Pro fishing guide Jack Uxa explains how to find and catch summertime crappies using a logical and straightforward approach and a handful of proven crappie lures (jigs and plastics). If experience has taught Uxa anything, summer is an excellent time to catch loads of fish, but you need to look in the right places. *Full tackle details below.
With water temperatures reaching their annual maximum, you need to seek out the cooler water provided by shade and deeper water. Both were key locations here, with Uxa explaining the nuance of jig fishing crappies around heavily shadowed boat docks adjacent to creek channels, and ideally, ones with some brush underneath. Panfish tubes and minnow-profiled plastics are dynamite — have a few jig weights rigged so you can adjust your fall speed to the depth of mood of the crappies.
Deep water brush and marinas are also excellent locations. You can easily find brush if you have forward-facing sonar at your disposal, as Uxa demonstrates, but these brush piles also stand out prominently with 2D sonar, down imaging, or side imaging. And don’t overlook targeting crappies around the big cables that secure marinas.
Give Jack’s Guide Service a reach out if you’re interested in crappie fishing the Lake of the Ozarks Region, and check out our detailed article on How to Catch Crappie!
TACKLE USED (retail links)
SPINNING SETUP 1 (docks)
PLASTICS
- Berkley PowerBait Atomic Tubes
- Berkley Gulp! Crappie Nibbles, color – Chartreuse
- JIG – Generic ball head jig, 1/32-ounce
ROD SETUP
- ROD – Fenwick Elite Light Finesse Spinning Rod, 6’6”, Ultra Light
- REEL – Pflueger President XT Spinning Reel, size 20
- LINE – Berkley Trilene XL Monofilament Line, 4-pound
SPINNING SETUP 2 (deeper water)
PLASTICS
- Berkley PowerBait Atomic Tubes
- Berkley PowerBait Ripple Shad, 2-inch
- Berkley Gulp! Minnow, 2.5-inch
- Berkley PowerBait Power Swimmer, 2-inch
- JIG – Generic ball head jig, 1/16-ounce
ROD SETUP
- ROD – Fenwick Elite Light Finesse Spinning Rod, 6’9”, Light
- REEL – Abu Garcia Cardinal S10 Spinning Reel
- LINE – Stren Original Monofilament, HiVis Gold, 6-pound
FISH FINDER
- LIVE SONAR – Garmin LiveScope Plus System (GLS10 & LVS34)
