Chasing PRE-SPAWN CRAPPIE With The Mule Minnow [Slab Stories]

Crappie are one of the most popular sport-fish among light line anglers. I have caught plenty of Crappie in my day, but have never devoted a lot of time to learning about this species. In this series, I intend to target both Black & White Crappie in an effort to learn more about them and share that knowledge with all of you. Stay tuned for more episodes of Slab Stories in the future!
#SlabStories
Brought to you by Mule Fishing: www.mulefishin...
***I own this company. Supporting Mule helps me make videos!
In today's episode, I had no idea what stage the Crappie would be in. I decided to start my efforts shallow on a spawning flat that I knew the fish would move up to at some point. After just two casts, I was able to land my first slab so I kept chasing them shallow throughout the trip. After the trip concluded, I believe I would have actually caught more fish if I would have jumped locations quickly. Good learning for next time - hop from spot to spot and fish it quickly, as compared to fishing one spot thoroughly and trying to make less aggressive fish bite.
Gear Used:
6'4 UL power rod / fast action
Size 1000 Lew's Reel: discounttackle...
2lb Trilene Sensation: discounttackle...
Mule Minnow 2.2 (Dakota Sunrise): www.mulefishin...
1/32oz Mule Jig (Pink): www.mulefishin...
Marker Buoys: discounttackle...
Rocky Dry Strike Boots: amzn.to/3MaHBfD
Find me on Social Media! #GoOutside
Instagram: goo.gl/7ypHLW
Facebook: goo.gl/ViFziW
Twitter: goo.gl/Ac1XN6
***Disclaimer - The above are Amazon & Discount Tackle Affiliate Links

[@davidrudd9846]

My grand father was an avid crappie fisher back in the 60s and 70s in central Texas ,one of the best eating fish clean white mild meat

[@FishAnything]

Heck yeah! I love eating crappie

[@RamonOutdoors]

Dude crappie are so much fun to catch. I can’t wait for this series!

[@FishAnything]

Definitely stoked to keep the series going!

[@kirkgeno6077]

Lots of slab action here in Illinois as well. I've caught more crappie this month than I have my entire life...super fun! Mule jig 1/32 oz in fire red with a slip float doing damage!

[@FishAnything]

That is what I like to hear!!

[@CampWaffleStomper]

Slab Stories! WAHOO, let's do it!

[@FishAnything]

Yeeeeee!

[@magnumpi5429]

Nice! Can't beat ultralight fishing and crappie filets.

[@FishAnything]

They sure are fun :)

[@RexReelin]

Great start to slab stories!

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Chad! Much to learn :)

[@themikejulian]

Just took my new kayak out to the same lake this morning and then came home to see this video, ha! Caught some big gills but everything else was pretty finnicky! I’m still not understanding fish patterns in Michigan but I had a blast! Glad to see you doing a series on slabs!

[@FishAnything]

Let's get out and fish!

[@themikejulian]

@@FishAnything I'll shoot ya a DM on the old instagram! :D

[@poimendave9536]

Nice job Ethan. The Crappie are starting to spawn in the shallows and the Gills won’t be to far behind

[@FishAnything]

Gills will be my priority in the next couple weeks as this water keeps warming up. 10" male on a bed I am hoping!

[@jessiehoch7541]

Love the slab action.

[@FishAnything]

Thanks Jessie! Always appreciate your support :)

[@cocosli803]

Hello Ethan 👋 great crappie video on the mule minnow. I can't wait for more crappie videos 2 come I will definitely be waiting and watching thank u James H 👍

[@FishAnything]

Thank you James! Love me some slab action :)

[@HookinDinks]

Caught my PB crappie on a donkey tail last week! Absolutely love crappie fishing

[@FishAnything]

YESSIR! Love to hear it :)

[@javieracosta8884]

Killer video. So happy your going after crappie.

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Javier! I am excited to keep it going.

[@ConnerCannonwhiteboy]

I had a 40ish Crappie session about a week ago. All in about an hour and a half of fishing. All on a fly rod. Tons of fun.

[@poimendave9536]

Impressive using the fly Rod. 🤙

[@ConnerCannonwhiteboy]

@@poimendave9536 super fun dude.

[@FishAnything]

That sounds like a total blast!! Nice work Conner :)

[@vengeancxe]

my first set of donkey tail jrs come tomorrow and i cant wait to take em out

[@FishAnything]

Can't wait to hear how you do with them :)

[@yep.fishing]

The Dakota sunrise colour looks so cool. Just ordered some today

[@FishAnything]

Thank you so much!

[@greatlakezgirl649]

Have you ever tried Mr. Crappie fishing line? I switch one of my micro rods to Mr. Crappie and I love it. I can see my line better, and I have less line twist. I also have a hack for your stringer. Cut a small piece of a pool noodle about 2" wide and thread it through noodle. That way you only have to thread the stringer one through the gills and mouth and it will just float.

[@FishAnything]

Good idea on the stringer hack! And I actually have never used that but maybe I will give it a try!

[@duck7927]

i like your energy, you got my subscribed.

[@FishAnything]

Thank you so much Duck! Go catch a big quacking fish

[@noahbeu1515]

Excited about this series

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Noah! I am also excited :)

[@jeramyh9344]

Hey Ethan, I just caught my first fish on a Mule Minnow 2.2. It was a 3.5lbs Large Mouth on ultra light gear. Then I followed him up with 3 of his buddies. Thanks for a great product. One Minnow lasted all four and it's still good for more.

[@FishAnything]

YESSIR! So happy to hear that :) thank you for sharing.

[@jeramyh9344]

@@FishAnything after I used it today to catch some White Bass, my wife made me give it to her because I forgot the pack in the truck and I didn't want to walk all the way back for another. She ended up catching about 10-15 white bass on the same jig I used for the large mouth bass the other day. These things are amazing, I have used many other plastics that would never catch that many fish without tearing or falling off the hook.

[@frankcornacchia8637]

Looking forward to the next installment of Slab Stories, great vid and info!

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Frank! Working on the next one as we speak :)

[@maxvmcoutdooradventures7695]

Awesome content just subbed :) I just ordered me some Mule Jigs. Can't wait to try them out :)

[@FishAnything]

Thank you SO MUCH! I hope you keep enjoying the videos, and more importantly, catch a lot of fish on the Mule gear :)

[@Idk7i]

Excellent plastics. I cant stop catching blue gills, dinks, Even good size bass.

[@FishAnything]

I love to hear it! Thank you for the support :)

[@Notjustinnn]

Super cool series idea, man! I love Crappie, such awesome fish. I haven't been watching KZbin much since I've been out here but I've got some catching up to do 👊

[@FishAnything]

Catch up as you can, but more importantly than that, keep catching fish and pumping out great videos. 🤠👏🏽

[@castandchill]

cool man , look forward to the series !

[@FishAnything]

Thank you! More to come :)

[@patrickhartman6818]

Arkansas here caught 1 yesterday along with some bass on a rebel minnow chrome and blue

[@FishAnything]

Right on! Arkansas is a wonderful fishing state :)

[@bridgetb9007]

Slaaaaaaaaaaaaabs! Loving this new series!

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Bridget :) Hope all is well!

[@shawneldridge4465]

Crappies are so much fun to catch, like they are. There's a place here in Pennsylvania and it's called walnutport canal. It's nice little town and the canal is great to fish. Sometimes we'll use small flat head minnows and catch crappies by bucket loads. Anyway great video and I enjoyed watching 👍👍👍

[@FishAnything]

Awesome! They sure are a fun fish :)

[@shawneldridge4465]

@@FishAnything Yes they are

[@Steve_Balboni]

Haircut is fire 🔥

[@FishAnything]

Hey thanks Ben :)

[@Fishpunch]

I agree the slower fall is better. I get most of my crappie on slow falling jigs. I see you're using the Kuying Teton rod. I recently got one and love it

[@FishAnything]

Definitely a nice rod! Will plan to do a video on it soon :)

[@Fishpunch]

@@FishAnything cool

[@Rhymeswithlaughter]

Also. Love the new series! Great content!

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Justin :)

[@nickbeute6173]

Great video. Caught about a dozen crappie slabs today. All up in the shallows, pre-spawn and very finicky. Mule jig with a Gulp Minnow. Released them all. Hope you were able to get enough keepers for a fish fry 😎

[@FishAnything]

Awesome! Let's get out there and chase a few. Heck, come fish the lake by me soon. Would love to catch up. And I will slowly build up a freezer stock. A couple at a time will go a long way when it is just dad and I eating them.

[@pauls3616]

Nice video. Thanks. 👍

[@FishAnything]

Thank you Paul :)

[@jonpogue427]

oh yeah slabs 🎉

[@FishAnything]

Slab city :)

[@larrykoonce2851]

W/0 breaking the bank

[@kevindhuyvetter5210]

Think your dad is looking forward to fish 🌮😊.

[@fartbox3987]

Petition to change the name to Slab Labs!

[@FishAnything]

Lol at your username... And I love that name too :)

[@fartbox3987]

@@FishAnything XD

[@AGuyNamedRicky]

Had an awesome ultra light day yesterday. Quick question. I had one of Joes Flies tied on it worked wonders but it didn’t cast too far cause of the weight. Didn’t have any split shot. You think if I add some bobber stops that would do the trick?

[@HypochondriacStudios]

I don't think bobber stops would do you much good, I would suggest using lighter line and maybe a longer rod depending on how much brush is in the area you're fishing.

[@hvega8199]

Run some phoenix iron feather main and some 2lb izorline leader. Also depends on the reel and rod. I launch 1/32 crappie tubes off a 7’6 presso with a kastking zephyr sfs shallow spool.

[@oldeschoolbob1022]

A suggestion, if I may: Give some details about your gear, especially rod / reel specs and line test. Thanks, and good luck!

[@poimendave9536]

Try your using a bobber it will help you get it out away from you

[@FishAnything]

WOW I am overwhelmed by how helpful the entire crew is. Thank you all for chiming in to help Richard out. I definitely agree that bobber stops won't do much. I would suggest fly fishing split shot, otherwise to the other folks' point, light line is a huge advantage too. The smallest Joe's Flies are really light so going from 4lb to 2lb test makes a major difference.

[@kodonryati]

I think you said you are 6'6" in an old video. Where do you get dry boots that fit? The link to the ones you have in Amazon only go up to size 13.

[@FishAnything]

I wear 13's lol I am lucky I don't have 14+ feet because those shoes are hard as heck to find.

[@larrykoonce2851]

What good crappie rod ultra light

[@FishAnything]

Answered on the other video. I think the Temple Fork is a great stick but if you want one cheaper, an Okuma Celilo will also work. A 13 Fishing Defy Silver could work too but it is a bit stouter so make sure to back down your drag a bit.

[@blakeorgeron4636]

Have you considered or ever used sickle hooks with your jigs? I've heard different things about them and wanted to know your opinion or how you would rig something like that?

[@FishAnything]

I have never felt a major need for them personally. I am sure there are pros & cons but I believe the standard hook shank is best for most cases.

[@learningtofish7036]

Ban the plastic slinky. I fish crappie w 6 pound braid to 4 pound leader, 14'. I just can't do that slinky. You did good. What did we learn?

[@FishAnything]

I have no idea what you are referring to when you say slinky lol And I learned that Crappie school up heavily but not all fish are going to be active. When you find big schools, fish them hard for a few minutes and keep moving in search of additional schools. Don't be afraid to come back, but don't spend too long on one school when there are more to pursue. I think, if I had moved and grooved a bit more, I would have easily caught 3X more fish.

[@raymondjohnson6496]

Your kuying teton rod is it better than the TFO rod you don’t have any okuma select rods do you I thinking about buying the kuying rods I got a kuying casting rod the 6’6’ I love it its not to heavy and it’s not to light if you know what I mean 👍your rod is a two piece

[@FishAnything]

Really nice rod so far in testing! I probably like my TFO a little bit better personally, but both are good options!

[@AGuyNamedRicky]

Yeehaw 🤠

[@FishAnything]

:) thanks for watching, Richard!

[@chiccenhawkc]

💯🔥💙👍

[@FishAnything]

:) thanks as always

[@Rhymeswithlaughter]

I have some of the mule minnows... How are you fishing them? Technique wise?

[@FishAnything]

You can fish them several different ways... 1) vertically jigging them over suspended fish 2) fish them vertically under a slip float 3) twitch them through the water column (what I did in this video) and 4) drop shotting them can be great for bottom-oriented fish

[@Rhymeswithlaughter]

@@FishAnything thanks! I'm doing a deep dive into this and wanted to try every way possible.

[@joshanderson5344]

What rod are you using?

[@FishAnything]

Kuying Teton my friends sent to me! I will do a video on it at some point.

[@sergioalvidrez2057]

What rod is he using?

[@FishAnything]

My friends sent me a Kuying Teton to try. Giving it a test and will make a video on it later.

[@willtraveltofish]

What boots are those?!

[@FishAnything]

Rocky Boots Dry Strike (linked in description)

[@willtraveltofish]

@@FishAnything thanks!!

[@lukeramey93]

Where are you from

[@FishAnything]

Michigan!

[@anthonyzuniga9908]

I see mostly fisherman videos that have boat I fish from banks I have no money to buy boat So how do you catch crappie from bank

[@FishAnything]

I fish from bank a lot too. You have to cover a lot of ground to find productive areas, but once you do, I would add some slip float rigs to your collection. That will give you some good casting distance and allow you to cover numerous water columns all from the bank!

[@Henry-dj3sz]

Man

[@Henry-dj3sz]

Angler anglosaxton any relation

[@FishAnything]

I don't know what this means

[@Tightt88]

What’s that reel you got there? Looks like a Lew’s costume Speed Spin.

[@FishAnything]

Yeah it is a Lew's I picked up from Discount Tackle. Honestly, I don't like it near as much as my Daiwa or Shimano reels.

[@Tightt88]

Where is Pursuit of a Ten! If it’s not POT, is send it back!

[@poimendave9536]

Good question

[@FishAnything]

Coming back soon! Wanted to start a Crappie series as well. Both will be a focus throughout 2022 :)