Tillery Crappie

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
You'll be amazed at how spooky they can be. It's crazy. Before you think maybe there were only 10-12 fish on a brush pile and you caught 6-8 before the others wised up. Now you'll see there can be 200 on a brush pile, and you might catch 4-5 before they catch on, or they might just be aggressive and you catch 40-50. We caught some sitting between boulders that allowed us 60+ before they shut down. It's a game changer for sure.
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
Got to change my game. I mostly idled around till I found bait and a few fish. Then I would troll around and pick up 4 or 5. Then move to the next spot. On a good day I could get a limit fairly easily and on a bad day maybe end up with 5 or 6. But enough for us to eat fish on a regular basis. I started marking brush this summer. Going to go back this spring and try it. I have a lot of the lake that is unexplored so there will be a lot of idling later this winter into the spring. I just want to have 3 or 4 good places so I can catch a few no matter the wind direction. These sport are mainly when I take my mom. She is 75 and loves to catch and eat fish. The fun part to me is definitely finding new water that I have never fished and putting the puzzle together. That is what I enjoy about crappie and bass fishing. So with the new Livescope on my boat I have: Tillery, Badin and Jordan that I fish regular that I can now look at as all new water. Throw High Rock and maybe Kerr into the mix and I have enough to keep me busy for a long time. I teach school so I have a lot of time in the summer when it is really hot that is ideal for using SI to find spots to come back on later with Livescope.
 

Hunterreed

Twelve Pointer
Like justin says crappie are spooky. Drop anchor or get hung on the brush your fishing and you might as well move to a new spot and come back later. I have switched up baits before to keep them biting. I have even cut minnow sized cut bait from crappie just caught and pulled a few more out. It's got to be fresh from a live fish and changed almost every few minutes but it works
 

thelivecanary

Eight Pointer
I fished clear water up in Michigan and it's important to use translucent baits for crappie in super clear water, that said I came down to NC and the same is true but it's all relative to "clarity". So now, I start fishing translucent baits no matter the stain in the water and slowly move toward less and less translucent to match the bite. I don't think I've caught a crappie on a fully solid colored soft bait. The link below is kinda what I'm talking about. Start here and move toward more solid colors / tails etc.

 
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