Fall Kayak Fishing for SLAB Crappies in Shallow Weeds!

Friend of the program and established YouTube anglers Minndak Outdoors has been on a tear lately shooting geese, jigging perch, and catching butterball crappies in their home state of South Dakota.

In this blog, I'm going to give you a brief rundown on one extremely productive day of fall crappie fishing brought to you by Minndak Outdoors.

Starting Things Off

Using a searchbait lure to starts things off, Minndak ties on a squarebill crankbait as he targets active fish in swimming in the shallows. His bait of choice was the Googan Squad Banger which dives to roughly 4 feet.

After a few bass, MinnDak changes over to a 3 inch Googan Squad Saucy Swimmer rigged on a 1/8 jig head. Rigging small plastics onto light jig heads is an effective way to target virtually any species that is interested in eating minnows, and in today's case that will likely be bass, crappie, and walleye.

After battling a few more bass with the Saucy Swimmer, MinnDak downsizes to the classic jighead and small twister tail grub.

The Crappie Beat Down Begins

The next step in the mission is to find crappie so at this point Minndak begins trolling around looking for deeper weeds that may hold fish. Crappie are schooling fish and are known to pack together like sardines in the fall, if he finds one crappie, he might find an entire school of fish.

After locating a prime location, anchoring in position, it doesn't take long for him to get on top a school of hungry crappie and begins to lay the hammer. During the video you'll notice the his anxiousness both when bringing fish in and when trying to get his bait back out in the water. This is because crappie has paper thin mouths which means they can easily come off during the hookset or when bringing them back in. Crappie are also roaming fish which is why he seems so excited to get his bait back out so quickly, keeping a bait in front of fish will keep the school fired up and more likely to stay in the same area.

Last But Definitely Not Least

Finally, when all else fails. Minndak moves over to what I believe is the most effective Crappie technque of all time - the boober and jighead. Using light jig heads and slip bobbers to present small plastics or live bait directly over in front of hungry crappie is a sure way to catch fish and this technique will work all year round. The slip bobber allows you to suspend your bait at various depths directly infront of the crappie. It also keeps your bait suspended and positioned in the strike zone for much longer.

MinnDak ended up on the motherload of keeper sized crappie which allowed to harvest his limit of delicious fall crappie. After that, he continues to beat on the school in the hopes to catch a trophy fish. One thing you'll notice in this video is this anglers ability to stay versatile and change tactics to stay on top of fish.

Let Them Go And Let Them Grow

In a strange turn of events Minndak actually ends up releasing his stringer of crappie which is legal but strange move. In the end all of the fish ended up swimming off just fine.

As the Fall season continues to set in, the crappie will continue to school, roam, and set-up perfectly for anglers willing to hunt them down.