Crappie Fishing Mistakes

Every crappie fisherman has had his good and bad days. The trick is to avoid the common mistakes all crappie fisherman make so you can always increase your chances of a good catch. Lets face it , to most us our fishing time is precious .Most of us work full time jobs and when we go fishing it is our release on the constant stresses of life. I did some extensive research about crappie fishing and came up with the following common crappie fishing mistakes.

Error when fishing for crappie #1 Patience Doesn’t “Pay” With Crappie We have all heard people say that patience pays when fishing. Unfortunately that is not correct when fishing for crappie. Crappie are a schooling fish and it is important to find these schools. So when your fishing for crappie it is very important to be on the move constantly to find the crappie schools.

Mistake when fishing for crappie #2 Casting Un-sharpened Hooks!
Have you ever set the hook and thought you had your crappie on for sure? The problem isn’t your fishing technique it probably is your hooks. It is important to replace your hooks about every 4th bite or spend a few moments to sharpen your hook. You would be shocked to find out how much difference a sharpened hook makes. The best way to sharpen hooks is with a flat file first filing the outside of the hook point. Next you will need a double edged hook sharpen file that sharpens both sides of the point.

Error when fishing for crappie #3 Not Using a topographical map
I am sure when you go any where on vacation you do some preplanning with either road maps , map quest or a trip ticket. Well It is the same when planning a fishing trip. If you have a map of the water you are going to fish you can identify channel and brush and shallow areas of the water you are going to fish. This simple step can make or break a fishing trip. It amazes me how many fisherman never do this simple step. You can pick one of these maps for 3 or bucks at any bait shop in the area you are going to fish.

Mistake when fishing for crappie #4 Stopping the boat when trolling
It is best to have 2 people along when trolling for crappie. If you have multiple poles in the water when you get a fish on you want to keep as many poles trolling as you can. If you stop the boat you loose the correct depth where the fish are and you have to go through the setup all over again. With a second person , one person can keep driving the boat while the other person re-baits the poles. You would be surprised how may people make this mistake when trolling.

Error when fishing for crappie #5 Getting to close to the fish.
The first instinct is to get as close to the crappie as you can. But that is a big mistake. What happens is your boat makes a wake and can spook the fish if you get to close. The best thing to do is get a long cane pole or telescoping rod so you can reach out about 10 or 15 feet into the brush area you want to fish. It is a major mistake to get to close to the fish.