5 Bad Habits to Break to Catch More Crappie
By: Keith ''Catfish'' Sutton
Learning to avoid bad habits can help any crappie angler improve his catch rate. (Keith Sutton photo)
Fixing these 5 bad habits will help you catch more crappie
“What can I do to catch more crappie?”
Many anglers want a simple answer to that question, but unfortunately, there’s not always one to be found. I’ve been chasing crappie for decades, and I’ve learned that no magic formula will insure success every time we fish for America’s favorite panfish.
One thing is certain, though; when we’re having an unproductive fishing day, as often as not it’s due to our own errors, not because crappie are exceptionally evasive or tight-lipped.
The cure? Do some self-analysis and determine if you’re missing fish because of bad habits. If you are, it’s never too late to change.
Bad Habit #1: Fishing the right place at the wrong time.
When spring arrives, crappie invade shallow-water spawning habitat. This makes them much easier to find and catch than during other seasons and results in more anglers fishing for crappie during this period.
Crappie also feed actively during summer, fall and winter, but during these seasons, they’re less likely to be concentrated in the shallows. Nevertheless, many anglers continue fishing the same shallow-water locales that produced big stringers of fish earlier in the year. They think spring hotspots should be just as good at other times as they were during spring, but this seldom proves true.
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