Fishing for Crappies in Wisconsin & the Midwest

Fishing For Crappies

Crappies in the Mid-West (Minnesota, Michigan, & Wisconsin) and Florida have the same great taste and are caught with the same baits. Species are known as Black & White Crappies, but the ones I catch are more yellow, so I call them Yellow Crappies.

Crappies Year Round

Crappies are fun to catch with most ranging between 3/4 pounds to 2 lbs with the record being 5 lbs. In the Winter crappies are fished for after dark, but during the summer months we focus on catching crappies a hour after sunrise and two hours before sunset. On calm days watch the surface of the water near the weed-lines or in even in the middle of the lake, if you see any small disturbance this is typically crappies chasing minnow and a good spot to start fishing.

For catching Summer Crappies I like to use a tube-bobber, with two feet of line, and a tube bait tipped with a small Berkley Minnow. This presentation works great and will allow you to catch many crappies off one Berkely Plastic Minnow. To make these plastic minnow shorter and fit the small hook better I will bite off part of the head.

Crappie Baits

Our articles will cover which baits to purchase, their prices, and how to use them. You will also see our video’s on catching Crappies, which are also known as; Papermouths, Speckled Bass or Specks in the Mid-West, Speckled Perch & Calico Bass in the New England area, sac-a-lait in Southern Louisiana, and Specks or Speckled Perch in Florida.