I was just wondering why ya'll choose to fish for crappie. I am new to fishing and want to know why some people choose to fish for a particular species vs. another.

As for myself, I got to old to stand and cast for ten hours a day.

I enjoy the hunt more than the catching most days. When I have found them they are plentiful and taste really good.

Since I have introduced my wife to crappie fishing, my lure cost have went way down. It got tough there for a while seeing a brand new $6.00 spinner bait in the top of a tree 30' high. Three times a day !!

It is more than one reason for me. I grew up in the 50's and 60's bass fishing where dad and I would catch 100's (yes, it is true) of bass in the Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana before they built all those gas pipelines. So I got spoiled, then found girls, then college, family, etc.

When I decided to get back into fishing a few years ago, I wanted to catch fish to eat and have fun. I knew the days of 100s of bass were over for the most part plus I am new to lake and reservoir fishing. I wanted a shorter learning curve but still challenging to a point.

So I targeted crappie (sac-a-lait to me). It is a good eating fish, not quite as good as walleye, but good nonetheless. I also like bass (LMB), sandies (I'm very good now at filleting them w/o the blood lines) and catfish.

Crappie are a challenge but not the most difficult. Yes, I get skunked at times but likely when you find one, there are more. Not true with bass. I like to catch catfish when crappie fishing but do not like to have use prepared baits etc. It's ok if I'm by myself, but when I have family, I have to do all the work (work being the operative word). And sandies/hybrids, well they're easy to catch and great fighters. When bored and when I just want to catch fish, I target sandies/hybrids. And like I said, I'm very good at cleaning them where I believe side by side with crappie, you can't tell the difference when I prepare and fry them.

In conclusion, crappie is a good mix of a fish challenge, eating quality and great family time.

And now that CAT is formed, I have made a lot of new acquaitenances I would not otherwise have made. And I strongly urge you to join CAT if you are going to take up crappie fishing.

Oh, and did I mention, I don't have to pay $5+ per bass lure.

I also started out in the 50's fishing to eat (we were very poor). As I got older, I got into bass fishing and tournament fished for 25 years. I never got tired of the bass, but I got very tired of the bass fishermen, so I quit, but knew I had to find a fish to fish for that presented a challenge. So I started crappie fishing about 20 years ago. I honestly believe that crappie fishing is much more challenging than bass, as bass are more dependable than crappie. I only keep crappie during the Fall of each year; enought to stock my freezer. If I didn't fish for crappie, I'm not sure that I would fish, as nothing else that I have fished for presents a challenge like crappie. It's all in the "thump"

Crappie fishing is less like work and more like FUN!!

I do both. Most of my reasons for Crappie fishing, are reflected above. Once you find them, you are generally on them for some real fun and don't forget the Hot Crisco!

I still bass fish, and have joined a club. Like the competition; fishing with different people and on different lakes.

I fish for both too and consider myself a pretty fair bass fisherman...Fish tournaments all the time including this sunday on grapevine...I love to eat crappie so I decided I would buy a rig and go catch a few...Can't be that hard, kind of like fishing for perch...Something to do when the bass aren't biting...

Damn was I wrong...Tough fish to find and tougher to catch...

So now when I want to give myself an easier fishing trip I go bass fishing...I know I can catch them...

Actually learning the crappie bite has made me a better bass fisher...

Everybody that said the challenge is right. They are much harder to find and catch than bass.

I grew up fishing for them too.

i just have a thing for light action rods...

I used to fish alot of bass tourneys as well, that, and chasing the hybrids and whites..Crappie I'd catch by accident, and that was a treat for us, since everything else was CPR.

So, I started last year targeting soley crappie, they are challenging, elusive, and great fun for the family.

Its easy right now with the spawn action, but I believe I have them patterned

I can easily relate to what you say Jimmy but, with me, it never was bass.

When I was a youngster my dad and I would make an annual run over to Larto Lake to stock the freezer with crappie. At the end of that weekend we would generally leave with two 55 gallon drums full of iced down crappie in the back of the truck. None was ever wasted. Every one was cleaned and, packed, frozen, and eventually eaten. (Back in those days the biologists would tell you that it was impossible to catch crappie out of a lake faster than they reproduced and thus there were no bag limits.)

We fished for food but I fell in love with it.

I did a tour in Viet Nam, got married, got a job, helped raise a family and generally lost touch with any kind of sport fishing for many years. My kids were all big into water skis and I was the no account who couldn't drive the boat correctly EVER! (the youngest threw away the skis and went barefoot. Got quite good at it in fact!)

When they all got grown and left to pursuing their own interests I sold the ski boat and bought a nice fishing boat with the idea of recapturing my youth on the lake. Imagine my surprise when they told me that I could only keep 25 crappie a day! Anyway I spent lots of money re rigging the boat and have begun the process of relearning the sport all over again in this new era and now that I am finally retired I plan to work a even harder at that.

If I could catch Bluegill about the size of my palm like the good old days you'd see me with a can of worms not jigs. Best tasting freshwater fish ever....Crappie are right behind them and bigger that's why lol.

Like many others I started crappie fishing as a kid. Military family and the fishing was not only good family recreation time, but a chance to stock the freezer. Got out of fishing for about 15 years while in the military and started back when I moved back home. For years I fished primarly with minnows and watched in awe as a lot of the older crowd I fished with used primarily jigs.
I tried to absorb everything I could by watching the old timers and asking a lot of questions. For about the last 10 years I have fished mainly with jigs and would bet I haven't used minnows a dozen times. Seems like I can catch them 2 to 1 when fishing alongside a minnow user. As Guy says, for me "its all in the thump"

Really improved my catch ratio this past year by switching to Jigum Jigs(thanks for being there Matthew).

I can't say much more than what has allready been said, the challenge can't be beat plus it's the best tasting fish of them all.
CrappieMaster

well best tasting fish in texas waters imo, well for me its the closest thing to a native fish in indonesia the gurame which has a firmer texter similar to bass but tastes more similar to crappie. and these fish can get up to about 25 lbs+ saw a huge one in a stocked pond looked similar in size to a 25lbs carp so just estimating....unfortunately i only had light tackle