News & Stories
Time On The Water With Mr. Crappie!
Posted by director on June 25, 2020
Expert Advice From Mr. Crappie!
By Mike Frisch
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of spending 3 days in the boat with Wally Marshall, a.k.a. “Mr. Crappie.” We fished for his namesake fish species while filming an episode for Fishing the Midwest TV.
Marshall is a truly iconic angler, as his 33 years in the fishing industry includes a long list of accomplishments. Those include his developing several “crappie-specific” products under his trademarked Mr. Crappie brand. And, recently, founding a consumer crappie fishing event called “Crappie Expo” that also includes the $200,000 Mr. Crappie Invitational fishing tournament and the World’s Largest Fish Fry.
Wally is a true gentleman and great angler, but he is a bit of a character as well. Not particularly fond of snow and cold, Marshall joked that, while this was his first open-water Minnesota fishing trip, he had been to Minnesota in the winter before, “I made two winter trips here, my first and last!”
Marshall and I battled high winds, heat, and storms for the better part of 3 days. During that time, I was able to learn some of Wally’s crappie wisdom. Included, were many interesting thoughts, with several being pertinent to Midwestern anglers.
A big difference that Marshall noted between Midwestern crappie fishing and fishing in the southern United States revolved around the structure or cover that crappies use to call home. “We fish lots of structure, like brush piles, that we actually put in the lakes for the crappies to get around,” Marshall said. “Up here, you don’t have that, so you fish around grass.”
“Grass” is the term Wally used to describe the cabbage and coontail weeds we were finding crappies around.
While the structure that Midwestern crappies relate to might be different than southern crappies, the baits used for catching fish are pretty similar. Small jigs tipped with plastics and very slowly retrieved over and along the “grass” was the fishing method we used. This is the same method commonly used by Midwestern anglers, though Marshall’s preference is for a bit larger baits than are often preferred here.
“One goal I had in coming up here was to show that you don’t have to use those little bitty baits and tubes to catch ‘em,” Wally said. “They’ll readily hit baits 2-inches long.”
Marshall was spot on with that assessment as we put several dozen fish in the boat during our time together using a couple of his signature series baits. The Mr. Crappie Slabalicious and the Mr. Crappie ShadPole are both 2-inches long with enticing actions that the Minnesota crappies loved.
Not only are these baits built with fish-attracting actions, but they come in a wide variety of appealing colors too, many of which we caught fish on. Marshall caught several fish on the Tuxedo Black Chartreuse Glo color pattern, while my favorite color became a new color called Who Dat.
Wally and I fished these baits on his Mr. Crappie Sausage Jigheads in pink or chartreuse colors, mostly in the 1/16-ounce size.
Fishing jigs and plastics on slow retrieves was not new to me, but one thing where Marshall definitely differs from many Midwestern anglers is on his line choice. Many Midwestern waters are clear and anglers are programmed to believe that fish are “line shy” meaning low visibility lines produce the best.
Marshall disagrees. “I think fish can see all lines and bright line actually attracts fish in some cases,” Wally said. “I developed a Mr. Crappie line in a hi vis monofilament. I like hi vis because I can see the line jump when a fish hits, even on a long cast. I’ve been all over the country and caught crappies on it!”
We definitely caught crappies on the hi vis line and, I am fortunate to have had the chance to share a boat with Mr. Crappie. A good guy, a great angler, and the wisdom he shared will be beneficial to this angler on my future crappie fishing trips. Wisdom that can be used to help other Midwestern anglers up their crappie catches too!
As always, good luck on the water and remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!
Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series. Visit www.fishingthemidwest to see more.
Photo – Wally Marshall, Mr. Crappie, and a fish he caught on a Mr. Crappie ShadPole on his recent trip to Minnesota
Summer's Fishing Bounty
Posted by director on June 16, 2020
By Bob Jensen
The summer of 2020 is here. For most anglers, spring fishing success has ranged from “pretty darn good” to “outstanding” to quote many. Summer fishing is different than spring fishing. Some people who fish refer to fishing in July and August as the “Dog Days”, and they’re not saying that in a complimentary way. However, fishing in the summer can be outstanding if we keep a few things in mind. Following are some of those things.
In the spring, fish are mostly interested in spawning, or reproducing. They crowd into the areas that they spawn in. Walleyes spawn in particular areas, bass in another, pike in another, and so on.
In the summer, the fish are interested in one thing: Eating. Now they spread out in search of food. In one body of water, the walleyes might be chasing perch or suspended baitfish or crawdads, and they’ll be in different areas to do so. Same with all the other species.
It’s good when you hit the water to have a plan. First, determine what species of fish that you want to target. We’ll have a different approach for the various species.
Let’s say you want to catch some walleyes. You probably have some knowledge of how walleyes respond on the body of water that you’re fishing. Maybe you decide to start off trolling with crankbaits or spinners. That presentation will enable you to cover water and hopefully find some active fish.
After trolling an hour or two, you should develop an idea of the walleye’s interest in getting caught. If you’re happy with how things are going, keep doing that thing. But if action isn’t what you’d like it to be, it’s time for a change. Tie on a live-bait rig and slow down. Keep a very close eye on your sonar for signs of life. With the electronics that we have access to now, we can get a pretty good idea if there are any fish down there. When you see a group of fish, and you suspect they’re walleyes, really slow down and let that live bait work. Usually you can get at least a couple to bite.
If the walleyes are playing really hard-to-get, consider switching species. Most bodies of water across North America have multiple species. Here in the Midwest, the go-to species that I prefer when I’m looking for action is the largemouth bass. These guys don’t mind getting caught most of the time. I’ll start off looking for a weedbed in eight to fifteen feet of water depending on the lake and start throwing a crankbait, probably a Strike King Pro Series in the 3, 4, or 5 size. Use the smaller number for shallow water, larger number for deeper water. You can usually get bit along the weedline doing this. Largemouth bass will make up most of your catch, but you’ll also catch walleyes and northern pike along the weedline with crankbaits.
If the crankbaits aren’t producing, tie on an eighth or three-sixteenths ounce jig head and thread a four or five inch Ocho worm onto it. This set-up will produce when the fish are finicky. If that doesn’t work, try a Ned Rig. If that doesn’t work, the fish are being awfully selective. Last choice is a jig/minnow. If they won’t eat that, it’s time to try a different body of water. Almost all the time, you can get some sort of predator fish to eat a jig/minnow combination.
Fishing in the summer can be rewarding. It’s good to be out enjoying the warm weather, and it’s even more fun to catch a few or a bunch of fish. If you keep the previous ideas in mind, your chances of catching some fish are very good.
PHOTO CAPTION: Summer fish can be found almost anywhere. This early summer walleye was in shallow water.
June Is A Great Walleye Month!
Posted by admin on June 15, 2020
Prime Time June Walleyes!
By Mike Frisch
June can be a great time to catch walleyes. The fish have fully recovered from the spawn and are “on the feed” meaning finding fish is usually the key to catching them. Here are some tips for finding, and then catching, the oft-aggressive walleyes of June!
Main lake structure usually starts to hold walleyes now. Mid-depth sunken humps and islands will often hold walleyes during June, with deeper water structure holding more and more fish as summer wears on. Other good fish-holding spots during June are major points and flat edges that extend well off the shore line break jutting out into the main lake.
Regardless the structure being targeted, using various fish-finding sonar and GPS navigation technologies to quickly and efficiently search and find structure-related walleyes is often the key to a successful June day.
I recently started using a SOLIX sonar unit and now have my “search screen” set showing four different views. These views include a mapping screen, MEGA Side Imaging and MEGA Down Imaging, and 2D sonar. This combination lets me quickly and clearly identify fish-holding structure, bait, and walleyes holding under and along the boat’s sides. These technologies are easy to use, easy to interpret, and let me quickly and efficiently eliminate unproductive water, and spend more time fishing “good” water.
Once found, the location of the fish usually determines my fishing method. For example, if a school of fish is found relating to a small area, maybe the tip of an underwater point in shallow water, I hold the boat out off the end of the point and pitch a jig and plastic combination to them. Shallow, clear water often calls for a pitching approach to avoid spooking the fish from the boat.
A jig baited with a Rage Swimmer and pitched and worked quickly through these shallow fish often triggers aggressive bites. If, on the other hand, the fish are a bit hesitant, it may pay to work a jig and minnow more slowly through them too. Though, I often opt to look for more aggressive fish during this time frame rather than trying to coax bites from reluctant walleyes.
Pitching jigs often works good for fish concentrated in small areas. If, however, the fish are more spread out, say scattered along the drop-off edges of a point extending out into the main lake, then opting for a bottom bouncer, plain snell, and a hook tipped with either a nightcrawler or leech often works better.
I prefer a heavy bouncer (about one ounce per every 10-feet of water being fished), a 3 ½-foot snell of 10-pound fluorocarbon line, and a #4 colored live bait hook tipped with a nightcrawler or leech. The “plain rig” as I call it utilizes the heavy bouncer to allow for quickly covering water searching for active biters, and the colored hook and bait combination has proven deadly when presented in this fashion.
Some anglers choose the more traditional slip-sinker live bait rig in this situation. For me, however, the bouncer allows for covering more water to put my bait in front of more fish. A key is to keep the bouncer fishing fairly vertically, imparting a stuttering action to the bait that often triggers aggressive bites and also avoiding hang-ups on bottom. The plain rig works good close to 1 mph, whereas traditional “riggers” often fish slip-sinker rigs at about half that speed.
Whether it’s pitching jigs or working live bait rigs, June often means biting walleyes that can be caught consistently. Using the afore-mentioned tips can, in fact, help you get in on the “aggressive walleyes of June” this year. As always, good luck on the water and remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!
Mike Frisch hosts the very popular Fishing the Midwest TV series. Visit www.fishingthemidwst.com to see all things Fishing the Midwest!
Photo - June is a great month to target walleyes!