Fishing For Crappies

I took an early spring break to get out of the Mid-West Winter for a while and get back to some open water fishing. My intent was to fish for one of the largest Bluegills in the states, the Shellcrackers. However, the weather was still quite cool in Florida and I had to turn my attention to the Crappies. So what is the difference in the Mid-West and Florida Crappie, not much that I could find other than how to catch them.

When To Fish For The Crappies

The Florida Crappie, also known as speckled perch, speck, or white and black crappie are at their best from late fall to early spring and will produce great action and meals while you are waiting for the Shellcrackers to come in. In the Med-West we refer to them as black crappies, yellow crappies, speckled bass, and papermouths. Either way they are fun to catch and plentiful throughout the states.

Where To Catch Crappies

Focus your efforts on the Arrow Heads or Lily Pads as I found these too be very successful. Using a medium to heavy action rod and a good line is recommended as you are using a fishing technique of jigging straight up and down in heavy aquatic water. The lakes I focused on for my trip were Lake Eustis and Lake Harris, which are located near Tavares.

How To Catch Crappies

To catch Crappies use the same jigs you would in the Mid-West. I also found using a small ice fishing bobber works well, but you can also straight line if you prefer. We found the black jig worked well the first night and white the next, so have a few different colors to try.