Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

[FishHunter007]

My buddy and I are attempting to get out on the open water here tomorrow or Sunday depending on the weather. We are located in Southeast South Dakota. Just wondering if anyone had tips catching fish this time of year.

We are open to catching any kind of fish, but from what I read, it looks like crappie/perch are the way to go. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

We will be fishing on a boat. Any tips on depth or rigs/lures? Thanks for the help.

 

[Ripfence]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

I don't know that area at all but around here perch can be found in the shallows, red worms make great bait for them.

Crappie can be found in the 10 feet-ish range. The crappie bite should be heating up about now and they tend to like minnows.

Good luck and happy fishing.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

Perch:

yellow, chartruese, red rooster tails

bumblebee rooster tails

small hair-tail / plastic body jigs, red/white crappie jigs.

if they are being finicky, a bit of night crawler close to the hook can draw them to hit.

Crappie can be taken this way as well but I have never really targeted them specifically so I can't give you any great advise.

 

[Northern Lights]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

We were catching keeper crappie off the docks yesterday at Perry lake in Kansas. Water temp 38 degrees on jigs in @10' of water, a sure sign of spring.

 

[Don Dickinson]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

Hey good luck, wish I could get out, but in the Twin Cities metro, i have probably 3 or 4 weeks before I can get out there. My experience for crappies has been to look for small, shallow bays or other sheltered areas on the north side of the lake. the north side warms up first, so that's probably where you'll find the most fish. I usually use little beetle spinners on an ultra light. i run the spinners just above the weeds that are starting to grow. The smallest rapalas work good. Also live bait on a bobber - cast the bobber out and reel it slowly in. the bobber keeps the minnow just above the weeds at a nice depth. Good luck and have fun!

-don

 

[Dave Barnett]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

Here in Central MO My son and his girlfriend and I all had a great day fishing Friday, 19th. We had great results with Rooster tails. I threw just about all the colors you can imagine and caught crappie and bass on ALL except plain white. Seems like florescent orange and pink colors were the best. I fished a night crawler for the better part of the day and never had a bite.

 

[dougefresh]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

I'm in Florida and troll around with live golden minnows at different depths,sometimes use beetlespins or small jigs(bright colors)When you catch one chances are you will catch more in the same spot.A depth finder seems to help if you have one.

 

[basstracker219]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

well, the water will still be cold, so that means the fish will move deeper, witch means less sunlight will penetrate the deeper water, witch means you need to use lighter colors.

 

[milmat1]

Re: Crappie/Perch early spring fishing

The trick to Crappie is finding where they are. Find the depth they are holding at and you can sley them. One of the best tricks is using a slip bobber, And a Jig. As you pull the line the bait rises and then Falls. And Crappie always feed UPWARD. This method is great for fishing over weed beds etc.
When the water begins to warm the Crappie wil move shallow.(about 60degs) And the males will be caught close to the piers etc. but the females (Big Ones) Will be just offshore at the nearest Dropoff or shelf that accesses deeper water...