3-16-25 - Jeremy Mattingly, owner of Crappie Monster and OTfishing

Tonight's feature guest, Jeremy Mattingly, owner of Crappie Monster and OTfishing.com takes an in depth look on how to catch crappie during Spring.  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:44):
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Outdoors on news Radio eight forty whas Good.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Evening, Everybody demonstrator and Scott Crowning here and Scott we
got a great program tonight for the crappie fisherman. We've
got Jeremy Mattingly. He's widely known as Croppy Monster, owner
of Croppy Monster and Otch Fishing. He is a tournament

(01:22):
croppie angler and a guy that helps folks with baits
and rides and nets and everything all things crappy, I
guess it's fair to say. And most importantly, he fishes
all over the United States as a pro crappie fisherman
and has quite a resume, and he's a big following
on YouTube. And we're lucky enough, if you don't mind

(01:45):
my saying this, to snag him here in the pre
spawn period to talk with us tonight about pre spawn
crappie and the spawn, the ways the fish transitioned during
this period, and the baits and techniques that work best
in this PID in the next two months here when

(02:07):
it's just wide open. I know you're looking forward to,
as I am Scott.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, when it comes to crappie fishing, when you get
past those days that they stop being real finicky on
you and you can start putting a bunch of file's
in a five gallon bucket and finish them out the
rest of the year, picking through them and eating some kostlaw.

Speaker 4 (02:28):
It makes for a real good time.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
I enjoy Crappie three hundred and sixty five days a year,
just not the days that I catch him.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yes, sir, well. The nice thing about Jeremany he's so
well versed in all the techniques, and Crappie reminds me
of bass in one regard. On any given length, on
any given days, there's a lot of ways to catch him,
and he is very well versed in all those techniques
and tips about how to catch him. So he's kind

(02:56):
enough to share that with us tonight, and we'll have
him on right after the break. So I'm gonna go
quickly to break here. The break is presented by SMI Marine.
Go see him. They're eager to help you get your
boat on the water or troubleshooting problems you've been having.
The twenty twenty five's are available. They got some deals
on some twenty twenty fours. And remember, you'll never get

(03:19):
soaked by my friends at SMI. All right, folks, we're
back and again tonight we're talking with Jeremy Maddingly Croppiemonster
otch dot com. I'm sure a lot of you're familiar
with him from Facebook ind or some of the YouTube
videos he's got out about croppie fishing. And Jeremy, thanks

(03:41):
so much for taking time out of a very busy schedule. Partner.
I'm really looking forward to having you on tonight because
you're the real deal.

Speaker 5 (03:51):
Well, I appreciate that very much and I'm glad to
be here. Thank you and Scott for having me on tonight.
And I hope that by the end of this that
everybody has a brand new outlook on croppie fishing. Well,
I'm coming into that time of year that's getting to

(04:14):
the front of everybody's mind.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, March is the big transitional month, and obviously we
want to talk about that, and we're going to go
into the spawn as well. But Jeremy kick things off
to folks a little bit about yourself, because you've had
a very spectacular burst upon the crappie fishing scene since
twenty eighteen and spent quite a journey.

Speaker 4 (04:42):
Yes, sir, it has.

Speaker 5 (04:43):
It has been one of the most exciting roller coaster
rides I've ever been on. I started crappie fishing there
in December of twenty seventeen, and I went out on
the National Trails in March of eighteen.

Speaker 4 (04:55):
Four months later.

Speaker 5 (04:57):
I got consumed with crappie fishing, figuring them out, studying them,
and I built my career on well two things, teaching
people how to catch crappie and cashing checks at tournaments.
I hope that don't come off wrong, but that's what
my career has consisted of that. I got in there

(05:17):
and I stuck my head down, I kept my eyes front,
and I grind them her out till I had some
lucky breaks, for sure, but I figured it out. And
studying these fish three hundred and sixty five days a year,
I'm on I'm on the water about three hundred days
a year, and I'm able to gather the knowledge and

(05:41):
then distribute to the everyday fishermen and other tournament anglers
alike through programs like yours. And that's why I'm glad
to be able to take part in this. Coming into
this time of the year, we'll we've all heard the
dog wooding. The dogwoods are blooming, it's time to go fishing. Well,

(06:03):
I'm here to tell you they're biting before the dog
would start blooming, they're biting after they've done quit. It's
all year ordeal. But right now is that special time
to where that you can beat them banks with a
cork and find those male fish building nests loaded up
and catch a limit and then go to the house. Now,

(06:26):
right now, the this time of year, the black crappie
will come into nests first, and then the white crappie
will come in after. The black crape always come in
about five degrees in water temp less than what the.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
White crapy do.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
So when you get in those high fifties, that's when
you need to start looking to the bank, or at
least real close to it, or brush close to the bank.
It's because in black crapy are already in there. They
gear up first man, they jump the gun and they
get in there. And a cork is one of the
best ways in the world to catch them, just a

(07:04):
good old fashion like Patall took you to do, a
cork and a real small jig and us with Crappie Monster,
we actually came out with one called the Outbreak. It's
a three quarter inch long bait, a little beaver tail bait,
and it's perfect for this time of year, that free
spawn and the spawn transition. That's when you want to

(07:25):
throw that little bait under a cork. And if it's visible,
whether you've got electronics or not, that part don't matter
as much as what you would think. Just know that
once that water temp hits the mid to high fifties,
those crappi are spawning. Those male crappie will come in
and build those net nests weeks in advance of the

(07:48):
females coming into later eggs. So if you see a
little twig and it's close to the banker, it's close
to a contour, especially on a point or or near
standing timber, there's gonna be croppy on it. Although of
course we can't see through the water, you believe it
in your head those crappi are there, and if they

(08:10):
don't bite. One of the best things you can do
is match the color of the water. If the water's darker,
you use a darker color. It's easier for them to see.
If the water's more clear, then you go with a
clearer color, something more natural. And that's gonna be a
ticket to success right now and for the next month

(08:32):
a month and a half.

Speaker 2 (08:36):
Jeremy I'm delighted you talked about a smaller presentation because
I had found a hook and crook and hard times
on the water that downsizing with crappie can really be
a big difference in the hall at the end of
the day, especially when the water's cold or when it's hot.

(09:00):
We'll you know, throw out the hot part for now, obviously,
but you know a lot of times it seems like
a smaller presentation in March in early April will catch
more fish than something say two inch or bigger.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
Is that your experiences.

Speaker 5 (09:20):
Absolutely, The number one selling style bait in the country
for crappie fishing is a small fry and that's traditionally.

Speaker 4 (09:29):
Everybody knows it as a Bobby Garland.

Speaker 5 (09:31):
Okay, that bait is two inches long, and what you
want to do is go about halfway back on that
body and bite that dude in half and then put
it on your hook.

Speaker 4 (09:41):
You need to go smaller.

Speaker 5 (09:44):
Right now, and especially like in the middle of the
summer and they get that lethargic that they get lazy
and don't want to eat, that smaller bait will help
trigger that reaction bite or just trigger them to go
ahead and eat and what's going on on in that
uh and this is this is going to jump forward
to post spawn right here real quick. But they calculate,

(10:09):
is the best way that I can say, They calculate
how much energy.

Speaker 4 (10:14):
They're going to have to use to eat that bait.

Speaker 5 (10:17):
Well, a smaller bait takes less energy for them to
eat and digest, and they're worn out from the spawn.
So that's where the lethargic comes in, and that smaller
bait will help get the bill done.

Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yes sir. And of course conversely that enables them to
build up fat for the spawning period. That's where that
key comes in this time of year, Jeremy describe the
places during March that folks should key on this this
biber and jig, and then talk about some of the

(10:50):
colors and styles you like to put under those bibbers.

Speaker 5 (10:55):
Okay, well, right now, the places that you need to
key in on would be, honestly, any visible laydown, even
if all you see is the trunk up on the bank,
the top of that tree is still in the water.

Speaker 4 (11:10):
Fish over the top of that.

Speaker 5 (11:11):
Tree, and the one key to that is try to
fish over the top of it and let them come
up on their own terms to eat that bait. You
don't want to get down in there and shake them
all out. So fish, if you're in ten foot of water,
set that barbery two foot deep, and you get across

(11:31):
there and see if you get bit, and if you not,
then drop it a foot, go to three foot and
go on down that way until you get hung and
your catch ratio is going to go way up.

Speaker 4 (11:42):
Now. I have two colors. I fish all over the country.

Speaker 5 (11:46):
I have crappy fished in almost every state in the
southeast or central South, and some of them all the
way out to California. These I keep four bags of.
You can fit my whole tackle box in one front
pocket of you brieges. One is a Margarita small fry

(12:06):
by Croppie Monster.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
It is.

Speaker 5 (12:10):
Translucent small fry bait that will actually change colors as the.

Speaker 4 (12:17):
Light hits it.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Okay.

Speaker 5 (12:24):
The other is a dirty water color. It is purple
and sharp ruse. It's a joker uppercut that is a
different design. It's got a flame looking tail on it,
and that'll give it a different presentation.

Speaker 4 (12:37):
It looks like a mayfly.

Speaker 5 (12:40):
And that's why that that works is because it has
the profile of a mayfly. The third would be a
monster milk in the outbreak. That's at three quarter inch bait,
and it's just as natural as what it comes and
most of the time I'm fishing it on a sixteenth
thounanced head under a bobber. And the fourth one, this

(13:03):
is going to throw you off a little bit. It's
a three inch bait. It is the magneto. We call
that one ozark smoke. It is silver glitter or I'm sorry,
blue glitter with a silver belly, and it looks just
like a shad.

Speaker 4 (13:18):
And especially in the.

Speaker 5 (13:19):
Spawn, you'll get on these beds and you'll catch ten
or fifteen fish, then all of a sudden they shut off.
You think it's just reasonable that they left. You spooked
them out. Well, now with the electronics we have, we
can see that they're still there. So we had to
figure out how to trigger that bite even though they're

(13:40):
not wanting to eat. So after we've taught them with
a small fryer outbreak and then they shut down on us,
I will put that three inch bait on her and
I will run at dude across that bed as fast
as I can reel that rod, just to trigger that reaction. Bite,
and you would really be amazed at how many times

(14:02):
those fish will go ahead and eat that bait. And
once the first one bites, it has triggered that feeding
frenzy again and then it's back game on. Go back
to your smaller bait and finish out your limit.

Speaker 2 (14:15):
Well, I do the same thing with small swim baits,
and what I feel like happens there is that they
perceived that as a nest predator, as approached to a small,
tiny bait fish, that they better kill. Okay, cool, yes, sir, And.

Speaker 3 (14:35):
That's mean as you as you talk on those colors too,
and you're you're talking about matching up size and color
to that approach. With the weather that we have during
this time period, can you talk to us just a
little bit about maybe some of the situations with some
rain and cloud cover, maybe light wind versus modern wind,

(14:59):
and how how that comes into play during this technique.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
Yes, absolutely will.

Speaker 5 (15:06):
One thing that crappie hate that is a very common
misconception is that jig going up and down. We were
all brought up jigging the fire out of that jig,
bouncing it up six eight ten inches, trying to get
bit well after being able to view them and study
them on forward facing sonar. I found out that I

(15:28):
was running my fish off. Those fish will bite if
you barely tick that rod. I tell people that if
they've ever been shocked by an electric fence, and most
people have that short, violent jerk, that is the pop
you're looking for. You want to send vibration through your

(15:51):
line by that pop, and that will I know, the
folks at home can't see me moving my hands when
I'm sitting here.

Speaker 4 (15:58):
Demonstrating them pop.

Speaker 5 (16:00):
Uh, that short violent jerk will send a vibration through
the water that those crappee can pick up on their
lateral lines. And to me, it's kind of like saying
I dare you, And most of the time they'll eat it.
That bait doesn't need to go up and down more
than two inches, mix just enough to make it jiggle.
And then by sending that vibration through there, I don't

(16:23):
know if it makes them mad or if it's just like, oh,
I didn't know you were there. It lets them find
the bait easier, and that's really effective in muddy water.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, my analogy there is that's that's a bait fish
that's got to dye. And quivers just how I would
describe you know what I'm saying, it's subway out all right, Well, Jeremy, uh,
coming back, I want you to talk a little more
about bottom types that and or the type of cuts

(16:55):
and coals that produce best in March. We'll stay on this,
you know, March madness period, if we will, and I
think that will help folks target the specific areas where
you would send them. So we're gonna go to break here, folks.
This break is presented by mostl properties part Realty. Check

(17:15):
out all their listings at mop h A r T
realty dot com. Jeremy, one of the things that confounds
so many anglers in March is where to start by that?
I mean, you know, mainlink back of the creeks, mouths

(17:36):
of the creeks, secondary points. You know, there's just all
kind of things that fish do and transition. But I'd
like for you to talk about the way croppy make
their move in March. I also maybe link into those
areas if you would, and techniques that would apply to that,
and then we'll return to talking about the Barber deal

(17:58):
a little bit.

Speaker 5 (18:01):
Okay, Well, guys, if y'all are at home, grab ak
pen because I'm gonna give you the biggest secret in
all of crappie fishing. This is good for a year round,
and this is where you need to start during the
spawn as well. Where that a secondary creek, which when
I say a secondary creek, I look for the biggest

(18:23):
secondary creek on the entire lake, or if it's a river,
the biggest secondary creek coming into the river. Where that
intersection hits is where those crappie that's their domain. That's
where they live their lives all year long. You're gonna
find them somewhere close to that intersection. Now, if that

(18:44):
intersection has a flat that goes to the bank, then
it's the perfect scenario for them.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
To live their entire lives and never leave.

Speaker 5 (18:54):
If it has a flat, they will set out there
in that channel along that ledge, and as they train
this and as the water keeps warming up, they get
up on top of that flat and go in as
far as what they can, and that's where that they
will spawn at. So if that you are spider rigging,
then you want to get on top of that ledge

(19:15):
of that secondary channel and follow that ledge up the
creek until you get the shallow water fishing the entire way.
A lot of times you can actually go a little
faster than what that. Traditionally, spider riggers do. Most of
the time, they're anywhere from point three to point six
mile spider rigging. I have spider rigged all the way

(19:38):
up over two miles an hour. They call it power trolling,
and by that you will put up to a one
ounce weight above your bait, about eighteen inches to two
foot above your bait, and then you'll have a jig
plastic or a live mento on there and you're pushing

(19:58):
through there to higher rate of speed. So the biggest
thing if you're spider rigging is stay on that ledge.
What happens during the spawning, You've got to understand this.
Those females are not on that bed all the time.
They wait until conditions get perfect barometric pressure, water tump
and everything. Those females are only on that bed for

(20:20):
about an hour and a half and then they leave.
It's the male fish that you're catching, and this time
of year, everybody calls them all black croppies. Even the
white crappy get cold black and.

Speaker 4 (20:34):
It's because of their hormones. So the we talk about
them like this.

Speaker 5 (20:41):
A black croppy is a cheetah, a white crappie is
a tiger. Tigers have stripes, cheetahs have spots. That's how
you tell the difference outside of counting the spines on
their dorsal stem. So if you're spider rigging or longlining,
you're gonna want to stay closer to the channel, and
if you're not catching anything, then work.

Speaker 4 (21:01):
Up on top of the flat and work yourself closer
to the bank.

Speaker 5 (21:04):
Those males go in and build those nests, but the
big females, those trophy fish of a lifetime, they hang
out off of the bank in a little bit deeper
water and they will stage there. You hear people talk
about staging for spawn. All they're doing is sitting out
there and they're just floating in open water. No timber,

(21:27):
no brush, no nothing. They're just setting in open water.
So that's where the spider egg. Along lining long lining,
you're throwing jigs out the back of the boat. You're
running anywhere from point seven to one point two.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
Most of the time.

Speaker 5 (21:45):
You'll use a smaller jighead anywhere from an eighth all
the way down to a one twenty eighth, and that's
how you dictate the depth of water that you're fishing
in is the distance of line out and the size
of your jighead.

Speaker 4 (22:00):
So if you need to get out deeper, you throw it.

Speaker 5 (22:02):
You cast out further if you use the eighth ounce,
which is a bigger jighead. If you're on a six
foot flat, then you wouldn't want to cast out very
far and you would be using at mics of thirty
second jighead. That way, you're keeping it somewhere midwater column,
which is the perfect starting point, whether you're over the

(22:22):
main channel, if you're on a flat, if you're throwing
a bobber against a bank, a perfect starting point would
be half the depth of water. So any of those
three will get you done. But it's the location that
matters most. That secondary channel where it hits the main

(22:42):
channel is one hundred percent wintertime hot spot, one hundred
percent middle of the summer hotspot. And during the spawn
you're dealing with half the fish because the males are
on the bank and the females are still setting out there.

Speaker 4 (22:58):
The female later eggs and they leave. Yeah, go ahead,
christ Jeremy.

Speaker 3 (23:04):
What about the folks that are fishing watershed lakes? That
aren't built up, primarily with the amount of preak channels
that were used to on some of the major reservoirs.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
So we have a lot of listeners.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
That will go into a compound or a lake that
may only be eighty acres to one hundred acres and
maybe give them some advice on fishing those types of
waters as well. Absolutely, my first three three pound crappie
came out of a watershed in Grayson County.

Speaker 4 (23:40):
And they came back to back.

Speaker 5 (23:42):
I'd never caught a three pounder before in my life,
and I caught three three casts in a row.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
Oh yes, sir.

Speaker 5 (23:51):
A lot of your watersheds you'll find beaver dams. Okay,
those beaver dams are a hotspot for bedding crappie.

Speaker 4 (24:03):
Now, of course, don't mess with the.

Speaker 5 (24:05):
Beavers, but cast out away from those beaver dams up
to fifteen twenty feet and pitch all around. Whether you're
throwing and retrieving, just casting and rilling, or if you're
throwing a bobber, cast up to twenty feet away from
those beaver dams. Those are going to be one the
hottest spot on the whole lake during the spawn and

(24:26):
even post spawn. Because those male crappie will stay on
that bed for up to six months guarding those fry.

Speaker 4 (24:35):
Now outside of that, I look.

Speaker 5 (24:37):
For any low hanging limbs and I will pitch up
or in behind. Especially if i'm bank fishing, you can
get under the canopy of the tree. I look for
low hanging limbs. There's all kinds of stuff that falls
out of them trees, whether it be inch worms or
I guess it's kind of gross to say bird dropping.

(25:01):
Those fish are gonna eat it. If it falls in
the water underneath that limb, they are gonna eat it.
And that is a hot spot, always a hot spot,
and most of the time on the watershed lakes, you'll
have an outlet of most time they're concrete, square looking deals.
I get as far away from them as I possibly can.

(25:21):
That's usually your deeper end. And during the pre spawn
spawn and even in the post spawn, I get away
from that deeper end just like a secondary channel. I
work my way up towards the bank, and I work
my way towards the back of the creek. I won't
spend a lot of time out there unless I'm catching fish.

(25:42):
Before I start moving in up on the flats and
closer to the bank, and in just about every watershed
I've ever fished, it'll be a shallow flat on the
opposite end from that concrete outlet.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Very good, Jeremy. Back to the females and what they
do different than the males, and I'm glad you mentioned
that because there's some time of day stuff I want
to discuss with you here after the break, but right now,
it's important for people to understand that female crappi are
in a mode during the spawn where they've already fed

(26:22):
up the fat, they've done their job to get ready
to spawn, and that resting they're doing outside of the
shallows for most of the day is there way of
staying ready to drop those eggs and they're out a
little deeper. I'd like your thoughts for me. I target

(26:42):
the females somewhere between five to ten feet outside of
what the known male bedding areas. Is that your belief
or what are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 4 (26:54):
Well? I would venture a little further out.

Speaker 5 (26:58):
I like to find the next dry off in water
or in the bottom in depth of water. So if
the males are spawning in four to five ft of water,
all the way up to six inches. Okay, the main
water around that area, let's just say it's four feet deep.
But then at up to one hundred feet out there's

(27:20):
a one foot drop they relate to, and that's actually structure.
We all say it wrong. I say it wrong in
my videos. I lay down is cover. The contour of
the lake is structure. So I go out to the
next drop in water depth, and they will hang to

(27:42):
that structure there. That is the contour, And it's a
different water temp out there. Yes, And with crappy the
water temp dictates their mood, and their mood dictates what
depth of water they're going to be in only because
of the temperature of the water. So that female is

(28:07):
gonna get in a hot and heavy mood about the
time she runs into the nest and laser eggs. And
if she's not there yet, then she's not gonna be
in that little bit hotter water. She's gonna stay off
to where it's just a little bit cooler.

Speaker 2 (28:25):
Because her metabolism doesn't take as much energy, she doesn't
have to feed. Is hard correct?

Speaker 5 (28:31):
Yes, Yes, you've got to understand that two things about
are actually three things about cropping. They are unbelievably lazy fish.
Unbelievably lazy fish. The females are horrible, horrible mothers. They
run in, they lay their eggs, and.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
It's peace out, guys, We'll see you if you make it.

Speaker 5 (28:54):
They leave. They never see those fry again. The male
stays with the fry, which is totally opposite from most
every other species of everything on the face of the planet.

Speaker 4 (29:08):
But in crappee it's just different.

Speaker 5 (29:10):
Now, the third and most important thing to understand is
that they are predatory fish. They will do what predators do.
They will get out, they will hunt, they will feed,
and honestly, if they're all fed up, they're not gonna eat.
So that's where your time of day comes in. Everybody

(29:32):
talks about the morning bite and the evening bite.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
Let's return to that after break, Jeremy, if you don't
mind that, that's a big area of discussion I want
to have with you. Let's do that after this break,
if you don't mind, because that's an important point that
most people do not understand. I'm gonna go to break here, folks.
This break is presented by SMI Marine that are eleven

(29:56):
four hundred Westport Road. Go see them they'll take great
care of. Remember you never get suked by my friends
at SMI tear me. We're starting into times of day
there right before the break, and I'd like you to
talk about that and put things like wind and clouds, rain, sun,
et cetera into that equation if you would. Police.

Speaker 5 (30:18):
Yes, sir, you hear everybody talk about the morning bite
and the evening bite. What's going on there are crappie
ike just like catfish in the ninth getting up into
the evening. They come out of deeper water and come
up shallow to feed because most of time that's where
your bait fish are. So when you get out there

(30:41):
right at dawn or right at dusk, they are in
a feeding frenzy where that black crappie go into singles
at that time, where that during the day they're in schools,
they'll go out into singles and hunt individually so that
they're not compete with the other fish for their food

(31:04):
for the bait fish. So that's why that daylight and
dusk are two of your best times all day to
be able to catch crappy because instead of you having
to trigger them into a feeding frenzy, they're already there
now black crappye. It's very interesting to be able to

(31:25):
follow them throughout the day and throughout the night. And
I've been on the water with my forward face and
sonar after dark and witness this that during the day
when the sun's up, the crapy tend to school more,
especially in clear water. Anytime you go to a clearwater
lake that has a lot of rock around the bank,

(31:48):
you can expect to be going after black croppy and
black croppy and white croppy feed and act totally different.

Speaker 2 (32:00):
Thank you black crappy.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
Yep, it's just it's a fact.

Speaker 5 (32:05):
I have got on this black crappie kick this year
and I've really took a deep dive into black croppie
fishing so far this year, between me and my wife,
we have voted on film on the scales sixty three
three pound crappie so far this year.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
Good.

Speaker 5 (32:27):
Now, we're very fortunate to be able to travel around
and do what we do filming all this content.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
Of course, we've got the TV show.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
We've got one coming out that has thirty three pound
crappie in one thirty minute show.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
Oh my goodness, that's gonna give a lot of people
a lot of people gonna have a heart attack.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
Dude, I don't ask where where are these Where are
these fish coming from? Jeremy, Like, well, what states or
what bodies of water would would you share with?

Speaker 4 (32:58):
Sixty sixty of my sixty of my three pound.

Speaker 5 (33:02):
Crappy came from Clear Lake, California, and three of them
came from I caught one out of three different lakes
in Arkansas. The first thing anybody's gonna say, we'll use
that Mississippi. No, they ain't even been in the state
of Mississippi this year. I've been chasing black croppy all
year and trying to get it broke down to a

(33:26):
science like that.

Speaker 4 (33:27):
I have the white crappie figured out.

Speaker 5 (33:29):
Now, out of those sixty three three pound crappie, sixty
one of them were black croppy and only two of
them were white croppy. And I caught those white crappie
in the mix of black croppy. I don't think that
those two individual crappie knew whether they were white croppy
or black black croppy. And to see three point four

(33:55):
pound croppie with a three quarter inch long bait on
a number six hook as its demise is just astonishing
to see that little video bait stuck inside that big
old fish's mouth.

Speaker 4 (34:11):
And of course the three pounders, they don't.

Speaker 5 (34:13):
Even look natural in a twenty point buck. They just
don't look right. They look unbelievable, very impressive to watch
how that they act. And they actually the big crappy
look different on your sonar than a pound and a

(34:36):
half crop you do. They also act differently. They act
totally different a smaller crappie.

Speaker 4 (34:45):
Most of the time. Man, they train wreck at bait.

Speaker 5 (34:48):
They'll eat just about anything that you put in front
of them. Because they are a adolescent teen male. They
eat everything in sight. Even if they don't want it,
they're still gonna eat it. And I know that because
I've got two of them in my grocery bills about
sixteen hundred bucks a month. Well, i've got three. One

(35:08):
of them smaller, but he eats as much as the
older to do. So they eat just about anything. The
larger fish take a little bit more talking to and
at least that's what I call it, a little bit
more coaxing. That's where you got to get everything just perfect.
That's where you match your bait with the sunlight or

(35:29):
the muddy water, clear water. The biggest thing that I
can tell you is what I said earlier. You match
the water. If it's a darker water, use a darker color.
If it's a clear water, use a more natural, a
lighter color. Now, if that sign is twelve noon, middle
of the day, and that water is clear, or even

(35:51):
if it's dirty, if that sign is all the way up,
not a cloud in the sky, a regular bluebird day,
put a bait on that has some sparkle in it.
If it's muddy, the sparkle don't help. If it's sunny,
that sparkle helps. It glitters, it flickers and makes them
think that there's a bait fish that they can come

(36:12):
and eat.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
Cool. All right, so're very very good. All right, folks,
We're gonna go to break here towards news. Coming back
from break, Jeremy is gonna talk to us about again
a variety of subjects, but we're gonna transition towards the
spawning period and why that's different, what techniques work there,
and he's gonna share more about the habits of crippy,

(36:36):
which quite frankly, is the whole key to success in
this sport. All right, gonna go to break here. It's
presented by Moncil Properties Heart Realty. Check out their listings
at mop h a r T real T Dot. Tell
folks to target and what your techniques are for that.

Speaker 4 (36:55):
Well, this one might surprise you a little bit.

Speaker 5 (36:59):
But if you have a rock bluff, a lot of
times the crappee will stick up against that rock and
that's a great place to cast a jig. Spinners are
just like the sparkle in the plastic lures. Spinners work

(37:19):
the best when the sun is out or the water
is clear, and that's because they're getting that flash and
making it look like a bait fish or a possibly
wounded bait fish. But casting along the front of a
rock bluff, and I'm going to go back to before
any real types of electronics, we would count down every cast.

Speaker 4 (37:45):
I would be.

Speaker 5 (37:46):
Counting that way that when I got bit ill, it
was five seconds, that's the depth of water I need
to be in. It was eight seconds. That's the depth
of water I need to be in. And it goes
to wood as well. If you can find a rock
bluff that has lay down a tree that's fell off

(38:08):
the top of it, where you see the trunk sticking up.
Then I'll come out in like the channel or away
from that to where I can cast and try to
run that jig down each side of the log of
the main part of the trunk, and a lot of
times that is very, very beneficial because it's all about

(38:31):
keeping it in the strike zone. So by going long
ways with the log and letting the bait run down
each side of it, you're keeping that bait in the
strike zone and that's going to give you a higher
percentage of a chance to catch those fish. Now, if
I get around a thick lay down, that's where that

(38:55):
I don't cast and retrieve. That's where I'll grab the
bobber because I'll get hung up a lot less.

Speaker 4 (39:03):
Now, of course I know it's crappie fishing. You might
as well just chalk it up as a loss.

Speaker 5 (39:07):
You're going to get hung and you're gonna lose a
lot of tackle and.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
A lot of bobbers.

Speaker 5 (39:12):
That's why the half in trees out there look like
they've been decorated for Christmas.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
Well, you know, while we're on that subject, Scott Cronin,
you got some questions for Jeremy about rods selection and
or line selection. You know, braid versus mono, etc. It's
got I'll let you try that out, because that's a big.

Speaker 4 (39:36):
Thing, Jeremy.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
What he's getting at is you always have people that
have got bit by the infectuation and love for crappie fishing.
And we have more options now, which is a blessing
and a curse in itself. And people are asking, you know,
about colors of line. They're asking about longer versus shorter rods,

(40:01):
you know, rods that are good in and around docks
and and cover and where we all develop just going
fishing with just a basic old pole and a real
things aren't so basic anymore when you get into the
types of equipment if you start looking into stores in
the catalog.

Speaker 4 (40:20):
But let's give folks a little.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
Just basics and foundations of what they really need just
to go out there and enjoy some crappie fishing and
help those people who are trying to take that next
step if they want to up their equipment and have
a little bit better chance of filling that bite or
making a little better cast or retrieve or presentation kind

(40:43):
of what they need to be looking for. Absolutely, I'm
gonna give you a little tidbit here that you might
not have known. I am one of the owners of
Ozark Rods, and we develop rods for the everyday guy
because I've been that everyday guy.

Speaker 5 (41:01):
For most of my life that only got to fish
in the evenings and on weekends. And I do seminars
all over the country. And my main focus is two
things which we've already touched on. You have to understand
the crappy or predatory fish, and the number two is
stop wasting your money. I fish with two rods and

(41:22):
two rods only. I have one long rod and I
have one short rod for casting. Now we've got a
rod coming out that's on the hook rod that's made
by Ozark, and it is a five foot eight inch
caster dock shooter hybrid to where in one rod you

(41:43):
can fish a lot of different techniques. Doc shooting, I
love doc shooting, casting, I love casting, So I have
a five foot eight casting rod, and I have a
thirteen foot machine is my long rod for dipping trees
and running fish down. Now, yes, we do sell the

(42:04):
number one selling Livescope rod out there.

Speaker 4 (42:09):
It's a seventeen foot machine. I'm not going to sit.

Speaker 5 (42:12):
Here and tell your viewers that they need to get
that because they don't or I'm sorry viewers, your listeners
that they don't need that seventeen foot.

Speaker 4 (42:21):
Rod unless they can run a fish.

Speaker 5 (42:25):
Down on the trolling motor at three mile an hour
with live scope. If they can't do that, they do
not need that rod. They need a shorter rod. And
I get asked all the time, why the long rods?
Why do they got to be seventeen foot long? Well,
it's pretty simple. Is to keep my bait out of
my troller motor. Because I'm traveling over to mile on

(42:48):
I are trying to chase a fish down, so the
bait naturally comes back towards the boat and I don't
want it getting wrapped up in the troller motor. We'll
be fishing with up to a one out sinker eighteen
inches above a sixteen thounced jig head. And by studying
the fish before that fish turns left on the when

(43:12):
we're running it down and I'm seeing it on screen,
I can tell you before he's going to turn left.
I can tell you before he's going to turn right.
I can tell you before he's going to go to
the bottom. I can tell you when he's gonna come
back up. By micro focusing on the way that fish
is swimming, you can tell what he's thinking.

Speaker 4 (43:31):
And that's why that and honestly, it's.

Speaker 5 (43:33):
Hurt the tournament industry because there's probably I'm going to
say ten to twelve of us in the crappy industry
that have figured that out.

Speaker 4 (43:44):
That's dove that deep into studying.

Speaker 6 (43:46):
These fish to be able to do that, and that's
why that that's how that we pick up checks at
the tournament as often as what that we do.

Speaker 5 (43:58):
So that is diving down a rabbit hole I probably
shouldn't have went down, but.

Speaker 4 (44:03):
I keep two of each. I keep two.

Speaker 5 (44:06):
Thirteen foot rods on the deck and I keep two
five foot eighths. And it's always because I've got my
wife with me or i have a client in the
boat with me, and.

Speaker 4 (44:16):
The second one is just simply for them. So casting
I like a versatile rod.

Speaker 6 (44:25):
If you get a stiff rod to cast with, you
will catch less fish.

Speaker 5 (44:32):
And the reason is they call them paper mouth for
a reason. And also when they get lethargic, they don't
suck that jig head in like they do when it
is just a crunching munch bite. So when you set
the hook with the longer rod, you're ripping the hook
out of the fish's mouth and that's why you're only
reeling in your jig. And you'll use a lighter action

(44:54):
rod that on.

Speaker 4 (44:57):
The hook rod.

Speaker 5 (44:58):
It is, like I said, it's also perfect for doc shooting.
So it's got an extremely fast tip on it. It's
a light action rod. But we've also caught all sixty
three to three pounders this year on that one rod,
and it's because it will compensate. Like me, I got

(45:18):
a hook set like you ain't never seen. I get up,
I got to.

Speaker 4 (45:22):
Run and start when I set that hook.

Speaker 5 (45:24):
Man, it's something, but that rod will compensate for my overreaction.

Speaker 4 (45:32):
When I set that hook, and.

Speaker 5 (45:35):
That keeps it from ripping out of that fish's mouth.
So my personal is a lighter action rod. If you
don't buy the on the hook rod that's signed whatever,
get a lighter A lot of people call them ultra lights.

Speaker 4 (45:51):
Get an ultra light rod.

Speaker 5 (45:53):
Your success ratio is going to be ninety percent versus
ten percent with a stiff rod, like you would be
throwing a crank bait for bass. With the stiff rod
is not a good choice in the longer rod. I
just I use the machine because it's got the backbone

(46:15):
to boat flip a three pound crappie.

Speaker 4 (46:17):
I proved that last year.

Speaker 5 (46:19):
I did a video where I boat flipped five over
three pound crappie to show the correct way to boat
flip a fish with any rod.

Speaker 2 (46:28):
You were living dangerously, pal, I don't mind telling it.

Speaker 5 (46:33):
I did it with six pound tests as well. I
went down to six pound. Now I'm mainly crappie fish
with eight pounds.

Speaker 4 (46:41):
And honestly, the.

Speaker 5 (46:43):
Color of that line does not matter as much as
anybody believes that it does.

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Hey, Jeremy, let me pink. Jeremy, let me let me
go to break there, because we want to talk about
line right after the break, if you don't mind, Yeah,
we'll talk colors, we'll talk size, and we'll talk you know,
Breid versus Mono, and we'll do that right after this break.
This break is presented by SMI Marine. Go see them

(47:09):
that take great care. You remember, you never get soaked
at SMI, Jeremy.

Speaker 3 (47:14):
The only thing that's more debatable than who's making the
best outboard or what new pickup truck we need to
buy around a bunch of fishermen is fishing line or
talking about braid, and when it comes to selection of
our line types, when you get into it, I would
like to help listeners more importantly who are focused on

(47:36):
the basics of crappie fishing or just trying to get better,
and for you not only to share what types of
lines you like, but your strategy for putting line on
your reels. And this comes up because a lot of times,
when we have the diversity of the types of fishing
we do with a lot of these lighter weights, sometimes

(47:57):
folks will realize that they're gonna start getting some bird
nesting and line memory, and it can create havoc out
on the boat or on the shoreline. So any tips
or facts you can share with folks, I'm sure they'll
be appreciative to hear it. Absolutely man, I used to
use braid way back before it was cool to use breed.

(48:20):
I fished with eleven foot rod and I used twenty
pound spider wire that's what that our crappee fished with,
and everybody thought that I was insane. And then before
you know it, everybody started.

Speaker 5 (48:33):
Using breid and twenty pounds and the only reason, well,
let me finish that first. I liked it because I
lost less jigheads. No, I used no leader whatsoever. I
tied the jigheads straight to the breed. I only use
an improved sense knot because the braid has a wax

(48:56):
on it, and a lot of your knots will come untied.

Speaker 4 (48:59):
They improve. It is the one that I.

Speaker 5 (49:01):
Always used because it never came untied on me. So
I was using eleven foot rod and I could drop
into a brush pile or a tree top or whatever,
and if that it got hung, I could just grab
the line and pull a little bit and my jighead
come out and I would fish with number two lightwire hooks,

(49:24):
so the hook would straighten out when that I got hung. Now,
through the evolution of time, we went to these longer rods.
The braid actually there's an issue, and we've played around
with it at all. The rod manufacturers have played around
with it. Try to keep the line from twisting around

(49:44):
the end of the long rod. And the only solution
to that is go to a mono and it won't wrap.
The braid absolutely wraps. If you get over eleven foot
length on your rod, the braid's gonna wrap around the
end and it's very aggravating, but it's just nature of
the beast and there's nothing that can be done about it.
So that's where that I went to A It is

(50:09):
a mono and a fluoro mix. It's made by Gamma
Fishing Line E A M m A. No, they're not
one of my sponsors. It's just what that I purchased.
I buy them in a thirty two hundred yard spool.
I mean, I buy a giant's fool because that's all
I use. And I went to that because the burden

(50:34):
nesting the line memory.

Speaker 4 (50:37):
It's nonexistent.

Speaker 5 (50:39):
There's quite a few line companies out there that claim
that it's memory free, reduced memory, this, that and the other. Well,
I can take that line, pull it off the spool,
wadded up in my hands, rub it around, get her
all good, knot it up, and I grab that line
and run two fingers down and it is perfectly straight.

(51:03):
I have beatn my brains in trying to figure out
which way that's full needed to be flip flocked or
held on to to keep it from coming off like
a slinky when I'm casting, and it all boiled down
to it is the line itself they've developed and they're

(51:23):
not one of my sponsors them, nor spider Wire or
one of my sponsors.

Speaker 4 (51:27):
That's just what that I spend my money on. Uh.

Speaker 5 (51:30):
So I'm glad to tell you that right there. You
use gamma burdeness or a thing of the past on
any open face reel. Now on a base you don't
have your yeah uh bait cast or you're gonna have
burdenness from time to time if you if you don't
have your clutches set right.

Speaker 3 (51:48):
That's right from listening to that that your your strategy
is not gimmick. Your strategy is keep it simple, but
use high quality stuff and and that goes a long
way when you're in the boat.

Speaker 5 (52:03):
Yes, I mean in my boat. Most of my compartments
are empty. I've got four rods. I've got well, I'm
four bags of bait and deep on each one of
those four bags that I told you earlier.

Speaker 4 (52:18):
I buy two jigheads.

Speaker 5 (52:21):
I buy a Guthree tackle in an eight ounce Shartroos
because he makes them for me with a three x
mustad hook. Now that is awesome when you hook into
a fish, because that dude is now a unicorn.

Speaker 4 (52:34):
It's gonna come out the roof of their mouth.

Speaker 5 (52:37):
But it's horrible if you think you're getting bit and
it's actually a piece of timber, because you ain't getting
that jig hit back. If you got one hundred pound
braid on her, you ain't getting that jig hit back.
And I use a sixteenth ounce jighead with a number
six white wire hook in it. That's the only two
jig heads I use. That's the only four. For one

(52:59):
hundred dollars, you can have my line, my baits, and
my jig heads and fish for the next two years.

Speaker 4 (53:08):
Yeah, it's just keep it simple.

Speaker 2 (53:11):
That's really really interesting. That's probably one of the simplest
setups I've heard about in a long long time. And
I want to turn to that a little bit coming
back from Break. But we're going to transition folks into
spawn April and what happens when these fish come to
the banks and get crazy. And Jeremy's the man to

(53:31):
help fill you in on some techniques. All right, folks,
got to go to break here. This Break is presented
by Paul Thomas at Massy Oak Property's Heart Realty. He's
got all kinds of vacation homes, farms and wildlife properties
for sale. You can check out his current listings at
MLP H A R T Realty dot com. Jeremy, before

(53:56):
we move off a line, what size do you use
most of the times? Is why?

Speaker 5 (54:04):
Most of the time, and this is almost always I'm
using eight pound line that is on my long rod
or my short rod.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
Now.

Speaker 5 (54:18):
Line color was something that I wanted to touch on here
because Scott had talked about line color before the break,
and line color does not matter near as much as
what that most people think omen when it comes to
when it comes to braid, I always just used green.

(54:39):
When it comes to mono, I just used clear. I've
caught fish on high viz yellow, I've caught them on
hot pink braid, and I've never been able to see
a difference. The biggest thing for me is two things
that I've never even seen in the line world at

(54:59):
bast Pro, Walmart, any tackle shop. If that line color
was the biggest issue, then there should be a blue
line braid or mono, and there should be just a tan.

Speaker 4 (55:15):
Tan for dirty muddy water, blue for clear water.

Speaker 5 (55:18):
Because my line of thinking there is that if a
building has a wall that's painted solid blue.

Speaker 4 (55:24):
All the way across representing the water.

Speaker 5 (55:27):
And you took a piece of clear plastic and put
up against it, you would be able to see that.
You'd be able to see a difference. But if you
took a blue tarp and stuck up against the blue wall,
you're less likely to see that. So if line color
was a huge issue, then we should all be using

(55:49):
blue for clear water and we should all be using
tan for muddy water.

Speaker 4 (55:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (55:56):
The biggest advantage, in my opinion, is when you're fishing
with folks that you typically don't fish with on a
regular basis, and especially teaching young kids that sometimes your
floral line and I'm talking about color will be a
big advantage to those young anglers and and other folks
that are sharing a boat together that that aren't thrown

(56:19):
over the top of each other and don't understand, uh,
I guess the edequacy of where and how to cast
because a lot of folks will get excited when that
bike gets going real quick, and and it's always nice
to try to keep all those tangles and tie ups
from happening.

Speaker 5 (56:37):
You know, that would be a good a good point
for line color. That would be the situation. Line color
would help that that.

Speaker 4 (56:45):
Hot paint that I have fished with a.

Speaker 5 (56:47):
Hundred times would come in handy. It's for the other
anglers to be able to see it, but as far
as the fish, I do not think it matters at all.

Speaker 2 (56:55):
Very good, Jeremy, let's move into spawn. Fish are moving
up again. I don't think we can overemphasize for that
everage anger out there. How important is the recognize they
can extend their crappy season realizing blacks come up first
and white crappie lets that have white croppy come up

(57:16):
a little earlier. But take off from there and tell
folks what to look for when these fish move up
starting to spawn, because there's a difference team, right, the
blacks and whites look for. I mean, that's that's a
big difference too.

Speaker 5 (57:32):
Yes, when the water temp hits let's say, fifty five degrees,
just somewhere in there, giver tack a couple of degrees,
the black crappie will come up first, that's where and
they're going to spawn closer to rock because that's what
they naturally relate to. You need to use a smaller
bait because their diet is smaller. Insects rarely do the

(57:57):
black crappy get out and case bait balls. They're not
gonna do that until they're twelve inches plus, and then
they're gonna get out there. Well a lot of people,
they're just looking for eaters. Ten eleven inches is my
best that right there is what I want to eat
somewhere right in there. Those fish are gonna go after
a smaller bait because that's what they're used to eating, larvae,

(58:20):
insects that fall out of the overhanging trees.

Speaker 4 (58:23):
Like I was talking about earlier.

Speaker 5 (58:25):
Now, when that temperature gets up there to sixty plus,
that's when your white crappee are going to be in
there with them, and that's when you can go to
a little bit bigger bait.

Speaker 4 (58:34):
But I never go.

Speaker 5 (58:35):
Over two inches during the spawn until I get in
a situation where that I'm on them and they.

Speaker 4 (58:40):
Shut down, and then I'll throw at bigger bait.

Speaker 5 (58:43):
But that's the only situation that I'll throw at bigger
bait in So I like staying anywhere from one inch
to two inch mix on my bait. And even if
you don't have a short bait in your boat, improvise.
I have cut solely the tail off of bits and
run just the tail on.

Speaker 4 (59:02):
My hook and went back to catching fish.

Speaker 5 (59:05):
So he goes back to the don't waste money if
you if you got a back of baits there, you
got a pocket Knight's scissors or teeth.

Speaker 4 (59:12):
Cut that dude down and go back to fishing.

Speaker 2 (59:19):
Jeremy, describe the type of banks that you really, you know,
make their hair stand up on the back of your
neck when the spawn has started, and again point out
the difference between blacks and whites or areas where you
think most of those species might over mingle.

Speaker 5 (59:38):
Yes, like I said there a second ago, the black
croppie are gonna spawn closer to something hard, hard timber
or rock rock being my number one choice for black croppy.
Now the banks that I actually love and my mom
a plane run running fifty mile an hour down the

(59:58):
lake and I see this one bank in particular, I'm
gonna stop in. I'm gonna fish it every time. And
what I'm looking for is bushes and growth on the bank,
and one it can be a sapling.

Speaker 4 (01:00:14):
It doesn't take anything big to get these fish to
hold to them.

Speaker 5 (01:00:18):
I mean I caught those three three pounders out of
that watershed on a little old twig didn't even have
branches on it, just one twig sitting there. So if
I see a growed up bank that's got like briar
bushes and just bushy stuff, and there's one section that
has a sapling that's fell over in water, even if

(01:00:39):
it's not submerged, just hanging out over the water, you
can bet a million dollars. I'm gonna whip that boat around.
I'm going in there and i'm gonna throw in that
corner close to the bank where that the brush and
that one overhanging a limb meat I'm gonna throw right
there in that corner that I'm gonna black my boat

(01:01:00):
up and go around to the other corner and I'm
gonna throw right there in that corner, And that's where
you're gonna catch them. Ninety eight percent of the time.
As far as other banks that I look for, it's
gonna during the spawn, it's gonna take a lay down.
I love rock walls that have a layd down hanging
off of them because a lot of times I'm bouncing

(01:01:21):
my bobber off of the rock to get it to
ricochet in behind that tree trunk.

Speaker 4 (01:01:27):
And when you get it in behind that tree trunk.

Speaker 5 (01:01:29):
Most of the time, before that bobber can stand up,
it's already under the water and covering ground is the
biggest thing. You're not looking for the winning lottery ticket.
You're looking for one crappee to mess up, one to
be too aggressive, and during this time of year, a

(01:01:52):
pre spawn spawn and a little into the post spawn.
Once that one crappie messes up, you automatically know they's
twenty more just liking right there, so you have to
slow down and concentrate on that before electronics in that timeframe.
Me and my buddy when we would fish rough River

(01:02:14):
Lake that's where I grew up at. When we would
fish rough River Lake, I'd have that troller motor probably
going two mile an ire down these creeks, and any
little thing that sticks out is odd or different. One
of us would throw a bobber in at that one,
and the other one would be looking for something ahead
of us to throw a bobber at, and we wouldn't

(01:02:35):
even slow down until we got that one immediate bite,
and then we would set up shop and take care
of that limit we come after.

Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
Well. I like to compare that to pattern fishing in bass.
And what I mean by this for the listeners is
once you can get those first one, two or three
fish to commit and you understand what they're doing, that's
when you do dlicate. And that is so important on
depth control and on the type of structure, because that's

(01:03:07):
the key to finding out what most of the fish
are doing. If two or three of them are doing
it on a given day, you bet there's a bunch
of others that are doing it too. Correct.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
Yes, sir.

Speaker 5 (01:03:19):
The saying that I went by was one is a fluke,
two is a maybe three is a definite tournament hole. Yes, sir, Yes,
it's pattern and repeat, pattern and repeat.

Speaker 4 (01:03:33):
Once you get that.

Speaker 5 (01:03:34):
Pattern, you can go to any arm, any section of
the lake and you'll find something very similar, and that's going.

Speaker 4 (01:03:42):
To be where that you need to fish. We've all heard.

Speaker 5 (01:03:45):
The saying that ninety percent of the fish living ten
percent of the water. Well, my saying is ninety percent
of the fish get caught by ten percent of the fishermen.
And it's because of these few very simple techniques like
pattern and repeat, understanding they're a predator, knowing to use

(01:04:06):
a darker color in darker water. Starting at the secondary
channel where it meets the main channel. That's where the
most successful fishermen out there start.

Speaker 2 (01:04:17):
That is very well said, Jeremy. I'm gonna go to
quick breaks so we can wrap this up because we
got a lot more ground to cover after this. This
break is presented by SMI Marine. Go see them. They'll
take great care of you. Get your boat ready if
it's not already done. And remember you never get soaked
by my friends at SMI. Jeremy, it's a couple of

(01:04:38):
weeks out here locally, but obviously it's going on down south.
But let's talk about that big change that occurs when
the spawn is upon us. And again let's talk sixty
degree water plus because that's usually the big shot for
you know, they're on the banks, especially with the blacks,

(01:05:00):
and then the white crappie will extend out. Talk about
target areas that you think our average lister can just
count on every single time during that portion of the year.

Speaker 5 (01:05:15):
The second biggest or I'm sorry, the biggest secondary creek
is the water tamp is above sixty. Get to the
back quarter of that creek and start pitching the banks.
Look for those brushy banks that's got something different something
sticking out in the water or possibly something sticking out
of the water, and that's where I'm going to be

(01:05:37):
throwing a bobber with a small, small jig. I don't
even use live bait this time of year. I only
use plastics this time of year. Summertime, I'll get into
some live bait, but this time of the year, plastic
is going to outperform live Mino's hands.

Speaker 2 (01:05:54):
Down, all right. I love vertical stickups where I can
see them scattered vertical stickups, especially if there are hard
clay are a clay gravel mixed bank and that applies
to blacken white croppy. Can you give me your thoughts about.

Speaker 5 (01:06:14):
That that applies to black crappie, white crappie, blue gal
shell cracker. That transition in the bottom between hard and
even harder or a soft surface, That transition line is
where that they will want to bed most of the time.

(01:06:34):
That is your key spot. And when the stars align
and you get it all on that same bank with
that lay down, buddy, you have got something you better
put under lock and key. That is a secret that
you need to be buried with.

Speaker 2 (01:06:49):
Yes, sir, give me your thoughts about rip wrap that
has sand or are hard clay along, you know, causeways, uh.

Speaker 5 (01:07:04):
That's gonna be right there where that the rip rap
and the sand or clay or whatever come together. I'm
gonna fish that outside of edge of that rip rap
because I can catch black crappie there or white crappie.
I'm gonna go around the edge before I ever start
throwing it the bank cruft there.

Speaker 2 (01:07:23):
How would you rate that opposed to the other places
you mentioned?

Speaker 5 (01:07:26):
Just out of curiosity, that would be a earlier in
the spawn spot because that's where I'm anticipating that I'm
gonna find black crappie.

Speaker 2 (01:07:40):
Yes, okay, that's just for me. That certainly does. Colors.
I know everybody varies, but for some reason I find
a little bit different than perhaps you're thinking. But I
want your thoughts on it. I like shark trus a
bunch once they get on the bank. There's something about

(01:08:01):
shark treuths that seems to trigger strikes, especially if I'm
casting a curly tatl or even a jigging barber, say
a black and shartruse combo under a barber. What are
your thoughts about those color combinations under barber's and or casting.

Speaker 5 (01:08:22):
I love Chartreus in that purple and chartres that I
use for my muddy water actually has glow pigment in
the shar troofs to where it'll throw a bigger aurora
under the water.

Speaker 4 (01:08:34):
Yeah, so it's easier for them to see.

Speaker 5 (01:08:36):
And I think that is why that three of your
top five bags ever weighed in in tournament history have
been on that joker uppercut by croppie Monster. It is
about that chartreuse with the glow in it. I was
one of them. My weighth in over twenty two pounds
on seven fish at a tournament March eleventh of twenty twenty,

(01:08:59):
and I did it by myself.

Speaker 4 (01:09:00):
I didn't have a partner for that term.

Speaker 2 (01:09:03):
Oh my goodness. Well almost had.

Speaker 4 (01:09:07):
A heart attack.

Speaker 5 (01:09:09):
Yeah, almost had a heart attack trying to get those
fish netted. But I had twenty one fish over three
pound that morning.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
Hey, uh, very quickly talk about your nets, and then
I want to wind up with how people can contact you.

Speaker 5 (01:09:24):
Yes, we carry I designed the Outlaw landing net. It
is the number one selling net in all of crappie fishing,
and it's.

Speaker 4 (01:09:32):
Because of the way it's designed.

Speaker 5 (01:09:34):
It's lightweight, it's durable, and it puts fish in the boat.
If you'd like to check out any of our products,
you can go to Crappiemaster dot com. You can go
to Otchfishing dot com. OTCH stands for On the Hook.
That's our television show, Pursuit Channel every Monday at six pm.
We appreciate you'all, guys.

Speaker 2 (01:09:54):
Now, Jeremy, in closing, I just want to thank you
for being a Kentucky that has helped folks understand how
to catch more crappie. And I'm really indebted to you
for all the knowledge you shared with us tonight, and
I hope to have you on again before too long. Buddy,
You've shared a lot of knowledge with us, succeeded.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
Absolutely. I appreciate you having me on here.

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Yes sir, all right, folks, that's a wrap on this.
Get out.

Speaker 4 (01:10:22):
It's time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:24):
It's time. There bite, all right, We're out of here.
God bless everybody.