Using Humminbird Side Imaging sonar to target suspended crappies
Finding these schools of late summer-early fall crappies is really 90% of the battle. Catching them is a piece of cake. One method that I've been using to pick off the most active fish from the school is to long-line crankbaits above them. The most active fish will rise up and hit a fast-moving crankbait. This picture shows one example of these over-aggressive crappies. While this method is typically good for only a couple fish, it is a fast way to pick off a few before slowing down to finesse some more.
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I've touched on this topic before, but it's worth revisiting now that fall is approaching and crappies are balling up in larger and larger groups.
While pre-fishing for the FLW walleye league finals, I've been encountering a growing number of schools of crappies. What makes these schools so much fun is that they are very easy to find using my Humminbird 1197...and once they've been found, they're even easier to catch.
Once the most active fish have made a visit to the boat, I typically have to slow down to tempt the remaining neutral fish. One way that I've been using is to drift light jigs, typically 1/16 oz, tipped with minnows through the school. I cast the baits far away from the boat, and use the wind or a low speed setting on my MinnKota Terrova 101 to move me at 0.2-0.4 mph through the school. I use fatheads to do this, rather than smaller crappie minnows, and my reward has been a nice average size (right around 11") with larger fish in the mix as well.
Fish that suspend over open water are easy to find and target using Humminbird's Side Imaging technology. Put that technology to use this fall and enjoy some fast crappie fishing before the water gets crunchy!
Here's a look at what a school of "open water" crappies looks like, marked with the red arrow. Using traditional 2D sonar, you would need to drive right over the school to find it. However, with Humminbird's industry-leading Side Imaging technology on board, I can keep my boat far away from the school (to avoid spooking the fish), yet still be able to find it and pin down its location. This particular school was found over a rocky bottom; you can see the rocks and their shadows on the left side of the image. This is one of many schools I have imaged in the past couple of weeks.
Dr. Jason Halfen
Professional Walleye Angler
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