Pan fishing, lake fishing and cane pole fishing are all synonymous with crappie fishing. For many Gamekeepers the first fish they ever caught as a youth was likely a brim or a crappie. For some the sport of crappie fishing never wavers and is just as much of an affliction as say big game hunting, and the pursuit of crappie can be lifelong. Whitey Outlaw was raised in St. Matthews, South Carolina in the shadow of the Santee Cooper Lakes that are host to pro fishing tournaments for multiple species each year, and after 42 years on the professional crappie fishing circuit, he is newly retired and fishing home waters full time.
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“Crappie fishing in Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion where I grew up was something that my Father instilled in me,” said Outlaw. “In one storied area called Rimini, where the duck hunting was just as good as the fishing, everyone out there knew one another and got along just fine for the most part. My depth finder was my 12-foot cane pole, which I would probe down in the water when we were fishing along the bank. Fishing for crappie around structure we could see like a tree, or along the bank, was about all we did because we could not tell where crappie might be hanging suspended in the deeper water. I won my first two tourneys in a 16-foot Duracraft aluminum boat with a 30-horsepower engine and a cane pole.”
“Today I either run a 21-foot War Eagle Black Hawk with a 150-horsepower Suzuki or a 22-foot Ranger with a 250-horsepower Mercury,” said Outlaw. “My requirements for these boats include having live wells and the ability to sit low in the water so that the wind doesn’t push you around as much. The three big keys to crappie fishing are keeping an eye on your electronics, controlling your boat and making precision casts. One angler with the skills to multitask can be productive while fishing solo for crappie, but it’s still good to have two anglers aboard especially when it comes to landing fish using a dip net.”
To read this feature article in Gamekeepers magazine click on Crappie Spring Tactics.
To view past stories from Mossy Oak Gamekeepers click on Ducks around Landmark Lakes - Mallard DNA- Quail Habitat Philosophy - 2024 Fence It In - 2024 Reforestation - 2024 Predator Control- 2023 Wild Turkey Decline - 2022 Managing Duck Impoundments - 2021 Regional Wood Duck Study - Fall 2021- Summer 2021 - Winter 2020- Spring 2020 - Fall 2017- Spring 2016 - Winter 2016 - Fall 2015 - Summer 2015 - Spring 2015 - Winter 2015 - Fall 2014 - Summer 2014 - Spring 2014 - Winter 2013
