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One way to fish for crappie is to rig a fly
rod for them. It works just like a cane pole but gives me more control
and is more fun. Ten pound mono is used either as a long leader or
spooled instead of fly line. A small jig is tied on the end of the line
and a cork placed about 18 inches up the line. The jig is dropped by
every bush, stick, tree and other structure in the water.
It usually doesn't take but a few seconds
for the cork to disappear and a fat slab to come out of the water when
the rod is raised. I call this fishing "dabbling" since the jig is
dabbled from one place to another. I hardly ever let it sit more than 15
seconds in one place.
With a trolling motor and seat up front,
a bass boat is ideal for easing around the bank and dabbling for
crappie.
No matter what kind of boat you use to
get to them, the crappie will be on similar structure all over the lake.
The ideal place to find them is a protected cove with some kind of ditch
or channel in it connecting up with the main lake or creek channels. A
hard bottom seems to help, and scattered rocks and gravel make it even
better. Button bushes, willows, sweetgum trees and blowdowns all attract
the fish.
The water level at Clark's Hill is
usually a little high in April. Two weeks ago it was at full pool, but
steady rain will probably make it go up a foot or so. That is good as
long as it does not get more than a foot or so above the full pool level
of 330 feet. One foot of extra water puts even more bushes in the water
that you can fish. Much more and you can't get to the brush and trees
back in the woods that will be flooded. You can only fish the outside
brush and will miss many fish.
If the water is high, don't pass up a
sweetgum tree standing in the water. For some reason, big crappie seem
to love to hold at the base of these trees. Drop your jig or minnow as
close to the tree as possible and work it all around the tree.
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