What’s Biting in July in New Hampshire and Vermont?
Have a Crappie Summer
Black crappie belong to the Centrarchidae family, which also includes sunfish, rock bass, and largemouth and smallmouth bass. They have been introduced throughout the Northeast, both legally by state agencies and illegally by “bucket biologists,” and are currently found in all New England states. Incredibly popular in the south, they have been gaining a strong following from New England anglers over the past two decades. Easy to catch at times, difficult at others, this great-eating species is one of my favorites to pursue.
While I have no problem finding them in spring, fall, and winter, I have never been successful at consistently catching crappie during summer. I know anglers who catch them by trolling small crankbaits and jigs in summer, but my few unsuccessful attempts at this quickly steered me back to my hot-weather confidence species: bass, walleye, and lake trout. On our Vermont and New Hampshire lakes and ponds, docks and floating rafts in deep water often have crappie, but not with the reliability I am after. Rivers like the Connecticut are even more of a mystery.
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At the Bassmaster Classic this March, I shared my summer crappie “problem” with my friend Sean Graves while he was working the booth for Drop Shot Jock, a useful rod holder for drop-shot weights. He chuckled a bit and simply said, “Deep wood” before going back to talk to his customers.
I had a moment of realization, followed by embarrassment at not making this connection on my own. Maybe it was a combination of habit and laziness—not wanting to put in the time to figure out summer crappie when I knew I could easily catch bass and lakers. Whatever the reason, articles I had read over the years on fishing wood in deep water for summer crappie came flooding back. Knowing how fond crappie are of shoreline wood during the spring made me feel even worse about my oversight.
I also should have known to query Graves sooner. An excellent tournament bass angler, he cut his teeth fishing for panfish in New Hampshire and Vermont with his father, Bob, many years ago. Bob Graves was a friend and legend in southwestern New Hampshire for his prowess at catching panfish and walleye year-round, especially in his beloved Connecticut River. I was fortunate to be able to buy his boat after he passed a few years ago. In addition to all the waypoints he left on his Lowrance fishfinder, that boat makes every fishing trip a little more special.
On the plane trip home from the Classic, I formulated a plan for the coming summer. Side-scanning sonar on my Lowrance, something I haven’t spent a lot of time learning, was going to become my new best friend. I made a mental list of New Hampshire and Vermont waters with good crappie populations to fish, including the Connecticut River.
On each water body, I will side-scan likely areas in deep water to locate fallen trees, logs, brush piles, and stumps. Placing a waypoint on each piece of wood means I can come back and fish these locations later and strategically move from one to the next. Remember two things about deep water: One, it is a relative term, and deep in some water bodies means 15 feet and in others 40 feet. Two, the deeper you catch crappie, the more likely they will die from barotrauma, a condition resulting from sudden changes in water pressure as fish are brought up from depth. Unless you plan to harvest all the crappie you catch, stay away from depths greater than 30 feet. As a rule, bring fish up slowly and release them immediately if you aren’t going to keep them.
Seated with a tiny bag of complimentary pretzels and a Coke, I needed to figure out how I was going to fish the wood at these waypoints. In depths from 15 to 20 feet, I plan to rely on slip-bobbers combined with small jigs and plastics. This technique will also be instrumental in avoiding snags when fishing brush piles. Small deep-running crankbaits will also come into play at these depths. In deep water, I will lean toward Ned rigs and drop shots, although I will also use them in shallower water when faced with wood that is easier to fish without getting hung up on, such as logs or isolated stumps. Keep in mind that a crappie has large eyes and an upturned mouth, so it tends to feed by moving up toward the lure.
I already have all the rods I need and will cobble together the rest of my gear by rooting through my spring panfish, ice fishing, and walleye tackle bags. My reels will be spooled with light braid, 10-pound-test Sufix 832 Advanced Superline (or 8-pound-test Power Pro) combined with a Seaguar STS steelhead/trout fluorocarbon leader in 6- or 8-pound test. I also made a note to research smaller, deep-running crankbaits that I know will fish well on a 7-foot, 4-inch Shimano Intenza rod I recently picked up.
My walleye slip-bobber rods will also work for crappie—like a 7-foot, 3-inch St. Croix Panfish medium-light. It’s lightweight but has enough length and backbone to cast a slip-bobber rig. Both Northland Tackle and Thill make slip-bobbers that work well, and I suggest getting the ones with metal inserts as the braid will cut into the plastic inserts. On the business end, small jigs are available from most companies, like the Micro Shad HeadZ from Z-Man and the tungsten Crappie King Jig from Northland Tackle. I’m also excited to try some Original Flasher jigs from the Reel Bait Tackle Company, as the small flashy “spoons” on these are sure to fire up the crappie.
Small plastics to complete the deal are found far and wide. I have a box of 2-inch crappie tubes from an unknown company I’ve been using for the past 20 years with great success. To get into the 21st century, I’ve been having good luck on crappie in spring and winter using products such as the newer Z-Man Micro Finesse baits, as well as those from Charlie Brewer. Anything 2 inches or less will generally not be ignored. You can also tip a jig or hook with a small live shiner or piece of a nightcrawler, but make sure to use a split-shot if using a hook so that it sinks.
For Ned rigs and drop shots, I’ll use my designated bass rods (Ned Rig: 7-foot, 3-inch medium-light, extra-fast; drop shot: 6-foot, 10-inch medium-light, extra-fast). Due to the depth, I’ll use the heaviest Ned rigs, which Z-Man, VMC, and Northland Tackle all offer. For drop shots, I will stick with my tried-and-true size 2/0 Gamakatsu split/drop-shot hooks along with some size 4/0 VMC Redline drop-shot hooks I’ve been experimenting with.
I plan to downsize my usual bass and walleye plastics, focusing on baits 3 inches or less. For Ned rigs, I’ll either use a Z-Man Finesse or Micro TRD, a TicklerZ TRD, or Senkos or other soft stickbaits of appropriate size. When drop-shotting, any of the plastics mentioned above (and many more) should work great, and a Gulp Alive Minnow is always hard for a crappie to pass up.
Remember, crappies like to feed upward, so adjust the length between your hook and drop-shot weight accordingly.
My final thought before the plane landed was the bonus big bluegill and yellow perch I hoped to run into while fishing the deep wood this July and August. Good luck if you use these techniques this summer, and let me know of any slab crappie you catch.
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Gabe Gries is a fish biologist and member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association. Contact Gabe Gries at [email protected] if you have a question or suggestions for a column.
Source: https://onthewater.com/whats-biting-in-july-in-new-hampshire-and-vermont
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