It's crappie fishing, not rocket science
Posted Saturday, Apr. 03, 2010 Comments (0) Recommend (


By ART CHAPMAN

Special to the Star-Telegram

It took just a couple minutes reading one of those Internet fishing forums to realize crappie fishing has passed me by. It has always been one of my favorite forms of fishing; certainly crappie remain one of my favorite freshwater fish to eat.

But over the years I drifted off to bass fishing, then several years of saltwater bay fishing and now I'm dabbling in limited off-shore fishing. But recently, I decided I wanted to spend more time on area lakes.

I can't afford to be on the coast all the time and, when I'm home in North Texas, I want to keep a line in the water as often as possible. My brother and I -- mostly him -- are getting a 14-foot aluminum boat outfitted with a 15-horsepower outboard and we're looking forward to some low-cost, high-reward pan fish. It's nothing fancy, but it's easy for one person to handle and it can be towed behind a 10-speed if necessary.

Reading the fishing forum, I came upon a fellow who was just starting out crappie fishing and he was asking advice on what kind of equipment he needed. I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a few notes. The answers included everything from six-foot rods with bait casting reels, to 10-foot rods with spin casters. He was advised to use 20-pound braided line with a mono leader.

I'm not sure what kind of crappie these guys are catching, but you can pull a bull red off the jetty rocks with 20-pound braid.

Dozens of different jigs were recommended, lots of weights, bobbers and corks, hooks of all size. No one -- not one -- suggested a cane pole and a bucket of minnows.

I looked up some of the local guide services and many of them flaunt their boats and electronics. Side imaging sonar seems to be necessary equipment these days. If you haven't priced one, you'll be surprised. A thousand dollars is a good place to start.

Guides have to operate the best equipment they can. They're taking your money and you expect something in return. A day on the water with a guide generally costs several hundred dollars and you want to fish in comfort and with expectations that you'll have something to fry up at the end of the day.

Also, guides generally fish several lakes and they can't commit all the hot spots to memory. It helps to have a good GPS with the best spots marked. It just seems a little out of proportion when you figure most of the fish you catch are just big enough for a bite-size fillet.

Crappie fishing used to be kind of a recreational activity to me. It was relaxing and fun. It was simple; from the bank or from a boat. Now, it is a sport. There are tournament organizations where teams pay entry fees and at the end of the day, it's the money that counts the most, not the fish for the skillet.

I've never been a tournament fisherman so I can't really say much about their value. I do know that many of the organizations do a lot of good by putting money back into research and the environment.

If the tournament organizations are a place to meet other fishermen and learn more about fishing, then I'd have to be for them. If they're in it just for the money, I'll pass.

I like the way Henry Lewis does it over at Caddo Lake. Lewis is 72 years old and has been fishing Caddo since he was 12. He left East Texas once; went to Dallas to make his fortune, but that didn't work out. He came back to Uncertain, Texas, on the banks of Caddo and, by age 17, he had his guide license. He's been there ever since, working out of Johnson's Ranch Marina.

If you want to go fishing with Lewis, you call the marina and talk with Karen Holzman. She keeps the reservations at the marina and she'll let you know when Lewis is available. He is in high demand.

When the appointed time comes, Lewis will ride up to the marina on his riding lawnmower and escort you on down to the dock where he'll pick out one of the marina's aluminum Jon boats. With a handful of cane poles and a minnow bucket, he'll head out among the cypress stumps and hidden sloughs on the lake until he finds a likely spot.

He'll bait the hook with a minnow and try the spot. He figures if it doesn't give up a crappie in five minutes or less, it's time to move on. It won't take many spots before it's time to return to the dock and clean the day's catch. No sonar, no big motor, no sponsor's patches on his overalls.

Just a fun, relaxing day on the water.

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