While
Sarges Crappie Fly may be my go to fly while crappie fishing, when the fish are shallower or perhaps a bit more wary, my next choice is always the Crappie Candy. In fact, a few years ago I even used it in a local tournament where we were only able to use one fly the entire time and I won. I believe the original pattern is by Al Campbell. Typically I tie this pattern in some combination of white and chartreuse, however, I have found an all black body and tail with red crystal flash and red buck tail work very well in dingy water. All bodies of water are different, experiment with a few different colors and see what works in your lakes and ponds. It is an easy pattern to tie and I am sure it will help you catch many crappie, panfish, and even smaller bass. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I do.
Ingredients
Size 8-12 Streamer Hook
Thread 6/0
Marabou
Crystal Flash
Thin Chenille
Bead chain eyes
Step 1
Tie in bead chain eyes near eye of hook.
Step 2
Tie in Marabou Tail.
Step 3
Invert fly, tie in crystal flash and a thin chenille.
Step 4
Palmer forward chenille, tie off and trim just behind bead chain eyes.
Step 5
Grasp your strands of crystal flash, pulling them towards eye of hook. Secure with thread both behind and in front of bead chain.
Step 6
Now pull crystal flash back towards the hook. Secure behind bead chain eyes with thread.
Step 7
Return fly to upright position. Take a few strands of buck tail, tie in both in front and behind bead chain.
Step 8
Whip finish and cut thread. Add a drop of head cement to both the nose of the fly and atop the beach chain to prevent the eyes from twisting. Trim both the crystal flash and buck tail to a length where they will protrude just to the beginning of the bend of the hook. Fly is finished.
Sarge's Crappie Fly is a local favorite and an original pattern developed by a member of my local Fly Fishing Federation Club. Simply a killer pattern it is my go to pattern when targeting Crappie. I have received some requests for what flies I use when chasing Crappie so I thought I would share this one with you all first. Hope it helps you bring to hand as many Crappie as it has for me.
Ingredients:
Size 8 Streamer Hook
Chartreuse Marabou
Chartreuse Thread 6/0
Small Dumbell Eyes
Gold Wire
6 Strands Peacock Herl
Grizzly Hackle
Step 1:
Tie in dumbell eyes close to eye of hook.
Step 2:
Tie in marabout tail, tail should equal length of hook.
Step 3:
Tie in peacock herl, gold wire, and grizzly hackle near bend of hook.
Step 4:
To create the body of the fly, palmer peacock herl forward towards eyes, secure and cut.
Step 5:
Palmer forward the Grizzly Hackle opposite the direction of the peacock herl, secure and cut.
Step 6:
Advance Gold Wire through the Hackle, this gives strength and longevity to the fly, secure and cut behind the eyes. Whip finish and apply head cement.
Snuck in some Crappie fishing before the latest cold front and caught quite a few. No real big slabs but fun nonetheless, also no single pattern stood out but all were caught either using Sarges Crappie Fly, Crappie Candy, or Clousers. Retrieve was very slow. Overall a beautiful and relaxing night.
First of all, a big thank you to Michael over at
Troutrageous for his Tenkara advice and for sending me a few of his hand tied Kebari, pictured below. If you haven't been to Michael's page be sure to check it out. Lots of great information, humor, and links over there.
So yes, Tenkara fishing round two. This time around was much more successful. Landed four Crappie and lost three. Enjoyed it a lot more this outing but it still feels a bit ... alien. All new things take time I am sure. My biggest obstacle was learning how to fight the fish and bring them in, hence I lost those three. I felt with the long rod I wasn't able to get the hooksets I otherwise was used to and felt clumsy bringing them in. Beyond that I had a good time. The fish were a tad bigger this time, and thus more fun on the other end. Still getting use to the "retrieve" and the feel of the rod. Look forward to trying it on some Bluegill perhaps next time, but more than anything, I feel the real verdict will come when I can try it on moving water. All in all it was a successful and fun trip.
Less than a week ago it was mid-80's and sunny. The past three days have been in the 40's with intermittent rain scattered throughout. All else equal this means a more reluctant fish that are harder to find. However, don't be to discouraged. Crappie can still be brought to hand, it just takes a little more work. Now I am not a Crappie expert, but I can hold my own, have read a fair amount on the subject, and talked with several much more experienced than myself. As a result I have come up with four conclusions on how to increase your success with cold front Crappie:
- Decrease the size of your presentation. I typically drop down one or two lure/fly sizes on my presentation.
- SLOW down your presentation. The fish are going to be more lethargic and more reluctant. Slowing down keeps it in front of them longer and increases your hook up percentage. I typically go at half my normal speed.
- Try deeper water. Deeper water is more resistant to temperature changes in the short-run and often those fish that were shallower during the warmer weather will be found in deeper water adjacent to where you were catching them earlier.
- Stick close to cover. Present your lure/fly tightly next to cover, whether that be submerged timber, a rock pile, or vegetation. You may snag more often but its the price to pay.
I employed those four tactics yesterday and had a very successful day despite the odds being stacked against me. I had to work for the fish but in some ways that made it all the more rewarding. No monsters but I still had fun.
It is hard to beat large Crappie on a fly rod. The action is continuous and some of these slabs can put up quite the fight. For me Crappie season signals the official start of spring and warm water fishing. So the other day I went to my local home water, Clinton Lake and threw a fly for a few hours, landing dozens of Crappie. I only stopped when I eventually was crowded out by others (I prefer solitude while fishing, and thus tend to vacate an area when too many people arrive). Still it was a lot of fun and I hope to get back down there later this week for round two. All were caught on a Sarge's Crappie Fly, casting parallel to the banks. Here are a few of the willing participants:
I traveled to Grand Lake Oklahoma with my girlfriend to visit her aunt and uncle and their cabin. Originally, I was hoping for some stellar bass fishing but with recent rains the water was littered with too much debris and floating timber that taking a boat on the water would have been too treacherous. That said, we ended up just messing around a bit around their dock and caught a few crappie and catfish, nothing too sexy, but a good time anyhow. Crappie were caught vertical jigging, whereas the catfish were caught on worms and a bobber.
Friday night I met up with some old friends to chase Crappie at Clinton Lake. While we did find Crappie, we ended up finding so much more. Winds upwards of 15mph forced the boat to seek shelter for most of the day near the protection of the dam face, but we graphed and caught lots of fish just off shore in 15-20 ft of water. The day started mostly with Crappie but as the day progressed we started catching loads of small Wiper. Often with these fish we would catch them casting towards shore and we would hook up with them in only a few feet of water. Shad were busting on the shore itself and it was evident that these Wiper were pushing shad hard and in feeding mode. Not only that but they were not boat shy at all, as we caught several within feet of the boat.
This was the average size of Wiper caught that evening. Not huge but still provided plenty of fight.
Tri with a nice White Crappie.
The usual suspects: in situations where I am going to be catching both Crappie and Wiper I stick to a few core approaches--small crank baits, rattletraps, and silver spoons.
Alexander with a hard pulling Wiper.
KDWP gave us a check. Normally I would say its just because I was in the boat and they like to check me often. One year I was checked 7 times, but being as it is Memorial Day weekend I am sure they are out in force. No worries, we had all our papers and passed the boat inspection without issue. And in all honesty I am glad to see these guys, and appreciative of the work they do to protect our fisheries.
As day gave way to night, the winds calmed and finally let us explore other areas of the lake. We headed to a spot known for Walleye and rumored to hold bigger Wiper. We were not disappointed.
6 1/2 lb Wiper. A new personal best for me! I was pretty excited and have to thank Alexander for his help in netting this girl.
And what better way to end a night than to have Alexander catch his very first Walleye! I am not sure who was more excited, me or him but regardless I was very happy to see him catch this guy.
