A couple summers ago I was fortunate to spend 3 days in the boat with Wally Marshall aka Mr. Crappie. As his nickname implies Marshall is a whiz with rod and reel in hand and crappies as his target. During our time in the boat, I learned some valuable lessons from Marshall. Lessons others can probably put to good use during the coming fishing season too.
No Meat Required
Standard fare in my boat for many years was a crappie minnow hooked lightly to a small jig and suspended below a bobber. Marshall, however, is a big believer in the shape, colors, and action that plastic baits can provide. In fact, during our 3 days on the water we had no live bait in the boat! Marshall caught lots of his fish on a bait called a Mr. Crappie Shadpole featuring a tadpole style tail and many of my fish came on a Mr. Crappie Slabalicious which has a small paddle tail. These baits are available in a wide variety of color patterns, and we tried lots of them. The brighter colored baits seemed to produce a bit better early and late in the day and the more natural patterns being good during mid-day.
Slow Your Roll!
Even a couple years removed from our days together, I can still hear Marshall’s advice, “slow down Mike” as he watched me retrieve my bait. Marshall believed, and the fished confirmed, that a slow, steady retrieve would lead to the most bites. We would make long casts along the deep weed edges we were fishing, count the bait down a bit, and then slowly wind the bait back to the boat. When we were around fish, lots of times our retrieves were interrupted by the tick of a biting crappie!
Color Matters – Line Color That Is
Marshall told me over the phone from his Texas home the week before our time together that he would bring a variety of rods all spooled with his hi vis yellow Mr. Crappie Fishing monofilament line. I was apprehensive thinking the fish in the clear waters we would be fishing would shy away from the bright line. “Don’t you worry Mike” was Marshall’s answer to my concerns. And he was right! We caught several dozen crappies during our fishing and often, when reeling one in, Mr. Crappie would say with a slight snicker, “that one sure was afraid of that bright line Mike!” Marshall believes the fish aren’t afraid of the line and says a high visibility line is advantageous because light bites or ticks in the line can often be seen but not always felt. By the way, all my crappie setups are spooled with the line now too!
The ice is leaving many lakes and open water fishing is about to start in earnest. If you’re like me, crappies will get at least some of your attention this season. Hopefully, the crappie things I just shared via Mr. Crappie can help you put more of this favored fish in your boat this season!
As always, remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series on the Sportsman Channel and several other networks as well. Visit www.fishingthemidwest.com to see all things Fishing the Midwest.
