The fish of the week this week is crappie.
There are two types of crappie (white and black) and they are almost identical in body structure and habits. There main difference is their coloration that they derive their names from.

Crappie tend to strike quickly and immediately head for cover. So when you start to reel them in they start to dart around. I call it this because they move very erratically and very quickly. This is always a fun fight for an angler because they are very unpredictable. Depending on what kind of fishing your doing, catching them is only half the fun. The other half comes in when you fillet and fry them. There are plenty of other ways to cook fish, but frying is my favorite method.

Crappie have excellent eye sight and are very picky when it comes to food. Many people swear that you'll never catch them unless you use live minnows and very light, thin line. The line choice is true in my opinion. Crappie are spooked off by line so the best way to catch more is to have line they can't see. I don't agree with the notion that they can only be caught by live baits. I have caught basket fulls of crappie using a variety of artificial lures. Some colors that worked best for me are orange, silver, and red. These colors work on jigs, minnows, spinners, and fly style baits.

Here is a link to a website that compiles tons of great facts and examples about crappie fishing.http://www.crappie.com/johna/johna.htm

Fishing Quote of The Week: "A bad day on the lake is better than a great day at work".