By Hall of Fame Angler Stan Fagerstrom
Successful anglers are the ones who find the fish. The need to fish where they are is every bit as important in crappie fishing, in some respects more so, as in other angling endeavors.
I say that because often in the spring big crappie schools tend to congregate in just one small piece of cover.
As soon as I get a half dozen spots so marked, that’s where I concentrate my fishing. I run from one to another of these spots and forget about fishing elsewhere.
I now hang my fishing hat in Arizona. One of the most successful crappie guides in this area gets most of his fish trolling. I’ve done some of that myself. I’ll troll a proven crappie lure of one kind or other behind a Mack’s Lure Smile Blade to find where the fish are holding.
However, once I get that first one area of the lake ever so carefully. This is especially true if there’s cover where the fish might be holding. I say that because in springtime crappie schools are often tightly grouped.
I remember once fishing at Lake Shasta in Northern California. I was put with a guide. It was in May, and we were fishing for bass. I much prefer to stay put and fish that action was slow, but every now and then I felt something pecking at my small spinnerbait. The guide pulled the troll motor out of the water and prepared to move. "Please hold on for a minute,"
I asked. "Something keeps nipping at the trailer of my spinnerbait, and I’ve hunch it’s crappie. They can’t get themselves caught because the lure’s hook is too large. Just hang tight and let me try something.”
The guide waited while I rigged up a 2-inch grub on a 1/32nd-ounce lead head. I hung it on the lightweight spinning outfit I usually carry in the spring. We were near a rocky shoreline, and I knew those rocks ran on out into the water.
I made a quick cast with that little grub. Bingo! A crappie picked up before I moved it three feet.
You can bet I marked that spot before we left. That way I knew I could go back to the same location and have a good chance of making the same kind of catch. I did exactly that the next morning.
Put these suggestions to work in your own fishing. They really do get results. If you don't believe that now, you will after you've given them a fair try.
"Sammy's Wish" by Stan Faggerstrom. Since there remains no shortage of children in our families and neighborhoods who are longing for a role model to teach them how to fish and pass on the life lessons that go along with the experience, we thought this was as good time as any to pull this piece out of the archives and give it another run. Reading it just may inspire you to take a child in your life fishing.
