Passing On The Joys of Crappie Fishing

It was in the 1960s when I was first introduced to fishing for black crappies. At the time, they had been illegally introduced into several New Hampshire waters in the southern part of the state. Our Fish and Game Department did not consider the black crappie to be a game fish back then and had no limits on them. It wasn’t until years later that the popularity of this fish became strongly evident and they were reclassified as a game fish. Fish and Game would net them from waters where they were known to be and redistribute them into many suitable waters around the state. In recent years, a specific daily limit was placed on them, which is 25 crappies per day.

       
Neighbor Gerry McNeil displays a nice crappie he                    Elizabeth Valenti displays a few nice black crappie
caught on July 14, 2009.                                                      she caught on August 4, 2009

Fishing for black crappie is a challenge and there are a few good methods used for taking them. They include jigging, fishing with bait and/or spinners, as well as fly-fishing. My favorite method is trolling with rubber-tailed crappie jigs in a variety of colored heads and tails. Trolling, as compared to still fishing, gives you the advantage of covering a greater area of water. When you hit a hot area, you can stop and then resort to jigging tactics. When the action dies out, you can revert back to trolling again.

Crappies have very sensitive mouths that will tear easily when hooked. Therefore, when a strike occurs, just lift the rod, putting tension on the line, rather than jerking the rod to set the hook (a great way to loose this beautiful fish). Except for a large specimen, their fight is generally minimal and they surface quite easily. Still, care must be taken to avoid tearing the hook out of their mouths and loosing them.

Recently, I’ve enjoyed introducing several friends to the joys of fishing for black crappie and they have found how wonderful these warmwater fish are, both to catch and to eat. On July 14, I introduced my neighbor, Gerry McNeil, to crappie fishing. In 3 hours and 15 minutes we had caught 50 black crappie, keeping only eight so Gerry could have a meal. He was amazed at how great they tasted and is ready to do some more crappie fishing.

Col. Vicent Cahill Jr. displays a nice black crappie he caught
on August 6, 2009 at Lake Massabesic, Auburn, NH.

On August 4, I introduced Elizabeth Valenti, a pharmacist at Shaw’s Osco Pharmacy, to the joys of fishing for black crappie. We caught 52 black crappies, of which 15 we re kept for a meal. She was amazed at how wonderful the crappies tasted at her family supper. She too, is looking forward to fishing for them again.

On August 6, I enjoyed introducing long time friend and Salmon Unlimited member, Col. Vincent Cahill, Jr., to the joys of crappie fishing. For many years we fished salmon together and this was his first experience fishing Massabesic Lake for white perch and black crappies. We caught a variety of fish from the lake including two big sized black crappie, that give us some excellent size fillets, and several white perch.  When filleted, black crappie can be baked or fried to your favorite fish recipe. The meat is delicate so do not use the “shake in bag” method. We enjoy ours hand-dipped in cornmeal and pan fried. Fillets cook quickly and may be done even if not browned, if you use new oil. My wife has found that cooking oil can be strained, refrigerated and reused (adding new oil if needed) then fillets fry up golden.

There are numerous waters in New Hampshire containing these beautiful fish and some waters contain really large crappie, such as Lake Massabesic, in Auburn and Manchester, and Turtle Town Pond, in Concord. Waters having black crappie can be found in the New Hampshire Freshwater Fishing Guide, which lists the water bodies by township and county and the fish species available in each listed lake, pond and river. Look for species #15 (black crappie). This booklet is available free from: Public Affairs Division, N.H. Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, N.H. 03301. Or, call them at (603) 271-3211.

Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at: outwriter2@aol.com

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