Crappie flies

[Krash7172]

I've been fishing Lake Winnebago near Kansas City for crappie in the past couple of weeks. I was really tearing them up on chartreuse/white clousers and pink/white buggers.

Anyone else have info to share on midwest crappie?

I'm tying my own flies now and have a trip planned to the Ozarks in a couple of weeks. I have time to make some suggested flies to take with.

[Flyfisher for men]

I've been catching a number of them this spring in a local pond. Wooly buggers have been very effective, particularly an olive bead head. Also white has done well. I've been tying a dropper to the bugger and fishing a basic nymph or wet fly to try to entice bluegills. I've had a lot of smaller crappies hitting the nymph/wet fly--some big enough for the skillet. Along with the bluegills and the larger crappies that hit the bugger, it's a good way to get a mess of fish.

[BigCliff]

I've found olive beadhead buggers with chartruese marabou tails to be very effective on panfish too.

[armarshall]

Try a marabou muddler, unweighted, in shallower ponds. It runs just under the surface and makes 'em wiggy. May also bring Mr. Bass to hand. Mine was greenish, and matched the very scared minnows I saw leaping from the pond at times.

[peregrines]

Hey Krash,

You've gotten good suggestions, and congrats on taking up fly tying.

The Crappie Candy is a simple pattern that works pretty well:

Crappie Candy - "Fly of the Week #198 - FAOL"

mark

[armarshall]

Crappie Candy looks like a freshwater Crazy Charlie. Crappie are the bonefish of lakes and ponds? Not quite, but ...