“Wisconsin Fishing for Muskies, Smallmouths, Trout and Crappie with Ed Spoerl”

Part 5: Crappie Fishing with the Mister Twister Micro Shad

Editor’s Note: Ed Spoerl from Stevens Point, Wisconsin, fishes three tournaments a year, including the Wisconsin Muskie Tour and a tour hosted by a local muskie bait shop in Manitowoc, Wis. Although he’s a tournament muskie fisherman, he’s not one dimensional. He fishes for walleyes, smallmouths, panfish and trout. Though Spoerl doesn’t work as a guide, he enjoys guiding his friends and often donates guided trips for worthwhile causes.

Question: Ed, I know you like to catch crappie. How are you finding them, and how are you catching them?

Spoerl: I like to use the Mister Twister Micro Shad for crappie fishing. I like the luminescence and the chartreuse flake colors. I put those on a 1/32- or a 1/16-ounce jig head. When the crappie pull-up out of deep water into the bulrushes to spawn in the spring of the year, they’ll usually hold in 2- to 4-foot deep water.

To catch these fish, I make really short casts to the bedding areas and sight-fish for crappie. I’ve learned that I can make short little flip casts and land the Micro Shad right in front of the crappie. Then, I just shake the Micro Shad right in front of the crappie’s nose. I can catch crappie that will be from 8-inches long up to about 16-inches long.

For me, the spring is the best time of the year to catch those really big crappie. When the females come in to spawn, the average size of crappie that we catch is about 12 inches, and they’ll weigh up to a pound. Those 16-inchers that we catch will be about 1-1/2-pounds, which is a really good-sized crappie in our lakes.

Many times, even when the crappie don’t want to bite, if you shake that Micro Shad right in front of their noses long enough, the fish can’t stand it and will have to eat the bait. During the spring spawn up here, you can catch crappie all day long. You can easily catch your limit of 25 a day. On some days up here, when the fish are really active, you can catch 50 crappie in a day, or possibly even 50 crappie in an hour, using the Micro Shad.

Question: Are you catching mostly black crappie or white crappie?

Spoerl: We usually have a mixed bag, but generally more white crappie than black crappie. We catch most of our crappie on natural lakes and flowage lakes. I really like to fish the clear, natural lakes, so that I can see the fish before I catch them and pick out the fish I want to catch. The crappie will usually be caught on sandy bottoms along the bulrushes and along the big flats on the shoreline where the water warms-up first.

Question: How did you first start fishing the Micro Shad?

Spoerl: A few people like to fish live bait like minnows and a bobber or minnows with a split shot and no bobber for crappie. Either way, I got tired of having to re-bait whenever I caught a crappie. A Mister Twister Micro Shad looks similar to a small fathead minnow, which you find a lot of in these lakes.

Besides, I sure like the idea of throwing that Micro Shad in, catching a crappie and then throwing that Shad back out, without having to go through the re-baiting process. The plus about the Micro Shad is that I can catch more crappie without having to re-bait, unlike the fisherman who is carrying a bucket of minnows with him. When those crappie are going crazy and really biting, the Micro Shad will outfish the minnows.

To fish with Ed Spoerl, email fightingbsox@yahoo.com, or call at 715-340-9101.