Crappie Fever! Weekend Reports!

[Sportland_Bait]

Busy, Busy, Busy! Licenses, bait, jigs, tails, line, and bobbers. Everyone has crappie fever around the Brainerd area. What an awesome weekend! The sun is warming the shallows and the crappies are showing up. Over the course of the last 8-9 days the crappie fishing has been so-so. But it was like someone flipped a switch and the crappies came in fri-sat. There have been some phenomenal reports from Saturday and Sunday. 100 fish days have been common. It should be just awesome all week. The reports were coming from a variety of lakes in the area. Pelican, Gull, Whitefish, Hubert, Mission, and many others all are kicking out numbers of nice crappies. Including some dandies. Even shore anglers are cashing in on the crappie action. Most fish are hanging out in the shallow water now. Look for crappies in the small back bays with the warmest water. I'd even start keying on areas with small pencil reeds. All you need to catch these sunnies and crappies are some small jigs like Northland Fire-Flies, Spider Ants, or Gypsi Jigs. Tip them with a small crappie minnow or a wax worm. Hang them below a bobber and you are set. Our guides have been out in full force so give us a call if you would like to go fishing or stop by for the latest hot spots.

Jason Erlandson

[BoxMN]

Was up and we had a blast! Put the dock and pontoon in Sat morn, and once I got the toon to the dock, I had to make a few casts before we cleaned mouse poop in the cabin

Caught 3 crappies and then a 18.5" smallie bit! Very fun. Released her and stopped fishing to go "work". There were sunnies and small bass and a few crapps all over the place. Later that afternoon, my wife and I and bro and sis in-law went for a toon ride, and I found a few places where the crappies were just committing suicide to Lindy Salty Mini Tubes, the white with red flake worked best, but pink and also green worked too. A few tiny bass also bit, but thankfully the big guys weren't biting - hate to disrupt them this time of year.

The best fishing was right off the dock. My wife and I were catching them about third cast. Most were about 8-9 inches, with a few 10's. No big ones, but 18 of them will become dinner I bet between me, wife, bro and sis in law, we caught a total of about 120+ crapps (I think we kept about 28-30 total).

I saw some huge bass, one big pike, and three nice fat walleyes swimming. Totally excited for opener! It was a Great weekend to be up north!

Thanks for the reports! Have fun!

[anchor man]

I tried a few spots on the WF Chain. Caught a couple in dagget by the small island in about 4 fow and didn't have any luck in the few other spots I tried. Ended up catching just a couple about 20yards off our dock at the end of the weekend. I Shoulda saved some boat gas and pulled out the lawn chair.

[Walleye007]

A nice weekend to fish but the fish were still spotty on the WFC. Fished both nights this weekend and could only find a few smaller ones...did catch one nice 12+ incher that went back and is still swimming. It is just nice to be back on the water. Remember to throw back the 10 plus inchers so we can ensure the future of quality crappie fishing. Good fishing!

[DUCKJ]

HAVE~A~NICE~DAY

[MNUser]

WOW. When one does the math that is a lot of fish removed. I did notice within your profile you are a guide. Thought you might want to be reminded of the current MN regs:

Not trying to pass judgement but when I read posts like the above, I have to wonder when the day will come when crappies will be closed during their most vulnerable times.

[goldenwalleye]

I don't know if I could eat that many crappies day after day after day. Isn't the possession limit the same as the limit - 10.

[TrophyEyes]

You are correct. Possession and daily are the same, page 10 of the regs. And there is no culling or sorting allowed either also page 10. What is number for that tip line...... Read your regs please and keep the fish in the lake.

[fishroger]

Its a weak law. Ever heard of any one ticketed for culling , I haven't. I don't think you can eat that many crappies in a few days. Unfortunately a lot of people do this, especially locals. Then they wonder why the size gets smaller every year, then they blame the DNR. Yes, the possession limit is the same as daily limit/person. Thing is if you have wife and 3 kids and the wife has license, you could keep 5 limits. Personally, I can go fishing any time around here and get crapies and wallys, I rarely have a limit of anything in the freezer, they lose flavor if there frozen more than a couple months. Some people think they need hundreds of fillets in the freezer.

[Sportland_Bait]

Hi guys, when fishing is great like this in the springtime. We all need to remember to protect our future and practice selective harvest and/or catch-n-release. Especially with crappies and sunfish. Good luck to everyone hitting the water, and keep having fun.

Jason Erlandson

[Ringo]

Anybody else catching mostly males? Are the females out of the shallows already or haven't they come in yet? Both times I've been out, the water temps were in the low 60's. Seems like in years past I caught more females, but I thought the water temps were in the low to mid 50's. Just wondering what everyone else is experiencing.

[DUCKJ]

MAY~YUR~RODS~BE~BENT~ALL~SUMMER

[musky999]

The size of the fish you were keeping has me a little troubled. Anything over 10 1/4 inches is going back if your fishing in my boat.

[DUCKJ]

MAY~YUR~LIVEWELLS~BE~FILL~WITH~THE~SIZE~FISH~YOU~WANT~TO~KEEP

[Crappie Kid]

Duck there just Jealous. Nice catch. I was out Sat,Sun, and Mon and got into the Crappies and Gills. Caught 25 Crappies on Sat ranging from 3/4 to 1.5 lbs and Countless Gills in the 8 to 10 inch range with one at 11 inches. I personally don't like the bigger pannies for eating so I released all but ten Crappies around 10 inches and kept 10 8 inch Gills. Sun and Mon were c/r days and I did well both days. But, I sure am not going to put you down for keeping them fish. It was your legal right to do so. What is wrong with some people! I don't assume guilt. Gotta go Family Fish Fry tonite. Thats 20 Panfish for for 3 kids and 4 adults(grandparents are coming over) Thats roughly 2.5 fish/person I hope thats not too much

[CaptainMusky]

Duck, thanks for the report, but I think what others are getting at or what troubles them is that if you are a guide, which you have admited to, that you should be displaying good examples for others to follow. Just because it is legal to keep your limit of crappies over 10" doesn't mean you should or that it is ethical. Now if you had clients in your boat, what would that be teaching them? What is it teaching your kids? Selective harvest is key. If everyone had this mindset where would our fisheries be? Panfish are EXTREMELY vulnerable in the Spring and are very susceptible to overharvest. You may not think you are hurting the population by keeping your 3 limits over 6 days, but that based on the size of fish you are keeping those are most likely females and in their prime for reproduction.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy catching a limit of nice slabs as much as the next guy, but I think what many have trouble with is the manner in which you did so. As you should now be aware it is unlawful to cull your catch.

Right or wrong, guides are held to higher level of ethical perception. The main reason is that they are not the casual fishermen like the rest of us. They do it for a living. If they are not promoting catch and release, selective harvest and they are the ones who can do the most damage to the fisheries since they spend the most time on the water, why should anyone else?

[DUCKJ]

Thank You Kid.

Good luck to ya with the crappies and on opener.

IM~DONE~DEFENDING~MYSELF

Duck

[musky999]

Hey duck don't take anything personal, that's just what I know is good for the future of crappie fishing. Taking those big fish out just isn't good for the future crappie populations. Where would the Musky fishing be without C and R, I have to believe it wouldn't be as good as it is now. C and R and selective harvest are good for fishing it has been proven, that's all I'm trying to say.

Thanks

Musky

[fishroger]

yes , 90% males. Don't think many females have come in yet. Caught 10 males yesterday, water temp was 57 , litle cool yet for spawning, its very close though.

[Sportland_Bait]

I think you guys are right about mostly smaller males in shallow so far. I've seen a couple of small pods of females that moved in. But that isn't saying that they stayed in. Nearly all of the bigger fish I've found have been just outside of the shallows. But that can change very quick. From one day to the next it can be totally different. The last few days I've noticed a few fish moving into pencil reeds. The fishing conditions were a little brutal this morning. Actually it was more of a mistake by me. I chose to try fishing some mid lake areas that were getting pounded by the wind. I gave it a try for a bit, but bobber fishing in the wind isn't my favorite way to fish. The fish were biting pretty good but I just couldn't keep battling the wind, dragging anchors and such. I just had to call it a day and went back to work. Good luck everyone and keep after em!

Jason Erlandson

[musky999]

Nice job on editing all of your posts, I guess you don't want people to see what you have to say duck.

[CaptainMusky]

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Nice job on editing all of your posts, I guess you don't want people to see what you have to say duck.

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Apparently he doesn't feel so strongly about his opinion. If he did, he wouldn't be afraid to leave his comments up there.

[ozzie]

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Duck, thanks for the report, but I think what others are getting at or what troubles them is that if you are a guide, which you have admited to, that you should be displaying good examples for others to follow.

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Where does it say he is a guide???? Not in his profile.....at least not anymore??

Be up in the area Friday ready to hit the water!!!! Good Luck everyone!!

[CaptainMusky]

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Duck, thanks for the report, but I think what others are getting at or what troubles them is that if you are a guide, which you have admited to, that you should be displaying good examples for others to follow.

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Where does it say he is a guide???? Not in his profile.....at least not anymore??

Be up in the area Friday ready to hit the water!!!! Good Luck everyone!!

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That's because he edited all of his posts.

[DUCKJ]

I removed my posts because it desnt matter what I say, everyone that thinks I was wrong in what I did and im not going to change yur minds so why bother? This post was to find out the crappie fishing report. NOT to bash me! If you would like ill post a new post so you all can keep on bashing me if you like????? Ill title it "bash Duckj for keeping fish" is that what you want? If not GET OVER IT! I have.

Also I have updated my profile for all of ya.Funny thing is that alot of the people complaining hide behind there user name and dont have anything in there profile. HMMMMMMMM

Duck

And yes I am a Musky Guide

[tengauge]

An actual report,

Was on a few different lakes and rivers yesterday all day And had mixed results. Did catch some very nice crappies and sunfish. Crappies up to 14.5 inches and sunfish up to 10.5 inches, If i could figure out how to put pics up on here i would. The crappies were still in about 7 feet of water while the sunfish on the river were up very shallow.

We did keep 10 to eat between the three of us and released the rest. Overall it was a great day a little breezy but still nice. We ended up catching about 35 crappies and about the same number of gills. Remember to put those fat females back as they are the future!! Good luck to all.

[nater2416]

wow i am new to this site and am very dissapointed in the bashing i also want to know where it says he was culling them.

[CaptainMusky]

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wow i am new to this site and am very dissapointed in the bashing i also want to know where it says he was culling them.

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He deleted everything from his posts. I don't see it as bashing so much as it was sharing opinions. Bashing is when you get personal. I don't believe anyone ever got personal, just shared different opinions or perspectives.

[TrophyEyes]

Here is a question. Which is worse: 1. Letting it go and not making someone think twice about breaking the law or worse in my mind taking that many of the most productive reproducers out of the water. 2. Give him a little perspective that if we are going to have strong fisheries in the future, we have to take care of them now, plus inform him of the "law". 3. Letting the CO take care of it.

Personally, I think it was appropriately handled. He was not fined. And most likely he will think twice about doing it again. Duck, no hard feelings at all. It is for everyone's education. We all need to be reminded from time to time. I forgot to debarb my hook up in Manitoba and a CO reminded me of the penalty with a warning. It is our responsibility to point out these indiscretions out to anyone not abiding. I don't think you were intentionally breaking the law or being irresponsible. And if anyone got personal, that's not right either.

We all just need to be aware of the laws and best practices to keep the fishing as productive as we can for years to come. Speaking of, WHERE ARE THE CRAPPIES BITING?

[fishroger]

Got a few up on whitefish. They were hittin on pelican, but have cooled off some. Bar harbor has been cool also, but haven't been there for a while. We did get a few in clamshell. A majority have been males, females havent really started yet.