Most tournament crappie anglers and guides have live sonar on their boats and make it major part of their fishing strategy, and countless long-time spider riggers and longline trollers have converted to "scoping" as their primary crappie fishing technique.
That said, hordes of dedicated crappie anglers operate without live sonar of any kind, whether due to cost, fishing primarily from shore or docks, not wanting to learn the technology, being opposed to it, or other reasons. Lee Pitts is one of those holdouts, and his choice to not use the live technology is a bit more noteworthy because he is a full-time fishing guide and one of the nation's most acclaimed crappie anglers.
Notably, Pitts isn't anti-technology. He has up-to-date Humminbird units at his console and on his front deck and regularly uses traditional sonar and side- and down-scanning features to study the bottom and search for crappie and baitfish. He also is not anti-live sonar. It simply isn't something he has chosen to invest in at this point because he enjoys great success without it. He also enjoys the game of letting his lures do the work and trusting skills he has built over a lifetime of fishing.
Pitts employs a variety of approaches at times, including long-line trolling, vertical fishing along drops, and shooting docks. During late winter and early spring, though, he does a lot of casting to fish that are suspended with bait or holding over brush. With that approach, traditional skills for reading the water and pattering crappie become vital.
Locating Crappie
Pitts relies on his deep understanding of crappie behavior and how they tend to move on Weiss Lake, along with a general knowledge of what's going on at most times, which comes from being out there day after day. He considers the season, the day's conditions, recent days' weather trends and factors like water color and level to determine where to begin looking.
As late winter gives way to spring, the crappie generally move up creek and river arms. Some relate to channels and others move to flats that have good spawning cover, and some of the best areas combine both, offering shallow spawning cover that is close to channel edges. Within key areas, brush, docks and shad help dictate where the crappie concentrate.
Pitts pays careful attention to little things like a change in the bank make-up or slope, a color line where sediment is coming in from a creek, a temperature change as he moves up a creek, shad dimpling the surface, or birds in an area. All impact crappie locations and behavior.
Taking all into account, Pitts searches likely areas with his electronics for crappie and baitfish. When he sees fish, he studies how they are positioned and grouped and tries to figure out whether they are roaming and following bait or relating to specific pieces of cover or structural features. He typically searches a bit to start a day or when he arrives at a spot, but much of his looking and learning occurs as he fishes and is combined with what he sees directly and what the fish reveal as he fishes.
Casting for Crappie
When Pitts locates fish in shallow water or medium depths, whether suspended in open water or relating to brush or other cover, he positions his boat within casting distance. If fish are scattered through an area, he might drift or use his trolling motor to follow the channel and have clients cast on both sides. More often, he positions the boat to cast a specific target or group of fish.
The core approach is elementary. Cast, allow the bait to sink to the level of the fish and work it through them, remaining ever ready to set the hook. How the fish respond and what Pitts continues to see on his electronics and around him dictate presentation details and whether he stays with those fish or continues searching.
Pitts' go-to casting baits are a Bobby Garland Baby Shad, Minnow Mind'R and Slab Slay'R, fished on a 1/16- to 1/32-ounce Mo' Glo jigheads. The Baby Shad offers a narrow profile and looks like an easy meal. The Minnow Mind'R and Slab Slay'R provide a bit more bulk. Their profiles are similar, but the split in the Mind'R creates more movement in the water.
Along with experimenting with body styles, Pitts will regularly change colors to figure out the crappie's preference any given day. In addition to changing bait colors, he'll switch jighead colors, having found that a simple shift from, say, a chartreuse head to an orange head can make a major difference some days.
Floats play an important part in Pitts' jig casting strategy through the winter and continuing into spring. When crappie are holding in the top of a brushpile or suspended with baitfish, a float allows for slow, controlled presentations that keep the jig in the preferred zone.
Pitts likes a small pear or oval set float like the Thill America's Favorite Oval Shorty. Using long rods, clients can reasonably cast the rig with it set as deep as about 10 feet by lobbing it back, so the line extends, and the rod loads, and then lobbing it forward. Ideal depths vary from day to day, but the most common float setting through early spring is 5 or 6 feet.
As spring progresses and the crappie move close to shallow cover, Pitts might set floats only 1 1/2 to 2 feet in front of jigs. Spring casts are often aimed close to specific downed trees, docks supports, or other cover, and as soon as the rig gets away from the cover, it's time to reel in cast to the next target.
The basic float jig presentation is some combination of rod pulls or twitches and pauses, although on choppy days, especially, simply letting the rig drift and reeling slack out of the line can be the best presentation. Specifics of the best pull/pause presentation vary from day to day. Sometimes gentle 1- or 2-foot pulls that make the bait rise and pendulum back down are the ticket. Other days, the key is to gently twitch the rod tip so the float rocks to make the jig dance without moving the rig much horizontally. Cadence of rod movements and lengths of pauses also make a major difference.
"You have to play with it a little to see how they want it," Pitts said.
Bites likewise can vary a lot in nature. Some days they pull the cork under decisively. Other times they come up, so it lays flat, or the float just starts moving steadily sideways. Err on the side of assuming anything different is a bite and set the hook, just in case!
Old School Patterning Keys
- Watch Your Line – Veteran crappie casters always watched line until so many got accustomed to keeping eyes locked on a screen. Carefully watching your line allows you to recognize soft bites you would never feel or would feel too late, along with painting a picture of depths and cover your jig might be hitting.
- Count Baits Down – Consistently counting in your head while a bait sinks allows you to be more systematic about working depths and to effectively swim a bait over brush or submerged vegetation. By letting the bank sink to the bottom while counting in a couple of known depths, you can determine the sink rate and be able to count the bait down to whatever depth you want to fish.
- Mix Things Up - Vary the speed you move your jig and the depth you work it and mix in variances. Some days they want it swimming steadily. Other days little shakes, twitches, lifts and drop or hesitations are the keys to triggering strikes. If you get in a rut with presentations, you'll often miss opportunities to catch fish.
- Pay Careful Attention – Every bite provides information. How were you moving the bait? Where were you in the retrieve? Was the bait rising or falling? Did you feel weeds or brush before the bite? If you take a mental inventory with every catch and bite, you'll discover important common denominators.