World Record Crappie
Catching Big Monster Slabs
The feeling of a big fish slamming your presentation at the end of your line may have anybody thinking during the initial moments of the fight that the huge pole bending crappie might be another species of fish.
Crappie anglers can often find themselves hooking into other species like bluegills, largemouth bass or even smallmouth bass...
So, it's not uncommon to think that a big crappie fighting on the end of our line might be a bass instead. And it's always a pleasant surprise to see that it's actually a big fat crappie trying to shake the hook.
William Lewis
with his
State Record white crappie - 3 lb 11 oz.
Well, you need to adjust and take a little different approach if you expect to catch bigger slabs of crappie.
It's important to realize that larger sized crappie generally don't often hang out with the schools of smaller size fish. They tend to isolate themselves, or hang with others fish of their size, and sometimes will even school up with crappie more in their weight class.
Finding Big Record Sized Crappie
Where can you find these monster slabs of crappie?
There a few key locations that these beasts can be found. Obviously, one can get lucky every now and then to find and catch a few big ones. But, to know where to concentrate your efforts will allow you to have better time management on the water.
Water Conditions that Bigger Crappie Like
One of the best areas to hunt for world record crappie are in more fertile stained waters like deep into creek channels that are green and murky. The warmer the water the better and the more algae there should be.
Bugs and bait fish will be abundant feeding around on the algae plants. And the crappie fatten up on them. It's like a buffet for them so they impressively thrive greatly.
Types of Structure Big Crappie Relate to
Another great area to fish for big slabs of crappie will be out deep. Few anglers fish out deep for them so the crappie that roam deeper live longer, thus get bigger.
Some things to look for are isolated patches of brush, humps and other types of structure. These isolated patches will only be in the range of two to four feet wide in diameter. Move from patch to patch, dropping your bait down and around each one a few times, then move on to the next one.
Fishing The Spawn For Record Crappie
Peggy Hopper
with a 4lb 14oz hybrid crappie
The nests will usually be located anywhere from out to about 10 to 18 feet deep. When the females are ready, they will move up to drop their eggs then move out again. Try to catch them out deep or in when they're in the spawn beds.
More Tips On Catching Record Crappie
You may also want to consider fishing areas that other anglers are not fishing if you are attempting to catch a world record crappie.
Fish underwater structure that may seem out of the ordinary and not on a map - fallen trees, hollow rocks and stumps are good examples to search for. Or try wading into areas that nobody would normally be able to get to by boat or foot.
