Winter Crappie Fishing Toledo Bend Dec 29 2011

[stevenslat]

yep...... I've recently gotten crappie stocked into my pond 2 years back, they in a 1/2 acre pond at this time of year , what should i use for them? (I'm new to crappie fishing)

[ToledoBendBass]

@stevenslat Depends on the water temp. Below 54 degrees they'll be in the deepest hole in the pond, use some minnows. At 62 degrees and warming they'll start going shallow for the spawn, cast some crappie jigs.

[stevenslat]

@ToledoBendBass ok thanks and when do they spawn? do they spawn before or after the bass

[ToledoBendBass]

@stevenslat Temps 60-65 crappie, 65-70 bass. But there are black crappie and white crappie. One specie doesn't all spawn at once.

[stevenslat]

@ToledoBendBass i got black crappie, i am going to buy 30 rosy red minnows to fish for crappie tomorrow where do you think i should throw the line

[ToledoBendBass]

@stevenslat You can search that whole pond in an hour. If there's no brush, trees, snags or vegetation it'd be real quick, just toss out a minnow with a small split shot 2 ft above the hook. Or reverse it with the hook 2 ft. above split shot. If there's a lot of things to snag your hook on then I'd try some of the weedless wacky worm hooks for minnows. When I go out on Toledo Bend which is 180,000 acres I'd love to know which 1/2 acre they'd be in before I started. You have them penned up.

[stevenslat]

@ToledoBendBass the problem with that is that the pond gets deep very slowly, i gets to 17 feet deep. i have tried crank baits and live father minnows under a bobber. there is a fallen tree that killed off my whole pond during katrina. i know that the crappie are schooling up by that tree but i haven't caught one. i can't do the spit shot thing b/c i have no boat to go out and also the pond i 1 acre my bad.

[ToledoBendBass]

@stevenslat There's too many variables for me to advise. But that's what fishing is about. In 60-65 degrees water the crappie can be found shallow, say 2-4 ft. deep. If you can't access all the bank, you will need a friend with a boat. My friend from the Katrina area advised he is catching crappie 2-3 ft. deep starting a couple of weeks ago. My recent crappie were caught in 2-3 ft. deep on jigs.

[stevenslat]

@ToledoBendBass so do you think that the crappie are spawning right now? and also i went fishing today. i used live fathead minnows under a bobber i put out 3 rods each 50 ft. from the other. then, i took a small white jig and jigged it around the bottom for 30 minutes.

after that i took a mini strike king crank bait and combed the whole entire pond. caught nothing but 3 bass.

[ToledoBendBass]

@stevenslat Check the water temp. When it's 60-65 the crappie will go shallow. Not all the crappie will go shallow at one time. Fish near shore. Check the shoreline near the big tree. Fish around any brush or cover just deeper than the 2-3 ft.

[stevenslat]

@ToledoBendBass ok and what would i use for that i went out today, i caught 8 bass using a bobby garland tadpole but no crappie. this friday i am going to tchefuncte river and test my luck there

[stevenslat]

i have the same rod as you haha

[ToledoBendBass]

@stevenslat  Good Rod, it catches lots of crappie.

[emokiddXhotemorage]

do u b y anychance live in nacadoghes texas?

[ToledoBendBass]

@emokiddXhotemorage No, I live on Toledo Bend

[emokiddXhotemorage]

@ToledoBendBass iv hear of that place but iv never been there