Now this is not a very talked about subject. When folks hear of taking the flyrod out, they talk about targeting trout, salmon, and even bass. I am here to tell you that finding a school of golden crispies on the 3 weight is a hoot! This will be broken down into three sections. First will be the gear needed. Second will be the tactics on how to fish and where to fish. Third and final will be a reminder to not forget the fish batter, oil, and most importantly the beer.

1. Gear needed

White crappies and Black crappies are fish that reach on average sizes of 8-14 inches. Catching a crappie that is 15 plus inches and weighs over a pound is a trophy catch. Keeping this in mind these are not super powerful fish. Any 3-4 weight reel will do. I will use a 5-weight reel most of the time. This is for insurance purposes in case I hook up with a stud crappie or the occasional Largemouth bass or Smallmouth bass.

A quick rundown on leader and tippet sizes. The smaller the number the bigger the diameter and the more weight it can hold. For example, 5x is the size of leader or tippet. 5x= line strength around 4.75 lbs. Where 7x= around 2.5 lbs. of strength. I usually use Fluro-carbon style leaders and tippets. If you like monofilament go right ahead. Whatever you fish more confidently use it!

The leaders I use when targeting those tasty bastards are sizes from 5x-7x. Whatever size leader I use, I will usually use a smaller tippet. This helps with hiding your line more when it enters the water. Incase your loss like I usually am when it comes to life don’t worry here’s an example. If I fish a 6x leader I will use a 7x tippet. This means that the leader will be stronger and thicker, while my tippet is smaller in diameter helping hide my line in the water better.

For fly line this is going to be up to you. There are two paths you can choose from. Path one is using floating line. This will keep your flies higher in the water column. When fishing at depths of 1-8 feet I like using this technique. The crappies tend to feed above them; this creates a nice presentation for the fish. Path two is using sinking line. When you are using heavier streamers and nymphs at depths of 8 feet or deeper, this helps you get down to where the fish are.

Now for the fun part…the flys! Best part about crappies is that they are predatory fish. They feed in schools, so when you catch one, be ready to catch more. The patterns I have done best on are bait fish streamers. A battle tested fly that has helped me fill my LiveWell is the KO streamer. Both the green and white and the brown and white. Any colors of green, white, silver, blue, pink, and chartreuse will do you good in the crappie world. Now if you don’t have a baitfish/ minnow patterns don’t worry. Your macro-invertebrates got you covered too. I have caught fish on stonefly, caddis, and mayfly nymphs. My little secret is a black and purple size 10-14 balanced leach. Man, oh man do those paper mouths love it.

You can catch them on top of the water too. Anything you would throw for bass, downsize it a size or two and be ready. They are not the best at tracking baits on the top, so be ready for a lot of misses. I have caught them on small poppers, dry flys, heck even size 16-18 top water frogs.

2. Where and how to fish

After feeding you information through a garden hose on the gear break down. I will try to keep this simple as possible. Where to target crappie can be a whole article itself. To make things easy the number one place to look for crappies on the fly is in the spring when the crappies go to spawn. Look for lakes with coves that have a depth of 10 feet, and as you approach the shoreline it shallows up. Rock points that have a good shelf are a great place to start. If you catch them shallow off of the points, and they have a big egg belly. Start looking shallow towards their spawning beds. On the other fin (yes pun intended lol). If you catch them on the deeper drop offs of the rock points then go target deeper water, they might be still staging to spawn, or post spawn feeding.

How to fish your flies. This will be a skill learned out in the water. Try the constant retrieve of your fly after letting it sink 1-3 feet down. If that doesn’t work add a pause in your cadence. Strip pause and strip pause. Or strip strip pause. Fish those different styles for a good 30 minutes and switch. Don’t be afraid to add a strike indicator to your rig. The extra buoyancy to your fly may just be the ticket to entice those finicky bastards. Keep trying new things. You never know what might work on the water. Heck even dead sticking flies catches fish!

3. Beer, batter, and oil

In my opinion there is no better way to celebrate a limit of paper mouths other than cleaning them, putting them in milk and batter, and frying them the same day. For all the hard work you did getting prepped and ready to chase these fish on the fly you deserve a beer! It also pays respect to all the fallen flies that were either KIA or MIA on the water.

PGH flies are the best in my opinion because they were made to target trout, but they are a go to fly when it comes to many other species. The versatility of his creations speaks to his craft as a fly tyer. Go check his store out, you will not be disappointed. As I always say. You can’t catch them from the couch, get up and go fish!

STAY DEGENERATE!

Coltin Gressers guide to Crappie on the fly!

Q&A with The Fly Smith!