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I have never seen a time or place where Crappie were caught in abundance on flies.
I would say that Clear Lake is the most famous Crappie fishery that I know about in California.
40 years ago I worked in a bait shop and in the spring. We sold 20 dozen very small "Crappie (size) Minnows" to two guys who came in with a big ice chest and aerator headed for Clear Lake.
I always want to know more about Crappie fishing with a fly rod.
There are tons of YouTube videos about Crappie fishing now with light conventional tackle.
In my life time I have caught a 'ba-gillion' bass and panfish on a cast fly but only a few Crappie.
Here is a link to a bunch of YouTube videos about fly fishing for Crappie:
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...e+on+a+fly+rod
I guess I should be watching them all?
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Here’s a video from the great Ryan Williams that might be interesting to see:
https://youtu.be/rx1NgLp6kIs
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In my experience a live minnow is as good as it gets. I think a crappie won’t move to far from his structure to take a bait, what ever that bait might be. What I remember at Clear Lake was they held right next to the tulles and we would put a popper up really close and work it slow. I’ve also heard that White and Black Crappies behave a little different from each other.
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Well Bill,
If'n ya wanna catch'em on a fly....ya gotta use a fly!
Sometimes Ryan's bobber and bug is the BEST presentation....as in Pyramid too.
When fish are around, we seem to get our share, and sometimes, too slow or too small for gear, gives a distinct advantage.
Of course there can be distinct disadvantages to overcome too.
Rising to the challenge can alone, be quite satisfying.
It is even more common to be "the odd one" targeting crappie with a fly rod than most other common fly rod targets.
There IS a learning curve, which one is ALWAYS climbing. But isn't that the great fun in fly fishing anyway?
....lee s.
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Thanks guys......Ryan is the man.
I have know about Clear lake crappie for probably 50 years and have driven right by it many times but never fished it.
Maybe we should have a weekend Forum Crappie outing?
What is the top month for fly fishing Crappie at Clear Lake, CA?
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Rule #1 for catching crappie anytime; they are in schools. So you first have to find the schools. They are in deeper water until the spawn. Spawn is about 55 degrees. I follow a You Tube Blog "Fishing Addicts" who are extremely expert with light gear. Nov to early March they find schools in 20-30 feet. As the water warms, crappie move to favored locations. every year the fish are in the same places. Follow the crowds. When they spawn, fly rods work great. I've caught 15 fish in 45 minutes; avg weight about 1.5 lb. The Addicts are averaging 2 lb for 50-100 fish right now.
RW Williams films are in late March/April into maybe May in colder years. Crappie patterns have been described as " white trash street walker style patterns" lots of bright colors, very unnatural; but wooly buggers and small streamers also do well. My best fly is a buggy looking 1.5 inch streamer with lots of movement; it takes bass, crappie, and BG, depending on where it is fished. Fishing piers are good bets but weekend crowds scare schools away; a boat is very helpful.
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Bill,
I have been enamored watching a guy called 'Bluegabe' on YouTube. Okeechobee, near you, has abundant crappie, BG's, and shellcrackers. This Bluegabe wades and tosses beetle spins at them. What a grand hoot that would be to fish like so with him.
......lee.
P.S. I like any month. Some just take more searching than others. ;-)
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Here in Florida I think March/April is 'big' for all warm water species.
Watched a video, way back, where they caught a Crappie then attached a bobber to it and released it back into the school, Illegal?
Here is "BlueGabe" on Okeechobee......this guy is an 'animal outdoorsman.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dPAZr6pkiM
**I have a smaller 14' x 48" Jon boat in FL and I think I will get a 'Mud Motor' on it.
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Just got back from Clear Lake. I took pictures but I guess I pushed video so nothing to show. First thing, if you go you have to make sure to get a quagga mussel boat check. I got mine at Clearlake Bait & Tackle. Its a $20 charge. The gentleman who helped me with the inspector was full of good information about the lake. He fishes the lake weekly so his knowledge of the fish is quite extensive. Unfortunately they move so I wasted my morning going to his secret location. I did take the advice of the board in the afternoon, thanks Lee. I had such a late start on the area but I finally lucked out. These fish are cut out templates of each other. All five of my fish were around a pound and a half or more. Giant discs each of them. Oh I tried midges, nymphs, balanced leeches, attractor flies on floating lines, sinking intermediate lines, type three sinking lines. I moved around with my fish finder always on. I did see a scattering of fish but never a school of fish. I told my wife before I went I was going to get a skunk or catch 30. I was close to my first prediction.
I caught one a midge and four on the peacock balanced leech. My stripping didn't yield a hit
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WTG Quinn!
Yep....sometimes do nothing under a bobber is tops. And yep.....sometimes hard to have your own rock. ;-) ....specially if success is obvious. ;-) ;-)
....lee s.