All my life I fished for bass in stock tanks. Would also catch crappie out them on occasion. But I was always a bass guy. I never fished out of a boat. Never had one, none of my friends had one. I bought a used 15’ Jon Boat with 20hp in 2016. As soon as I got it I went crappie fishing on the bridge pylons. I was hooked. Best thing about it were the perfect sized filets. And absolutely the best tasting, best textured fresh water fish for eating. So, like deer hunting, I hunt and fish for meat, not the trophy.

I retired from the U.S. Marshals Service at the end of 2018, and sold the boat right before we built our house on 39 acres. Now I’m in a Hobie PA14 Kayak (Pedal-Powered), and I’m still filling the freezer with crappie. There are SO many really cool Kayak Bass Tourneys that I’d love compete in, but if I’m out on the water, I Want To Be Crappie Fishing! ! ! If only there were Kayak Crappie Tourneys. I think it would be so awesome to fish in Crappy Tourneys.

So here are some of the reasons why I Love Crappie Fishin’.

1. Best eatin’ fresh water fish.
2. The Thump.
3. The Community. I love this forum. So friendly. So helpful. So generous. I have met 3 TFF guys out on the water, and it has been great talking with them.
4. It is NOT like the bass community which can be so cut throat and unfriendly. I tell ya, I go on the bass forum ever-so-often, and some of those threads get Raucous. (I’m sure there are some Awesome bass guys, but. . . So I’m not bad mouthing all bass guys)
5. So much help and education by the folks on this forum. . . Fishbonz, Leanin Post, Eric, SK, Jim Sr., just to name a few. . . So many more.

Thanks Y’all for making this a great forum.

John

That crappie fishn is addictive and the payoff for catchn them is second to none.... Great table fair....
The addiction runs deeper the more you get into fishing for them a you seriously realize how much work you put into catching them and most just won't.....
Stay At'um!

My grandpa took me crappie fishing when I was Opie size...I couldnt sleep the night before. I remember loading the old station wagon in the dark, and heading out to the lake. Now my wife and I love to crappie fish, and we catch and release
99% of the time, .... and it's fun. Thump On !!!

`

Jezreel; you summed up the reasons nicely.
I like the challenge. Finesse fishing for finicky fish. Most other species, catfish, whites, hybrids, lmb, will usually bite when you find them. No so with crappie.

thanks man,
I think for me the " challenge " is the prize.. its also the frequent gratification of being able to catch more fish, then how it usually is fishing bass.. you spend more time running and gunning and cast, cast casting for bass and can spend alot of time between getting action..
as far as tournaments go, here is what I would suggest.
if you want to have one dont over complicate it.
Ive seen many people try to organize a friendly crappie tourney and things get out of hand.
for whatever reason, you will find that crappie fisherman differ from bass fisherman in tournament planning and execution..
Bass fisherman will put the word out amongst thier circles, show up at the lake, throw 20.00 into a hat and winner takes all.
Crappie fisherman will make an exravagant, long range plan, like 3 months in advance, spend months trying to get sponsors from local companies, set up a weigh in that bassmasters classic would be proud of. set up tarps, signage. loudspeaker systems, contact the corps of engineers for permits, have t shirts printed and on and on and on to ad nausium.
Ive even see where they try to get a local news crew to cover the event, which is usually 20 people or less, with grand prize payouts of 100.00.. LOL
then the date starts getting changed, because everybody cannot show up on the set date..
It can become quite a saga
something else ive found with the crappie fishing tourneys is it turns out to be more of a whos who amongst crappie fisherman deal, then a fellowship of friends..
as soon as the tourney is over.. everybody leaves.. many times, folks who didnt do well, dont even show up at the weigh in, they just go home.. like they are embarrassed that they got skunked..