By Perry E. Hensley, Sr.
It’s hot and muggy, and those crappies can be tough to catch, right? Well we are going to go over with you some proven tactics to help you catch crappies during the Dog Days of summer.
The First would be the old tried and true method of fishing with minnows. Be it using the Slip Float Method or just tightlining minnow the first thing to find (and it shouldn’t take long) is bait. Most lakes will have loads of shad/bait schools all over the lake, especially here in the south.
One you have established where the bait is and you have chosen a technique now it’s time to find a pinpointed location. In my opinion you will need to find some structure under some type of cover or in shade (Crappie love shade). Do not rule out Shooting Docks with artificial baits. Whether its actual shooting docks or dropping a minnow alongside a dock both have proven to be effective.
Another location would be bridges. Bridges have both structure and cover/shade and a lot of angler night fish under bridges using lights which will attract the bait which in turn attracts the slabs (and other fish) to your exact location so be prepared to catch a catfish, drum, white bass and/or bluegill! Crappie will choose to hang in most cases on the backside of the bridge columns on the current break side so choose your anchor point accordingly.
Whatever technique you choose to fish or the area you choose it is important to know where your thermocline lies in your lake to maximize your attempts to catch a boat load of those finicky summertime slabs.
The absolute best advice that I could give would be to get off that couch and get out there with those you love and make some memories as you enjoy all that our God has given us!