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Last Killer Update - August 29, 2010

Whopper Of The Week 

Alan Dean from Belle River Ontario Canada sent in this picture of what could be the largest white crappie ever caught in Canada. I did a little research and the largest white crappie I could find on record for Canada was 2.24lbs. This fish was caught in Lake St. Clair in April of 2009. It was 17" long and weighed 2.80 lbs. If you know of a bigger one, let us know. Congratulations on a really great fish Alan!

My friend Randy Cutler has created a really great web site for those of us living in the great state of Tennessee, and for those who wish they did! Randy shares some great information on hunting and fishing in Tennessee. You will find videos, articles, pictures and Randy's personal Blog at www.mytnoutdoors.com. Check it out - you may even see some video and pictures of the ol' killa' catching some bronzebacks...

I have literally thousands of pictures people have sent in over the last 10 years that the crappie killer web site has been on the internet. If you have a great picture that you would like to share, please send it in, we love to see happy crappie fishermen!

YOUR PICTURE HERE

SEND US YOUR PICTURES

We love pictures - please send us yours. Just click on the link in blue below, attach your picture and I'll post it. 

Send us a photo of your big fish - just click here.

Video Clip From

Best Of Crappies On SOA

The Transition Zone

Many of you have heard me talk about the transition zone. This is the spot crappies will hang out in after they have moved into creeks and coves from the winter, but have not gone up to the shallow water to spawn yet. This short clip is from an episode that explained the transition zone, showed how to find it, and how to catch fish that are in it. Hope this helps some of you find a few more fish in early spring.

Time 

This is how your kids spell love. This is a very powerful little clip. Take just a minute to watch it - you will not be disappointed.

Video Clips

Click on the picture to see the video clip 

"Twisted Line? Here's How To Fix It"

Introducing Three New Killer Colors

Everyone knows that Watermelon, Pumpkin Seed and June Bug are great colors for Bass in the summer. I'll let you in on a little secret - Crappies are part of the same family as the large and small mouth bass. And guess what - they love these three colors too! So we are now offering all three of these colors in 1/32 oz and 1/16 oz heads with bronze sickle hooks or red chrome sickle hooks.

Crappie Killer Jigs

The Original Sickle Hook Crappie Jig

Whether you choose the standard black chrome sickle hook or the red chrome sickle hook, you will improve your hook up ratio. These jigs are specially designed for crappie fishing. They are particularly effective for trolling. If you haven't tried them, you owe it to yourself to do so. You can click on the picture to the left to see the mean green jig in action. We offer this killer jig in many of my favorite colors. Every jig is hand made in our shop in Tennessee. You will find the powder coat finish to be exceptional and this unique hook to be the sharpest you have ever used. Click on the jigs above to go directly to the spot on the site where you can order yours right now. All shipping has been waived indefinitely for jig orders.  

New Feature

I have been asked to save all of my weekly updates as reports to develop an archive. If you want to read the old commentaries just go to the reports page and they will be there.

Crappie Killer Instructional Videos are now available on DVD

That's right, we have converted all of my very popular instructional videos to DVD. We did not increase the price. If you want a VHS tape, just shoot me an email and we will dig one up. Go to the Killer Stuff page and see all of stuff.

Find Information On Any Lake!

Click on the big map above and it will take you to the US Water Information page. Once there you can click on any state and a list of the lakes in that state will come up. From there you can get a variety of information including some pretty decent maps. The "Hybrid" satellite map is my favorite. Click on the name of the lake and then click on the "MAPS" tab at the top of the page. You can see three different ones from there. Check this site out and I'm sure you will find it useful and fun.

Crappie Killer "Swag"

 Now Available

You asked for it - You got it!

New shirts, hats, mugs, decals are all available right now. You can order your killer gear by clicking on the Crappie Killer logo in the left hand margin or just click on one of the pictures above. Profits from sales of crappie killer apparel will go to support the web site. In addition to this, donations will be made to our designated charity, The Victory Junction Gang. We will continue to add new designs and colors to our line. I thank you in advance for your support and for wearing your killer gear with pride!

8/29/10

When I got in my car Thursday morning at 6 AM here in East Tennessee to go to work, it was fifty nine degrees. I looked over at the SS Crappie Killer with the cover on it, a little dew running off the Mercury that has taken me to so many crappie holes, and I smiled because I knew fall was coming. 

In the last post I talked about getting ready for fall fishing. Fall crappie fishing means shooting docks, trolling, tight lining brush piles and slow trolling points for me. But the keys to any successful crappie fishing trip in the fall is water temperature and the migration of the shad or baitfish in your lake.

While on a small lake near my home two weeks ago, I saw tons of small shad all schooled up on the main channel on the upper end of the lake. It seemed like every shad in that lake was up there. At the lower end of the lake, it was hard to even find one shad popping on the surface. 

There are several different kinds of shad living in our lakes, but I focus mainly on threadfin shad. They feed on microscopic plant and animal life. Shad will move in large schools for miles in a day looking for food sources. You have to be willing to look for them in the fall because conditions change pretty quickly.

I believe the water quality and food source are what drive the shad to move into the creeks and coves in the fall. Get off the main lake especially in the early morning hours and fish the shoreline structure as shallow as a couple of feet for fall crappies. A friend of mine told me he caught a limit of very nice crappies in 6' - 8' of water using a slip cork and minnows last week on Boone Lake, and it's still August! This is because the shad move up to the banks and the structure on them at night and move back out during the day. 

Fishing anything that would provide security for a school of shad in the evening or in the morning hours is likely to hold some crappies. Brush, docks, rocky points are all really good choices for early morning crappie fishing. Everyone knows a bass fisherman or two that tells of catching some huge crappies on crank baits while bass fishing the banks in the fall. That's because crappies, especially big ones, love shad. And they feed on them heavily just like bass throughout the fall to fatten up for winter and in preparation for next years spawn. 

Once the sun gets up the shad will move out form the banks and into open water. But they will generally stay in the creek or cove for the remainder of the day if there is 15' - 30' of water nearby. That's when you get your trolling rods out and start moving around looking for the balls of shad on your depth finder. Troll your baits right at the depth of the shad or slightly above them. Stay with the shad and you will catch some crappies along with a few bonus bass.

This pattern will work until the water temperature dips down into the 50' or even the 40's and stays there. Then you need to move back out to the main lake and fish the ledges and channels. 

Best Fishes', 

Mark