December Crappie Video

Two Days of December Crappie Bonanza

Two Days of December Crappie Bonanza

With no ice in sight, it is time for serious anglers to get the layers on and hit the water. I called Chunsum Choi (JC1Crappies) and Ted Yates (Soonerbass) both DuPage Angler.com members. We decided to hit crappies because the river bite has been slower and honestly it sounded warmer then wading. We met in the dark not expecting more then a couple of fish each.

The three of us wanted to increase our odds so we tied double rigs. This rig was floats with two offerings under it. This is a favorite presentation of DuPage Angler Brim Reaper that he uses for bluegill and seemed the right choice for cold winter bites. We just had to beef up the offerings. Chunsum used Gulp Minnows and Crabby Squirts, Ted tube jigs and Lake Fork Shads, I used two tube jigs.  The rigs are set 2-4 down and just need an occasional twitch to trigger a bite. Ted had discovered a rock pile way the heck out there and our yellow spotted foes were on the far side of said pile. So weighted foam floats were used once more to get the distance needed to reach the target areas.

The bite started slow but lucky for us it just got better and better. The outside air had a definite chill and layers were in order. The mornings are frigid so when the sun popped out at moments it was more then welcome. I suggest this time a year with wind, rain, snow, mud, and wet conditions around, it is smart to bring extra clothes like gloves, socks, and hand warmers. Wearing your snow boots will ensure good traction and keep feet warm and dry. One weapon we had was BeardHeads! These hat beard combos kept our heads warm and the wind out. They also provided laughs and added more personality to the smack talk among us anglers.

The double rigs were knocking the crappies dead, when Soonerbass scores not one but three beautiful white crappies! White crappie can be found in our area but are not in numbers or size and are a prize when fishing speckle villains.

As the day goes we catch a few bass, and Ted Soonerbass, show off white crappie pants, catches two at once!!!! Bastard! LOL!

The day ends so well that we decide to come back the next day. We are greeted by colder temps wind and rain. UGH well, we are here so might as well make some casts. The crappie didn't watch the weather cast because they were still in the mood to fill up for the upcoming freezing weather. The bite was great again and at times we would catch them on every cast. We caught dozens on this two day catch fest and released every fish to fight another day.

We missed some big bass as well. Including a 4-5 pound I fought with 2lb line all the way to shore only to loose the big mouth jerk right at my feet.

The crappies in this lake always relate to the wind and the bite turns on and off with wind conditions. Once the wind died and the rain picked up the bite stopped like someone controlled it by a light switch. That’s when we realized that we were wet, hungry, and cold. Funny how catching fish helps you not notice certain things like hunger. We shook hands, smiled, and each went on our way. On the way home Chunsum sends me a text that his shoulders are sore and as I type this my neck and shoulders are also sore from making a million long casts. He says we can chalk this up to sports injuries for the 40+!

When you look outside and the weather sucks, instead of hanging it up or waiting for ice get your butt off the couch and get back out there. Dress in layers, be prepared to change presentations on the fly, invite some friends, bullshit, laugh, and if your lucky maybe you too will have a crappie bonanza!

HARD WIND CRAPPIES

 DuPage Angler Sooner Bass calls and tell me he has gotten on some crappie and thinks that Sunday morning they might be even better. We get up at O'dark Thirty and get to the small lake before the sun had risen. The wind was already blowing hard but we would find out that it was just the beginning.

 When I usually fish crappie in high winds I use a McThill Waggler float that is designed to cut through waves and it works great. I cast up wind and let the float drift parallel from me across the water. I am fishing to cover a large area and it is a deadly set-up. Today was different.

 I started with this rig and quickly scored a beautiful white crappie and a of couple bass. The wind picked up, picked up, and picked up some more. Sooner believed the best bite would occur where the wind was the worst. Unfortunately for me he was right. Wagger floats are very light. They cut through waves but do not cut casting through very heavy wind. Sooner, I noticed was catching 2 to every 1 fish I landed. We saw that he was able to out cast me by 20-30 yards. This was do to the  fact that he had these cheap clip on weighted foam bobbers. Once we figured out this was the key to success, we went for a quick trip to the closest store to buy some. 

When we got back the action was amazing. Crappies fell like scaled dominoes. The wind got even worse. 2 - 3 foot white caps on this small body of water were crashing the shoreline. We needed a break from it and decided to try the opposite shore for a while. We were comfortable, but skunked. Sooo back to the wind tunnel and blasting gusts on the windward side we went. Once there we picked right up again! The action was awesome! We ended up with around 70 crappie, 15 gills, and 7 bass.

 Some of these fish were just gorgeous. I used minnows and he used a tandem rig with a mini mite with a tube jig trailer. The weighted floats saved the day. I am not a fan of fishing into hard wind and prefer to use the wind as a drift of sorts. But in this instance head on was the only answer. From now on I will be ready for hard wind crappies.

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Fall Pond Hoppin for Crappie

 Well as much as I would like to ignore it, winter is on its way. I turn my sights to crappie often this time of year because they are active and closer to shore then the summer months in our local small ponds and lakes.
I call Bob (aka Brim on Dupage Angler.com) and we meet just as the sun is popping up. It is cold now so we are both bundled. Funny thing is 2 months from now we will think of this as a warm day. Not a good day for me to forget my dip net for my minnows. At our first pond the water is freezing in the minnow bucket, I bait as fast I can, dry my hand, back in to my gloves, and into my pocket were a warm hand warmer is waiting. (LOVE HAND WARMERS). My Thill disappears and after a short fight the first of what would be several nice gills appears.

 Brim sets his hook and has a funny look on his face. I look down and think he has a nice crappie but what I see is a beautiful dinner plate gill on the end of his line!! He said it may be one of the biggest he has ever caught.

We catch a some nice gills and some bonus bass in a flash. The bite died and the crappies are just not around here today. So we decide to move to another pond.

The second location was a small spillway that connects two ponds. The problem was that its had no flow. Bummer. No flow means no crappies here. Off to pond number 3. Pond number 3 is not the honey hole it use to be, poachers made sure of that. (Don't keep pond fish people. The damage caused by keeping fish is easy to do and takes years to reverse.) This pond is known for its summer weeds, the problem is the weeds didn't know to leave yet. Off to pond number 4. JACK POT!! Our floats disappear every minute or so crappies and gills are reeled in left and right. I am using Thill waggler floats, one rod with a ice jig/minnow combo and the other with a hook/minnow combo. Brim is using a small thill mini stealth float, ice jigs, and waxies. We must of caught 30 each. I even got a bonus carp that thought he was a gill to end a great day of fall pond hopping for crappie.

Fall Trout Opener 2012 - 2 Days of Fun.

1am, crap, 2am sh-t,  3am come on, 4:30 woohoo lets go!!! I had not fished in-land trout for at least 4 years, tired increasingly of un-sportman wanna be anglers that break rules and seem to have no character as they cast over your line. I had not thought about it in some time but since I now have a kayak in my possession, why not? I will now have some space to breath. After our DuPage Angler Podcast on trout, my plans were made to return. Since I had a yak I got there a half hour before open instead of an hour and was met with at least 30 guys that had the same idea. 

This line of tail lights instantly made my stomach turn as I remembered why I had stopped doing this. I got on the water and it was still dark and somewhat quiet considering the amount of people that were somewhere around me in the darkness. I rigged up two slip float rigs and cast my minnow out into the night. My locator was covered with fish from top to bottom so I set it at seven feet and said a prayer. Where in the hell is my float? GONE? HOLY....... I had my first trout in sometime, yes I rock! LOL! I was actually shocked to score in 5 minutes. My first three fish came in a hurry with me missing fish as well, my minnows coming back covered in teeth marks and ripped.

Once the sun came up the ballgame changed completely. I moved my yak up wind, and then would drift back over a lot of water to cover as much ground as possible looking for active fish. I hooked a few more, and lost a few more including the biggest of the day. I played them longer than I needed to. I was excited to be catching a species I had not battled in forever. I could of cranked them in and been on my way home in the first 2 hours. The higher the sun got the slower the trout bite became. I had four and needed to land one more to tuck away a limit. Now I was thinking that I should not of goofed around with those other fish! I got a couple crappie and bass before I managed to catch the last one.

I now looked up and saw just how many people had arrived. WOW! It was worse than I thought! I was happy to be surrounded by a few boaters, all of which I must say were nice guys and kept space between us.

Look at that dock!! I know right?? I would not fish there as a ghost. I got my limit earlier then I thought, so a packed up and went to a soccer game. Day one was fantastic.

I woke up on day two with plans to hit the fox but with no wind I had to go back and hit it again. I got there later by a half hour and was shocked at the lower turn out. The water was perfect.

The trout had very different plans today. The only active fish were over by that dock and the hordes  I really did not want to go over there. I fished trout hard for the first quarter of my morning. I used the same drifting technique and only hooked and lost two. However I noticed when ever I started a drift In the shallower water I would catch a crappie off the weed line in 15-20 feet of water. At this point I said the hell with the trout, parked on the edge, and I was handsomely rewarded!! The crappies came in fast and I caught over a dozen with some bonus bass!! A few trout would of been great, but I had a great day. I only saw two guys with a limit and many guys went empty handed or only had a couple. Since I have the kayak and had such a good time, I will continue going back for the inland trout angling adventures.