| Minnesota Crappie presents different challenges that | | | | years. It is definitely a different experience than fishing |
| catching Crappie in the Southern United States where | | | | for Crappie in other areas of the country. Nothing |
| they are much more common. | | | | beats a pink jig tipped with a minnow in Minnesota for |
| You are fishing primarily for Black Crappie in Minnesota, | | | | catching slab Crappie. You can fish this bait many |
| these fish have adapted to their environment well. You | | | | ways. |
| will find Crappie in Minnesota do not grow as large as | | | | In the spring situation we talked about above it can be |
| those in states with a longer period of warm weather. | | | | suspended under a bobber and cast near the |
| Fish are cold blooded and dormant in the long cold | | | | shoreline. If you see some fallen timber in the water |
| winter months of Minnesota. | | | | you should quietly position your boat as close to the |
| Different strategies need to be employed as the | | | | structure as possible. A silent trolling motor or set of |
| fishing conditions change. In the spring Crappie will | | | | oars is best used for this purpose. |
| relate to shallow water shoreline areas. One of the | | | | Once in position you must be concerned with not |
| key things to look for is fallen timber. | | | | spooking the fish in the area. |
| Most lakes in Minnesota will not have many areas like | | | | Soft casts to a spot near the fallen tree are a must. I |
| this. This can be a good thing, when you do locate a | | | | like to suspend a pink jig with a crappie minnow three |
| good area you can really put many nice slab Crappies | | | | feet below a small bobber. |
| in your live well. Just one fallen tree on the right | | | | If for some reason you miss your target area and |
| shoreline can hold a decent sized school of slab | | | | become hooked up you need to cut and retie instead |
| Crappie. | | | | of disrupted the area trying to dislodge the hook. If the |
| Let us start by discussing equipment. You should use a | | | | water has current you should cast the bobber out in a |
| light action rod that is very sensitive to small strikes as | | | | manner that allows the current to cause it to drift into |
| Crappie arte not a very aggressive fish. A small | | | | the target area. |
| spinning reel spooled with four pound test | | | | As summer hits the Crappie moved to deeper water, |
| monofilament or fluorocarbon line is your next | | | | this is when they are most difficult to catch. The |
| requirement. | | | | problem is that lakes in Minnesota do not have deep |
| Crappie are a very wary fish that spooks easily, this | | | | water trees and brush piles like southern lakes do. |
| setup will increase your catch rate. Keep your hooks | | | | Crappie here relate more to water temperature and |
| small and thin. Crappie have thin mouths and thicker | | | | the direction of the wind. In summer you generally find |
| hooks can easily become dislodged. | | | | Crappie in somewhat deeper water with close ready |
| I have fished Crappie in Minnesota for over thirty | | | | access to shallow water. |