Hi Darian, I'm glad you asked, ha. When I lived in Laredo, Texas, I used to catch a ton of crappie. The standard technique we employed was to anchor the boat right up against sunken tree trunks, brush piles, etc., and then drop a yellow or white crappie jig until it hit lake bottom. We would then lift the crappie jig about a foot off the lake bottom and make it dance in place by jerking the rod tip up and down. Extremely effective once you locate a school of fish.
Well, years back while fishing for bass in the Delta, I remember catching a 13" crappie on a 6" plastic worm (only instance I've EVER heard of, by the way). So, to cut this short, I intend to tie up some crappie flies to try in the Delta this coming April. Essentially, they will consist of a size 8 or 10 3x-long hook wrapped with lead, yellow marabou tail, yellow chenille body, and nickel dumbbell eyes with yellow eyeballs. In other words, I will be attempting a REALISTIC imitatation of the common yellow crappie jig (remember our discussion on "representationalist" vs. "impressionistic" fly tying? ha). I intend to try it in the Delta by fly casting it to any underwater wood structure I can find (brush, manmade docks, etc.) and retrieving it with an exagerated up-and-down jigging motion. I'll let you know how it turns out.
p.s., I also understand there are crappie in Lake Berryessa, although I've never fished for them. I suspect they're very common in Northern California.
-- Mike
Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that's why there are no signs of life.
Bookmarks