If you are a beginning crappie fisherman and you want to give yourself a chance to catch some crappie, Then I suggest you fish with live crappie fishing minnows. Also, if you have a limited budget for bait I have some suggestions below on how to catch a bunch of crappie minnows quickly and for free.
Their is a distinct advantage of catching your own crappie minnows that is a little used crappie fishing secret that surprisingly not that many crappie fisherman use. When you catch your own crappie minnows from the lake you are going to fish, these minnows are from the crappies natural environment and a mainstay of their natural food source. These minnows are less prone to be rejected by the crappie then minnows purchased from a bait store. Plus, bait shop crappie minnows are usually more fragile-i.e. older, and dying from being in captivity. Amazingly this is a little used crappie fishing secret , that few fisherman use these days.
STEP#1 Scout the body of water you are going to fish looking for shaded areas that are very close to shore. The best place to catch crappie minnows is by boat ramps or boat docks. Possibly because that is where fisherman dump their bait after they are done bringing their boats in.. but also because these areas offer good "cover" for minnows, along with food sources.
STEP#2 You want to target water 4-8 feet deep.
STEP#3 You need to purchase a 3-4 foot crappie minnow casting net that has 1/4" netting. Now cast your net out across the surface of the water. The net needs to land flat to be successful at catching your crappie minnows. This may take some practice but you will get the hang of it.
Step#4 If you can't find any good areas to cast your net or your just not catching anything , then I suggest you try it at night. You will need a good submersible fishing light to be successful at night, but your chances of success will be much greater.The under water fishing light will attract 1000's of minnows close to the light just cast your net near by or build your self a minnow trap and drop it near the light. you can also use a large dip net.
Well I hope these tips on how to catch crappie minnows help you. This concludes part there of our Crappie Fishing Secrets Series.
Mark Fleagle is an Expert Author At Ezinearticles.com. and has over 30
years of fishing experience who has written 100's of useful fishing
articles. Would you like to max out your catch on your next fishing
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