Crappie Fishing under Lights?

[jaystaler88]

I've heard this can be a good way to catch crappie around docks during the summer. Has anyone tried this with success? What type of setup were you using? Any info is appreciated on this method.

[Alphahawk]

Its a great way to catch crappie at night.....but you are going to have every other kind of fish show up too. You can use the submersible lights or you can hang Coleman lanterns over the side with foil to reflect light onto water......of course that is old school but that is how we did it. Used minnows... works great.



Regards

[TNtroller]

You don't necessarily have to fish around docks at night for crappie, can be anywhere but its best to be where they are.:p Use your FF and roam around until you find 'em, then move back away from the a bit, and set with the lights, the baitfish will show up and then the bigger fish, go from there.

[XxthejuicexX]

I used to fish under the lights all the time. My grandfather and I are actually going tomorrow night. We hang lights over the boat to draw baitfish in. We are going to start on steep drop off with some brush on it and see what we can find there. We will fish minnow but I am going to try a crappie magnet too.

[white95v6]

I have thought about trying this. but don't have lights. lol.

[XxthejuicexX]

cheap ones are 10 bucks at academy. You can get the green ones for about 25 bucks i think. I have never used the green lights.

[Halli]

My green led don't draw the fish like my white one.

I made mine using a white led back up light for a big truck and stuck it in foam. I have the 1/4 guitar jacks so I soldered a guitar cord to the pigtail.

The standard car headlamp ( http://www.academy.com/shop/browse/fishing-fishing-tools-fishing-lights/_/N-845454857 ) that walmart and others sell works really fine if not better but uses a lot of amps.

[white95v6]

I think if I ever buy some I want to submersible ones

[ThrillSeeker]

My green led don't draw the fish like my white one.


I agree. The white light definitely works better on Priest. Possibly due to the greenish tint of the lake on the lower end.

I prefer the submersible ones.

Be prepared to catch crappie, bluegill, catfish, green bass, brown bass, white bass, yellow bass, striper, and hybrid.

[Heiny57]

It works best on no moon nights. Full moon don't bother. You must anchor firmly, no drifting around. At Preist the crappie won't bite till 11:30 and later. I have used the floating car headlight model and I now have a submersible.

[TNBronzeback]

This is something ive asked about before and im certainly gonna try it this year...
So is there a certain depth ya wanna submerge the light or have it just under the surface? or is that something ya wanna experiment with and varies on a night by night basis?

[Heiny57]

I used the floating type for 30 years and recently bought the submersible because Academy was out of floating. I put it in about a foot deep. I have always looked for a river channel near a point or a bluff to set up on.

[XxthejuicexX]

I have never used the submersible ,only the floating ones. I will be sure to update everyone tonight when we hit the water. I hope we do well for the first time out at night. The location I am fishing should have everything I need to produce fish.

[Heiny57]

How did it go?????

[XxthejuicexX]

Well, we caught around 30, 18 keepers with 2 cats added in. When we started we had a good amount of baitfish under the lights then the rain moved in and they all left. We got back into the baitfish around 1:30 this morning and started catching a few more fish. It was a slow night with all the fish coming in 30-40 off the deeper points by the channel swings. All crappie were caught on minnows and the cats came on shrimp. I did not notice near as many schools of bait fish like the last time I was out.

[Heiny57]

How many times did you move?

[XxthejuicexX]

We ended up moving twice. We were a little handicapped because my grandfather only put one anchor in the boat, and his anchor is a milk jug full of rocks..... so we did not stay stationary to well.