12-14 inch Crappies/ spokane county

[crappie007]

Anyone ever catch 12-14 inch crappies or bigger out
of spokane county lakes? Any lake besides Long lake.
For instance Rock, Silver, Chapman or Clear.

(oopps Rock is in Whitman county, but still close to where I live.)

[TroutCowboy]

i've caught some nice dinner plate-sized crappie out of liberty lake. i don't know if they exceeded 12" but were darn close or a little over. but if you live near rock lake, liberty is a pretty long haul for you.

occassionally i see crappie show up in fishing reports around the spokane county area, but off the top of my head i can't think of any names. aaron or mike, is there a way to do a search on a keyword like that?

what a great fish, huh? they put up a great fight, i prefer their taste over trout and most certainly bass, and there's no limit. i can usually scare up only 2-3 per outing, so i really need to brush up on technique, reading cover and what to use to catch them.

[jmay]

I pulled 12" crappie out of both Newman and Silver but not on a regular basis. Largest population of large crappie I have seen in the Inland NW was Hauser Lake (Id)

[michaelunbewust]

SPRAGUE LAKE HAS THEM, BUT THEY ARE KILLING THE LAKE OFF. YOU CAN CATCH THEM THAT BIG THERE THRU THE ICE IN WINTER.

[reelinanrockin]

uh hmm 10 crappie daily limit in washington state...9 inch min size

[crappie007]

Trout cowboy--------
I'll have to give Liberty a try next season,
the 15 years I lived in Spokane I've never been there. I'm
50 miles away from Rock, but its such a good fishery its
worth the drive. They are definitly good to eat and fun to catch.
I've been reading books and watching shows to learn how better
to catch them. For me finding them when they suspend in confined
open water is really difficult.


jmay-------
I've never been to Hauser, but I have to tell you at least 25
people over 15 years have told me what a good Crappie fishery
they have there. For me its springing for the extra money for the Idaho license
and I'm sure I would have to dually license the boat for Wash. and ID.


Michaelunbewust----
I havent iced fish yet, but if I can catch them that big through the Ice
somewhere, I might just give it a try.


reelinanrockin------
Not all lakes in Spokane county go by the 10 crappie 9 inch min size.
To name a few Clear and Chapman have no restrictions, Silver and Downs do
have the restrictions. Personally I dont like to keep a crappie unless its
at least a fat 10 inches. Around Spokane I'm told thats a good sized Crappie.

[jmay]

In regards to Idaho, as long as your boat in not in the state more than 60 days your Wa tabs are fine. Idaho non resident fishing is $85 a year or $9 a day and $3 each consecutive day after that.

[crappie007]

Thanks for the info on Idaho, I have to admit
I have the fishing bug to go to Hauser now.
I'm really surprised about the 60 day rule.

[raffensg64]

Believe it or not, Medical Lake has some nice crappie, probably because nobody fishes for them. Problem is, there's not a lot of them as far as I can tell. In the past I'd caught a few every year on nymph patterns while trout fishing, usually during the fall. On one hot yet glorious day this past July, at high noon when the sun, moon and stars all came into perfect alignment (or something like that), a buddy and I got after them. About 40 fish in all, ranging from 9-12". This success was due to several large schools of fry (1" or so) getting pinned against the weeds. In 90-plus degree temps at high noon every bass and crappie on that end of the lake targeted those fry. It was an incredible sight....akin to bass chasing and busting shad on southern lakes! We would just toss a yellow, barbless curly-tail jig to the bank and retrieve it to our pontoons. Small bass, 6-8" would swarm it but would not take. Out of nowhere a crappie would appear, pass through those bass, and inhale those jigs. This went on for a couple hours until the fry dispersed and the bass and crappie headed back to deep water.

Problem is, it was a 1-day thing. We have tried several times to "repeat the feat" but have only managed a half dozen more in as many outings.

P.S. I did learn that barbed hooks are not necessary for crappie. We lost very few of those we hooked. Nearly all fish take it deep and get hooked in the top of their mouths, in a position that is hard to shake.

[crappie007]

raffensq64--------
Okay I believe it, ofcourse I would have never guessed it.
Selective rules and no motors means all have to spend some
money to get set up. I love catching crappies, so the more
lakes that offer the opportunity the better.

[YellowBear]

Hello crappie007,
You might check out Bonnie lake.
There has been times that we have had 100 fish a day down there.
As for catching them through the ice, Eloika has always been a good lake for Crappie.
Another good one is Sasheen. I know its not in Spokane county but it is worth the drive up there.
Twin lakes just above Coffee pot is another untapped Crappie lake just watch out for the Snakes.
There should be some 15 and 16 inch slabs in Silver and Clear by now. Try a bigger curly tail sometime.

[crappie007]

Yellowbear-------
I have fished both sacheen and bonnie.
I do really good at sacheen. I went to bonnie once,
I had fair luck, I never made it past
the Island. I never fished Twin lakes or coffee pot
before. I'll put them on my list for next season.
True: i've been using 1/32 , 1/16 and 1/8 ounce curly tails.
I'll definitly try using a larger curly tail next time out.

[YellowBear]

crappie007.
Keep in mind if you hit Coffee pot that it is a special rules lake. Single barb less hooks.
The daily bag limit is low, I think you can keep 10.
If you get back to Bonnie head down past the island to the other end.
There should still be a lot of grass.
Your choice of jig head weights is ok just use a bigger body.
Kalins makes a great curly tail for slabs. Try the 2 inch acid rain. its a tri colored grub. Chartreuse, white and yellow. or there john deere, green, Chartreuse and yellow.
We also use the 3 inch curly tail from Mr Twister.
I pour my own jigs to fit the bigger grubs, if you can't find jigs with a long enough shank drop me a PM and I will be happy to send you some.

[crappie007]

Yellowbear-------
Next season I'm going to try the longer shank
and larger curly tails and grubs in all the colors you
have suggested. Thank you for the generous offer to
send me some. You gave me a great Idea to keep me busy
over the winter. I'll be trying my hand at pouring some.
I melt Steel and Iron for a living so I might turn out to
be a good beginner at this.

[YellowBear]

crappie007
I use the Do-it molds.
You can get away with using 1 size bigger or smaller than they are marked but make sure the hooks are well seeted in the mold or you will wreck it.
If you any questions just holler.

[crappie007]

Yellowbear-----
I found the Do it molds starter kit online, Its right up my alley.
I cant wait to start making my own jigs, maybe i'll buy a fly
tying kit too incase I want to add some flash to my jigs.

[YellowBear]

Good morning crappie007,
Once you start making your own jigs, the possibilities are end less.