Crappie Fishing in May

A lot has happened in the last year, and we have finally settled in a comfortable 2 bedroom town house in Osage Beach. That follows moving out of a two story four bedroom house into a 5th wheel RV, and out of the RV into the town house. I am ready to stay in one place for a while.  I like being close to everything AND ten minutes from my work.

I have gone fishing every day-off for the last two weeks, and I have some nice crappie fillets in the freezer. I clean the fillets, chill them in ice water, drain them off, and cover them with a cornmeal-flour mixture to freeze them flat on a cookie sheet.  Then they go into a bucket in the freezer.  When I'm ready to cook them, they go from the freezer into a hot skillet with peanut oil and in minutes they're ready to eat.  Yummy!

The crappie are harder to catch now, and it takes some hunting to find them. Last week they were about 10 feet offshore, and yesterday they were much farther out and deep.  I was using minnows, and an ultra-light rod with a 4 pound test line.  I would take the minnow to the bottom and bring it up a few inches at a time until I found their location.  They were tricky to catch, and I had to try several different hook sizes before I settled on a number 2 gold hook.  I even tried tiny trout hooks and caught two crappie on those, but missed several too.

I don't have a boat, so my fishing is done from the shoreline or from a dock.

This morning I made a small batch of banana bait to play with later today. I like fishing in the afternoon, and so far, that has been very productive. Here's the recipe for a small batch of banana bait, just enough for a day or two of fishing.

Take about two inches of banana and eat the rest.  Mash the piece of banana and add one TB yellow cornmeal, one TB of sugar, and a heaping TB of flour and use a fork to mush everything up. Add a few drops of vanilla and put in a little covered dish in the microwave.  You should have a piece about the size of an English muffin.  Microwave on high heat for one minute and let it cool about 10 minutes still covered.  The bait should be still warm but not hot.  Dust your hands with a little flour and squeeze and knead the ball till it's elastic.  Put in a little plastic bag and take the grandkids fishing. It's non toxic and smells nice.  Using a piece about the size of a jelly bean, squeeze it onto the hook. You can use either a single hook or a treble.

I like to find an area where I can see little perch in the water and toss in tiny pieces to see if they're feeding.  If the conditions are right, the little perch will gobble it up.

Warning - it only takes a tiny piece to catch a really big fish.  I have caught ten pound catfish on tiny pieces of banana bait. Set the drag on your reel and prepare to have fun.  I usually use an ultralight rod with a 4 pound test line on an open faced reel.  As long as there is nothing in the water to get your fish tangled up, you can play with him till he gets tired and lets you bring him to the surface.  A big net or a gaff helps a lot.

Life is short - Go fishing!