“Dennis Braun Catches Muskie, Northern Pike, Crappie, Walleyes and Bass on Mepps and Mister Twister”

Part 4: Crappie Basics

Editor’s Note: Dennis Braun of Vermilion, Ohio, fishes for everything that swims. That’s why he uses Mepps and Mister Twister products because Mepps spinners and Mister Twister soft plastics will catch just about every fish that swims. “I haven’t had a chance to try them on whales and minnows, but I’m convinced that if they could see Mepps spinners and Mister Twister soft plastics and could get them in their mouths, they’d eat them.” He fishes quite a bit on Leesville Lake (near New Philadelphia), Clear Fork Reservoir (near Mansfield), Rocky Fork Lake (in Hillsboro) and Pymatuning (in Andover) with Mepps spinners and Mister Twister soft plastics.

Question: You like to fish for crappie too, don’t you?

Braun: Yes, I do, and almost any inland lake here in Ohio has crappie. They’re relatively easy to catch on Mister Twister Curly Tail Grubs and a jighead and the No. 1 Mepps Aglia dressed with yellow hair. Sometimes I’ll even use the floating jigheads with Mister Twister Curly Tail Grubs on them.

Question: Where are you finding your crappie?

Braun: We’re locating them in the places you expect to find them like fallen tree tops, beaver dams, muskrat houses and along weedlines.

Question: What pound-test line are you fishing for the crappie?

Braun: I’m still fishing PowerPro line that’s the diameter of 1-pound-test line, but it has the breaking strength of 8-pound-test line. I try to fish the lightest jighead I can use. I’ll fish a jighead as small as a 1/64-ounce to 1/8-ounce. The 1/8-ounce size head is the biggest head I’ll ever use. With a jighead as small as 1/64-ounce, I’m fishing with yellow PowerPro line. That way I can see the strike as well as feel the strike. I’m looking for the line to either twitch or to stop short of the bottom. Most of the time I’m catching the crappie when the jig is falling. If the fish doesn’t take the jig on the fall, I’ll hop the jig off the bottom. Often the crappie will take it then.

I have a two-pattern crappie tactic. I like to use the Mepps No. 1 Aglia with a yellow tail as a search bait because I can cover a lot of water with it quickly, and I can fish many different water depths with it. For instance, I’ll start swimming it near the surface to start off with as slowly as I can swim it and still have the blades turning. On my second cast, I’ll let the Mepps Aglia sink a little deeper in the water and still use a slow retrieve. On the third cast, I’ll let it sink close to the bottom and start that slow, steady retrieve. This way I can cover three-different depths on three casts and find at what depth the crappie are holding. If I get a bite, then I can cast back to that same spot with one of those slow-falling jigs and usually catch several crappie out of that same spot.

Question: How big are the crappie you’re catching?

Braun: The majority of our crappie will be 8- to 10-inches long. I’ve seen some 18-inch crappie before that will weigh way 2-1/2-pounds, but they’re rare.

Question: What’s a good day of crappie fishing in your region?

Braun: We can usually catch 30 crappie 8-to 10-inches long. Our best time to catch crappie is usually April and May. My favorite lake to fish for crappie is Leesville because that’s the lake I fish the most, but I also fish Clear Fork Reservoir, near Mansfield, often. I catch a good number of crappie there.

Question: What color of Mister Twister Curly Tail Grubs seem to be the best when you’re fishing the jig?

Braun: I’d say it’s a toss-up between the white and the chartreuse. Both of them produce equally well for us.