For whatever reason – maybe the warm water temperature, perhaps a glut of natural food – Crooked Creek Lake crappies were in a finicky mood during a recent outing.

Finding fish was not a problem. The display on my sonar unit showed lots of fish hovering around the many off-shore brushpiles I had previously marked. But standard presentations, ones that generally work well, had only a few small fish.

Reaching into my tackle bag, I pulled out a small Rapala Jigging Rap. After clipping it to the terminal end of a light spinning rod I pitched the lure 20 to 30 feet away from the brushpile I was fishing, allowing it to sink to the bottom. After three or four sharp snaps of the rod, ones that rocketed the dense little lure off bottom, the line tightened under the weight of a 12-inch crappie. Soon afterward, it was in the rubber bag of my landing net.

Jeff Knapp with a Crooked Creek Lake crappie caught and released during a recent outing. Jeff Knapp photo

This recent experience points out a few details related to summer crappies fishing.

Be willing to experiment. Crappies are temperamental fish. What worked one day might draw a blank the next. On this day, the Jigging Rap produced some fish when classic jig-n-plastic combos were largely ignored.

Snaps make it easy to experiment. Small snaps, such as VMC’s Crankbait snap, encourage experimentation. You don’t have to tie a knot each time you wish to change baits. I like the 00 size when crappie fishing. It’s very lightweight, giving light jigs the freedom of a loop knot. Snaps are also vital when fishing heavier metal lures such as Jigging Raps and blade baits, which will wear through a knot.

Notice that in the opening scenario I pitched, the Jigging Rap was at least 20 feet from a submerged brushpile. The Jigging Rap is an effective lure, but not one to fish too close to cover as it will surely hang up. I’ve found, however, that crappies will often be located well off cover. It’s likely these fish are more active than ones suspended within the branches of a sunken tree or submerged crib.

The rod/reel I rigged up with was a 7-foot light power, fast-action rod teamed with a 1,000-sized spinning reel. Such rods are appropriate in a wide variety of crappie fishing situations. The forgiving tip of the fast (as compared to an extra-fast) action rod loads up gradually when a crappie takes in a light jig. But the rod still has plenty of backbone for fishing a ¼-ounce Jigging Rap.

The line plays a big part in crappie fishing. For the past season, I’ve used an ultra-thin braid, namely Sufix Nanobraid, in 8-pound test. This thin line allows light jigs – 1/16-ounce for example – to sink to 20-to-25-foot depths in a reasonable amount of time. And the sensitivity provided by the line reveals the light bite of a crappie.

Crappies have delicate mouths. Many a nice fish have been lost by trying to boat flip it. A landing net will remedy this, one with a rubber bag will keep the sharp hooks of a Jigging Rap from becoming buried in the mesh.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle