COLUMN: Outdoor Type: Crappie thrive in the Ohio River embayments

A while back a friend and I went crappie fishing in Big Oil Creek off the Ohio River near Derby, Indiana. He caught 13 crappie, three of which were in the 12-inch range. I caught three, none of which were that big.   

After thinking it over, I came up with four factors. One, my buddy was experienced on the water we were fishing. He had been there numerous times and had caught lots of crappie, and he knew the spots. In these waters, if you’re inches away from the fish, you might as well be miles. That’s typical of persnickety crappie.

Two, he was in the front of the boat. When you’re cruising around dropping your minnow beside one stump after another, the guy in front does get the first crack at the choice spots. On the other hand, there are a lot of stumps in these creeks. The best spots are where a clump of stumps form. Your minnow placed right in the middle of the heap is the goal. I had plenty of good shots at spots too, but I didn’t connect as often.

The Long Pole’s Advantage

Three, he had a 10-foot-long crappie pole, while I had a standard spinning rod, a six-footer. The thing was, he would often catch fish right beside my minnow. He seemed to have “the touch.”

Naturally I had to go out and get one of those long poles myself, and I have to admit it does have a place in crappie fishing. I purchased a casting type reel for the rod, but I’ve found I do better with an ultralight spinning reel and six-pound fluorocarbon line. At times you might want to toss the minnow a ways, and the casting reel makes that difficult. The six-eight pound fluorocarbon line allows me to bend the fine wire crappie hook, if I pull gradually when I get hung up. And if you fish around cover, which is most of the time in crappie fishing, you will get hung up, a lot. Some cover you can see, but most you can’t. The long rod allows you to drop the minnow or jig straight down and retrieve it straight up, cutting down on hangups.

Don’t Be Too Quick

Another thing my buddy taught me is not to pull the trigger too soon on biting fish. Let them take it, take it, till you can’t stand it, then ease back on them. I jumped the gun too many times, and I jerked too hard. When I saw the cork disappearing under a limb or log, I got antsy, fearing loss of fish and rig. The jerking too hard is because of my bass fishing experiences. Putting the hook through both of the minnows’ lips from the bottom up seems to help with hooking fish. A Gulp nibble on the tip of the hook cuts down a little on getting snagged, and it adds color and appeal. 

 The embayments off the Ohio offer nice crappie opportunities almost all year long. Big and Little Oil, Big and Little Deer and Poison are creeks located in Perry County upstream from the Cannelton Dam. You could have a warm spell in November or December and get a few, and you might even have a good outing in January or February. You could get crappie there on the hottest day in July. Of course, right now through May is prime. As with any other fishing, you can have slow days as well. A lot depends on creek conditions, as rains screw up the works. Then it calms down fairly soon, and the crappie get back to their normal routines. But some years have been a special challenge for a couple of reasons. For one, the amount of rainfall. You need fairly clear, stable water conditions for the bite to be right.

The Carp Problem

The second reason is a toughie. There are numerous Asian carp in these creeks. What effect this has on the crappie fishery is pretty much unknown, but it can’t be good. These plankton feeders muck up the water, coloring it even when there’s little rain. They consume a food source shad need to survive. No shad—few crappie.

 If you don’t keep up your guard, they’ll also body slam you while you’re serenely motoring along. If these fish are shallow and a motor comes puttering, they go into panic mode. On a June trip we witnessed several jumpers, and then as we wrapped up one morning, a seven- or eight-pound carp jumped four feet out of the water and landed at my partner’s feet. He was glad it wasn’t in his lap. He had experienced a higher speed carp encounter at Reelfoot Lake, so he knew what these fish could do to a boater. We were idling along. If we had been cruising faster, that one could’ve hurt. Fewer carp have been the case recently—let’s hope it keeps up.

 It’s fishing season. Best of luck.