that most places thanks to our weather. :) We plan on having a lot more info in the future to the actual website, but I've been so busy I haven't been able to focus on that. In the mean time, we've been using our forum for communicating and such.

ANYWAY! The absolute best way to learn to crappie fish is to just get out there and do it. Most people like to troll for crappie because it covers more water and the bait looks more natural. Key things to know about crappie are that they are a schooling predator fish and I've heard mixed opinions on this, but from my experience the crappie will almost always feed/attack up. They hang out in the submerged trees and swim up towards their meal.

Because we're in the winter, trolling is probably the best method to use. The fish are fairly deep (deeper than the are in the spring) so it becomes a little more difficult to find their depth of choice. Good electronics are an EXCELLENT tool to have for any crappie fisherman. Not needed, but they help more than you imagine. A good trolling set up for anyone who's starting would be a double jig rig. What you do is tie a 1/16th ounce jig at the end of the line with a Palomar Knot. Then about 18-24 inches, you can tie another 1/16th ounce Jig above the first jig. John Deere (JD) and Blue-Black-Chartreuse (BBC) are typically the best colors to use. You'll want to put out forty to fifty feet of line and troll at a very slow speed. Under 1 mph is the best if you can cruise that slow. Generally, most of everything I said is a base set up to go off for anyone beginning and just getting into crappie fishing. That brings be back to what I said earlier, go out there and just fish. If you use this set up to start with and then just adjust until you find what works at that time you'll eventually be getting your buckets full... or cooler.  :headbang: lol

As for the group of people, I've never cared of other people join in the trolling "flotilla" as long as they don't mess up the flow and start crossing lines and such. There's tons of crappie out there in most of the good lakes so it's not like I'm going to be losing out if you're catching.  :thumbsup:

wadefisherman

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2010, 06:24 AM »
Right on! This is a much friendlier forum. I think Crappie fisherman seem to take life allot slower and are not as competitive as bass fisherman.

Offline menrats

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2010, 06:45 AM »
feel the love ttf. :3some:
i still use the basic set up only without a double rig, i can catch em one at a time.  i have been adding spinners and beads and sometimes we tip the jigs with minnows. but often with crappie when their bitin their hittin just about anything including small cranks. and they are for harvesting ttf and their tasty prescious yes scrumptous my prescious.

Piscolli

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #4 on: December 23, 2010, 09:26 AM »
Welcome Todd and great reply Phreek. I can tell you more in person in 20 minutes than I could type in 2 hours. SO come see me at Bass Pro Shops anytime.

The best/ fastest way to learn how to troll for slabs is a guided trip with Art Chamberlin. You'll learn more in a 1/2 day trip than you will in a year of doing it yourself.

Offline OneBlade

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #5 on: December 23, 2010, 09:54 AM »
TODDTHEFROG,

I'm also trying to understand crappie fishing in AZ myself.  First, subscribe to various lake/fishing reports and other topics in this forum, the azbasszone forum, and read the AZ Game & Fish report.   You'll learn a little bit about what lakes are hitting and on the type of bait.  But you may not be sure what some of the baits are since they don't often explain the full setup of their rig.  Talk to Piscolli at Bass Pro Shop to his take on what your setup should be including line type, jig weights, colors, trolling speed, etc.  But probably more important is going to the location where recent fishing reports say they are hitting.  Piscolli can provide that info at Bass Pro Shop but rather than bug him every time you want to go out, you can subscribe to various topics in these forums to find where they're hitting.  Also, I put minnows on my jigs.  I'm not sure if most do that or not.  I've found that my midwest form of nightcrawler fishing isn't used by the more experienced fishermen.... at least not for the experienced bass fishermen.  I'm not sure if they simply do better with artificial stuff or feel like it's cheating using live bait.  I don't know if most crappie fishermen use live minnows or not.  I can't imagine catching crappie without a live minnow on my jig but maybe people are doing it and catching just as many as those using the live bait, I don't know.  And, on that note.  I took my first crappie fishing trip to Roosevelt a few weeks ago with the setup that Piscolli recommended and had tough catching them. I think the setup he and others described above is one of several that'll work, but perhaps I may simplify and just do 1 jig per line.  I ended up catching mine with a nightcrawler and I don't think that's standard.  Nightcrawler is always my fallback approach and I may be the only one using them, but helps me out when other stuff isn't working.  I think next time I go, I need to really play with depths a little.  I was warned that crappie feed even or upwards and not downward, so I was a bit hesitant to go too deep and I think I was too shallow. The guy in the floatilla catching them said they were near the bottom and that's where I think I caught mine.   I also think we all were in the same spot but needed to shift a little to find the school.  I don't have a decent fish finder and/or don't know what to look for to find the school (lots of underwater tree stuff so not sure if I'm seeing trees or fish) so that may help too.

Of course, if you can find a way to fish with a pro, then do that.  You can pay to have Art do it and that would get you up to speed with the best right away, but it's not cheap.

So, again, get a decent setup, get to the hottest spots, and fish the correct depth/speed (try various depths). You'll know you're in a hot spot probably if you see other boats there.  I think location is really key.  Buy a Fish-n-map Co map of the lake too.  It gives you the names of all of the coves/points for the lakes and those are referred to a lot in the message boards. 

Finally, share your success or failure in these message boards.  Perhaps we all can learn something as a result.

Offline TODDTHEFROG

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2010, 12:44 PM »
Thank you all! I'm excited about learning more. Do you guys fillet your fish or cook them whole? I've done both and I like them both ways. Just wondering which way you guys cook 'em up.

Offline OneBlade

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #7 on: December 23, 2010, 01:27 PM »
I fillet them and then fry them with light batter.  Crappie taste real good and have nice white flaky texture.  Also, I think Piscolli recommends returning any less than 10" (or maybe it was 12") back to help keep the crappie population for years to come.  I hear people taking 8+ home and sort of wish they'd return some...  Is there even a limit?

Offline PhishingPhreek

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #8 on: December 23, 2010, 02:52 PM »
As a club we recommend throwing anything under 10" back. It's tough to fillet or even get a very good fillet off something that small. Plus it allows for the crappie to grow into a 2 pounder some day. :)

As for the limits, in AZ lakes there isn't a limit on those. There is a limit at San Carlos, but if I remember conversations about that lake it gets very confusing on what the limit is. I think it was 25 per trip and some people thought it was per day... I'm not even sure 25 is the number. Someone here will know that for sure though.

Offline AZfisherdude

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Re: Where to learn the basics???
« Reply #9 on: December 23, 2010, 09:37 PM »
Fishing and Recreation Fees
Visitors who want to camp, recreate, fish or hunt on the San Carlos Reservation must have the appropriate Reservation permit/s.  These may be purchased at the Recreation & Wildlife Headquarters on Highway 70, 20 miles east of Globe or at any authorized dealer [vendor list].
 
Daily permits will expire at midnight from the time of purchase.

Daily Fishing $10.00
              - Does not cover Closed Areas or the Black & Salt River.

Daily Two Pole $3.00
              - Daily Fishing License  needed along with a Two Pole License.
 
Daily Boating $5.00
              - Boating License only covers the boat/watercraft

Daily Black & Salt River $20.00
              - Required for everyone 12 and older. Permit is needed to be in the area.

Annual Boating & Fishing $125.00 Habitat Stamp Required $5.00
           - Annual Fishing permit only covers San Carlos Lake, Talkalai Lake and Seneca Lake.

Daily Recreation $10.00
              - Covers only the Husband and Wife and their own children under 18.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
BAG LIMIT:
           - Trout 10;  Bass 10;  Catfish 25; and  Crappies 25 per day or in possession.  Persons under the age of 12 may fish without a permit only if they are accompanied by an adult holding a valid reservation fishing permit.  The bag and possession limit for persons under the the age of 12 is half of that of a permit holder.

http://www.scatrwd.com/Fishing.html

 

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