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Thread: Crappie help?

  1. #1
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    Crappie help?

    I posted up on FB asking about crappie fishing tips. I was told, Taylorsville, Wilgreen and Cedar Creek are all good local spots to go after them. One tip I got was to use a Bandit 300 and troll my kayak at 1.2mph.

    If I go to Taylorsville and troll, should I just stick to the shoreline? Any specific ramps with better luck? Is it better up by the salt river or out on the main lake? I feel like if I troll at Wilgreen I can cover the whole lake, but Taylorsville is huge.

    Any other techniques to locate them? I would assume like bass they are by cover and laydowns. If I move up to a laydown, do I just cast out to it and retrieve back?

    Any other techniques for lures? I am not super excited about trolling all day, I am more of a cast/retrieve guy. I like the feel of a hit on my line.

    Thanks for the help!

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by robertdilbert View Post
    I posted up on FB asking about crappie fishing tips. I was told, Taylorsville, Wilgreen and Cedar Creek are all good local spots to go after them. One tip I got was to use a Bandit 300 and troll my kayak at 1.2mph.

    If I go to Taylorsville and troll, should I just stick to the shoreline? Any specific ramps with better luck? Is it better up by the salt river or out on the main lake? I feel like if I troll at Wilgreen I can cover the whole lake, but Taylorsville is huge.

    Any other techniques to locate them? I would assume like bass they are by cover and laydowns. If I move up to a laydown, do I just cast out to it and retrieve back?

    Any other techniques for lures? I am not super excited about trolling all day, I am more of a cast/retrieve guy. I like the feel of a hit on my line.

    Thanks for the help!
    Can't tell you anything about Wilgreen or Cedar Creek ... but the Taylorsville Crappie are hanging around standing timber at about 15-20ft deep. They will hit a jig, but like a jig/minnow a little better. My last trip out I only caught 3 keepers (11" fish) out of around 25 fish caught in total. Got lots of hits, but not more than 25% hookups. A lot of those hits "could" have been Bluegill, but even they were only tapping it once .... not the machinegun taps usually associated with their kind.

    Not every stickup had fish, and those that did had branches at or around the 15-20ft depths. Only way I've been able to find those trees with fish is by using Livescope. Water temp was 68-70deg & lake clarity was normal. Wind & boat waves made it mandatory to tie off to a nearby tree & cast to the tree with fish. I did see a couple of other boats catching Crappie ... one was casting slipfloat/minnow rigs around the standing timber, while the other was slow trolling double minnow rigs out in open water.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by crappiepappy View Post
    can't tell you anything about wilgreen or cedar creek ... But the taylorsville crappie are hanging around standing timber at about 15-20ft deep. They will hit a jig, but like a jig/minnow a little better. My last trip out i only caught 3 keepers (11" fish) out of around 25 fish caught in total. Got lots of hits, but not more than 25% hookups. A lot of those hits "could" have been bluegill, but even they were only tapping it once .... Not the machinegun taps usually associated with their kind.

    Not every stickup had fish, and those that did had branches at or around the 15-20ft depths. Only way i've been able to find those trees with fish is by using livescope. Water temp was 68-70deg & lake clarity was normal. Wind & boat waves made it mandatory to tie off to a nearby tree & cast to the tree with fish. I did see a couple of other boats catching crappie ... One was casting slipfloat/minnow rigs around the standing timber, while the other was slow trolling double minnow rigs out in open water.
    great info, thanks!

  4. #4
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    And just as a "warning" ... if you're going to be casting around the standing trees at Taylorsville it's a good idea to be using 1/32oz & 1/16oz weedless jig heads. Either that or take a couple pounds of regular jig heads with you, as you will lose a bunch of "them" !!

  5. #5
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    I’d try Taylorsville or Green. There are maps on fw.ky.gov with brush pile locations. Punch a few in a gps and go give them a shot. As water cools, they will once again pull up shallow on brush and lay downs. Small minnow imitating jig fished slowly is my typical method. Usually on a 1/16 ounce head. Slip float set up with minnows also works well. Find the right depth and the fish will be there.

  6. #6
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    You don’t need a map on Taylorsville for the timber. Just look for where you see some sticking up and there’s 10x that under water.

  7. #7
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    Yesterday I caught, cleaned and ate my first crappie and I was less than impressed. I thought this was supposed to be some of the best eating fresh water fish there is. I caught it, threw it in the cooler, filed it when I got home, rinsed it off, pat it dry, dusted with Louisiana seasoning and pan fried it. I thought it was mushy, no where near as flaky as bass. what did I do wrong? the only thing I can think off is to dispatch the fish immediately, and try a hotter pan?

    fish was caught out of Wilgreen, water temp 63f. Caught trolling bomber 300 in 25 FOW. Wondering if taylorsville fish will taste better?

  8. #8
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    I myself do not like summer time/fall crappie it to mushy. It is slot size bass or bluegill for me in the summer time on that note I love winter time early spring crappie meat is good and firm then, still fun trying to catch good size crappie that why most guys throw then back in the summer.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wormin View Post
    It is slot size bass or bluegill for me in the summer time on that note I love winter time early spring crappie meat is good and firm then, still fun trying to catch good size crappie that why most guys throw then back in the summer.
    gotcha. I tried LM bass earlier this year using the same cooking method (out of Nolin), and thought the fish was a great texture, just a little bland on the flavor. thats why I have been hunting the crappie. I was hoping for that same flaky texture, but more flavor (like saltwater snapper)

    i can't hardly stand grocery store bought fish. Fresh caught fish is just so much less fishy, to the point where it is not fishy at all (like the crappie)

  10. #10
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    You can sweeten up the taste a little by leaving the skin on, and maybe even have the meat be a little more flaky. Fillets just aren't going to be flaky, unless maybe if you dip them in a wet coating (rather than dry coated) when frying. The moisture gets fried out of the meat that's dry coated, especially if you cook them too long. The skin helps hold some of the moisture in (on dry coated fish).

    Also, Bass do tend to be flakier because the meat is thicker (the fish is generally thicker bodied).

    Just my opinions, Robert.

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