Crazy for Crappie

Posted On April 16, 2011
Well after a very busy trade show season, finalizing all the details for the 2011 Extreme Angler Annual publication, editing new video tips n tactics for the website, planning road trips and confirming schedules for upcoming shows, I had a few days to rig my boat for the upcoming season and got out for a day`s pleasure fish with my good buddy "Spike" who does double duty as our website manager and headed to a couple proven locations for early season Crappie.

Their was ice flows at several of the locations due to the strong wind storms we experienced the last week that blocked more than a few boat ramps, but not be discouraged, we hit the hiways and biways to several other locations and finally got to launch the boat around noon, putted around for a bit, got on the trolling motor and not ten casts in, my float disappeared below the surface.
Missed that strike.
And the one right after that one too!
But, three casts later, my first Crappie of the open water season was splashing on the surface.
What a joy to be fishing open water again from my own rig, god bless the springtime after another long cold winter.

We had to slow down our approach with additional sinkers attached below the blackbird slip floats so the strong east winds would not push our baits too quickly past the Crappies holding in shallow water near isolated, scattered weed clumps or laydown timber. These fish wanted the bait presented at an ultra slow pace to drift past their noses before they committed to bite.

Although the action was somewhat scattered it felt good to be able to hunt `em down and make `em bite with strike king tooty fruity tubes and Blakemore slab daddy jigs in bright pink/chartruese tones.

By the time I loaded the rig back onto the trailer, we probably caught, hooked or lost over fifty plus Crappie ranging in sizes from 8 to 11 inches with of course, the 2 biggest of the day coming off right at the boat.
Kept a dozen decent sized fish for a family meal and released the others for another day.
With the weekend forecast predicting lots of rain and 40+km winds, I guess I`ll rig up some more rods for next week and enjoy a meal of tasty springtime crappie while watching the hockey playoffs....we are Canadian after all eh!

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About

Karl Kalonka
Karl Kalonka

Joined November 18, 2010

Extreme Angler TV has taken great pride in creating the first ever Canadian outdoor brand that is as real as it gets, offering viewers a brand that entertains, educates and inspires the next generation! . At the core of Brand-X is the popular host, Karl Kalonka who combines a crisp high energy personality with an "in-your-face-style" of high impact fishing, fast paced editing, unique camera angles and often amazingly large fish of all species. WFN visitors are invited to have a peak behind the scenes of what it really takes to make a living fulltime as an angler in Canada with Karl`s no holds barred answers to anglers questions. Anglers will be able to read about Karl`s living life as he knows it from practising for a tournament and filming show segments to the sacrifices and dedication it takes to be a professional angler. Delivering the life of a Canadian pro angler on and away from the water and directly to the computer screens of fishing fans worldwide. From slab-sized crappie to super-size-me largemouth bass, Karl is as hardcore an angler as it gets!

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