Alright guys...help me out. Fished for large mouth my entire life but trying to give crappie fishing a whirl. I know almost zero about what to do. So what’s the best way for someone to learn the crappie game? Go for the minnow and bobber or the plastic crappie jigs? And how would I go about locating them on any given body of water. Trees are the obvious spot, but where exactly amongst a bunch of submerged standing timber would you look?

I appreciate it guys. Trying to put a few kids on them too that go with me most of the time so any help at all is great.

To much to go over. I would fish with a Crappie Guide and tell him you want a learning trip! Have him go over all of the basics with you. Take what he teaches you and practice it over and over again. I have a saying. "Keep fishing and good things will happen"!



Side Note: It might take a few guided trips but you will catch on! The more you fish the better you will get.

Great advise Banker!

+1

Any recommendations of a crappie guide in the DFW area?

Lane Palmer with Ft Worth fishing 817-266-09811. He fishes many area lakes.

Sorry this is the correct number for Lane Palmer. 817-266-9811

I have fished with Chuck Rollins on Cedar Creek several times. Going tomorrow, in fact. You can learn more in one or two trips with a guide than you can in a year or more on your own.
https://bigcrappie.com/

Yes, a guide will get you up to speed faster. You will find that it's not all that different than bass fishing. You won't beat the banks as much (except spring) but finding structure is very similar. Bass and crappie are both ambush predators and set up pretty much the same way except bass don't usually congregate at thickly as crappie. Being an ex bass fisherman I would suggest you start with jigs just to keep your hands busy. Minnows are an excellent bait but I think you will relate better to jigs. Anyways, have fun, don't get discouraged and really consider using a guide that first time or two.

Good luck finding and catching !

I started out crappie fishing without a guide, but I’m sure my knowledge base would have grown faster if I’d had some guided trips. Luckily for me, a BiL is a great crappie fisherman and I did one trip with him. Learned a lot, so maybe he was my guide. Still a lot for me to learn.

I’ve never been on a guided trip but trial and error has always been my teacher. YouTube is the best for me to learn new tips and tactics because it has people from all walks of life from all over the country with different styles and techniques. I like Richard Gene on YouTube because we have similar fishing styles. Just look around and find you a couple channels and they will point you in the right direction. Then just try out new stuff when you go out till you find what works for you.

They will test your patience

+1, YouTube is a great place to start. Just type in the name of the Lake with “crappie fishing” and you will get loads of info.