Fall crappie movement is predictable

PeeWee Arnold and Johnny Smith of Bude show off their best 10 fish from a December tournament held on Chotard.

Can you believe it? We’re heading into November, hunting season and the holidays. Man, how time flies when you’re having fun. And, yes, we’re right smack-dab in the middle of what I consider to be the very best time of the year to go crappie fishing.

Many of you have read my articles in previous years about the wonderful fall crappie fishing we have here in Mississippi. It truly is a magical season where the crappie come together in large schools and feed on shad day after day, every day.

As the days shorten and the water temperatures cool, crappie know they have a limited time to put on that survival layer of fat before winter kicks in. They know their job is to eat absolutely anything that swims by, and they aggressively attack baits offered to them at this time of year.

Without a doubt, Mississippi is a strong hunting-based state. The urge to hunt begins with dove season for lots of us. A part of our heritage is to smell the gunpowder, to feel and hear the bang of a 12 gauge or to zero in our deer rifle scopes. We usher in fall with work days at deer camp, and, before you know it, it’s bow season, and the collective fantasies of many Mississippi outdoorsmen turn to giant sets of antlers.

Fishing kinda, sorta takes a back seat for lots of folks.

But more and more of us are getting our kicks in the fall and winter on the water instead of, or perhaps in addition to, the woods.

Yes, crappie fishing is becoming a year-round sport here in the Magnolia State. And why not? Some of the best fishing weather comes in October, November and even early December. It’s not too hot, not too cold. Weather fronts in the fall are farther apart and weaker than spring fronts. We have fewer problems with windy conditions in the fall, and our waters are typically as clear as they get at this time of year.

Let me tell you some of what I find successful for catching huge crappie in unbelievable numbers this time of year.

Fall tactics

Find the shad. Fall crappie fishing is that simple. Find the shad, and you’ll catch the crappie. Shad go through a predictable seasonal migration every fall wherever you fish. On my home lake of Ross Barnett Reservoir and on most other large lakes in Mississippi, shad move from the lower part of the open lake toward upriver. They leave the stump fields and the open flats of the main lake, and hit the river channel heading toward the Highway 43 bridge and points north.

I have an annual argument with other “experts” concerning the depth to fish for fall crappie. Others will tell you the fish move shallow in the fall, but I catch every one of mine deep. I’m pretty darn sure that both of us are right, and I’m pretty sure the presence of shad is more important to attracting and holding catchable crappie than water depth.

In November, I go to the river channels and other drops where I find water that is more than 20 feet deep. I fish from 14 feet down to as deep as 22 feet. Slow-trolling or drifting minnows on red octopus-style hooks works day after day.

Jig fishing with hair or soft-plastic jigs works, too. White hair jigs wrapped with red thread are my favorite fall artificials, followed closely by a Bass Assassin Tiny Shads in any color as long as it’s chartreuse.

Bump the bottom. Some days I find fall crappie stuck to the bottom, and I do mean “stuck.” Every fall at Barnett, there’ll be a few days when the slabs I’m catching are coming up with mud all across the bottom third of their bodies. In fact, on a calm day, you’ll notice in the clear water that those slabs will give it one last shake before breaking the surface, and what you’ll see is a cloud of mud coming off their bodies. Trust me — if your normal open-water tactics aren’t working on suspended fish, go to the bottom.

Let’s be clear on exactly when fall fishing occurs. To me, fall fishing means that 10- to 12-week period from early October through mid-December. My tactics and my locations change once the winter crappie season kicks in (and in most years, that’s late December through mid-February). I’ll share some winter tips with you next month.

Join the club

Did you know that one of the largest fishing clubs in the entire country is based right here in central Mississippi? The Magnolia Crappie Club is a non-profit, strictly-for-fun fishing club that has been doing it for 16 years. We begin our new tournament schedule every fall.

The MCC folks come in all shapes and sizes and with all kinds of boats and fishing skills. We just had our first tournament of the new 2007-08 season at Wolf Lake, and we were encouraged to see several new teams and a few younger folks join us on tournament morning. Indeed, ours is a large, diverse group, and we all share a great enjoyment for chasing crappie while testing our fishing skills against one another.

For more info about the club and to get our tournament schedule, go to www.magnoliacrappieclub.com, or call club president Charles Lindsay at 601-624-6348.

MCC has an open membership policy and a liberal substitute rule that allows for new members to get involved easily. In addition to holding 10 to 12 tournaments a year, MCC serves the community as well. Some of the club’s special projects have included feeding Katrina victims, holding benefit tournaments for cancer and muscular dystrophy associations, lake restoration projects and donating more than 33,000 pounds of fish to various charitable organizations and food banks. We help with the kids’ fishing rodeos every year at Turcotte Labs, and we participate in the annual “Got Fish?” educational program at the Natural Sciences Museum.

We in the MCC catch ’em “as big as they grow,” and we have a big time doing it. Come join the fun.

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