Proven Night Crappie-Fishing Methods
The Great Light Debate
Editor’s Note: Any time a writer mentions where
crappie will be at a specific season, he only can be
sure he’s explaining where some of the crappie
will be found. During both the cold winter months and
the hot summer
months, I’ve caught crappie at 2-feet deep and
in 20 feet of water on the same day. In the spring of
the year during the spawn when the crappie usually are
shallow, like you, I’ve taken crappie in 1-1/2-
and 15 feet of water. The truth about crappie fishing
is there are no absolutes. The suggestions I’ve
made this week produce crappie for me most of the time
in most of the areas I fish at night in hot weather.
Hopefully, they’ll do the same for you.
Whether to use floating lights that sit down on the
water or lanterns that hang
out above the water is a constant controversy in nighttime
crappie fishing. Proponents of the floating-light philosophy
believe that high-intensity bulbs used in most floating
lights send beams deeper into the water and attract
more microscopic organisms, baitfish and crappie. The
anglers who adhere to the lantern philosophy are convinced
the lanterns
not only put light in the water to attract microscopic
organisms but also draw bugs. These bugs fly close to
the water, fly into the lantern, fall onto the surface
of the water and provide a bug slick that attracts baitfish
to the light to feed on these bugs. When I’m crappie
fishing at night in the summer, I want every advantage
I can find to catch more papermouths. I use two floating
lights on either end of my boat and a Coleman lantern
in the middle of the boat to give me deep-water lights
to attract deep crappie and a lantern that puts out
light and heat to leave a bug slick. I’ve found
that on some nights I can catch crappie in 1-1/2- to
2 feet of water under the lantern and at 15- to18-feet
deep under the floating lights.
Tomorrow: Night Fishing Safety
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