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Free Bass and Trout Fishing Information
What Are Crappies?
Author: Dale Mazurek
Article:
The crappie a few years ago was a relatively unknown fish. In
this article I hope to make it a little clearer on what a
crappie is and why its popularity has gotten so big in the last
few years.
In the last few years the sport of crappie fishing has taken off
beyond most anglers beliefs. You see crappies on the front of
fishing and outdoor magazines. And in the last few years the
crappie tournaments have popped up all over the place with huge
prize amounts.
Most anglers tend to focus on spawning time when it comes to
crappies. The reason for this is because the fish are so hard to
find any other time of the year. They rarely stay in one place
at a time for more than a day or so. However when you do find
them they tend to be a very easy fish to catch
Right after ice out the crappies start to move into the shallow
bays. Most guys think this is for spawning but actually they are
moving in to feed on bait fish. The bait fish are brought there
by the warming waters. The spawning doesn't actually start until
the water reaches about 65 degrees.
The male makes a nest by cleaning off the bottom on sand or
gravel bottom. This is also quite often done near vegetation
such as bull rushes. The females will then lay their eggs and
then disappear. The males always stick around to guard the nest
and the young until they are big enough to go on their own.
Crappies tend to feed on plankton suspended in open water. They
also eat small fish and a variety of different insects. This
would be a reason they are always on the move.
The crappie population tends to go in certain cycles. The fish
will be very abundant for years and then all of a sudden it will
seem like the fish have totally disappeared. Nobody really knows
why this happens but they do know that when the fishing gets
tough its time to stop fishing crappie for that season.
In the north black crappies are more abundant and in the south
it's the white crappies. They will overlap in different areas.
The crappie is also one of the prettiest fresh water fish in our
lakes.
In articles to come I will attempt to help you get to know the
crappie better by giving you tips on where to find them and how
to easier catch them.
Dale Mazurek
About the author:
Dale has been an expert fisherman for the last 35 years. He has
one several junior tournaments. You can check out some of his
very popular blogs at http://fishingtutor.blogspot.com/ or
http://funtidbits.blogspot.com/ and
http://relationshiptidbits.blogspot.com/
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