UTER
Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Pomoxis nigromaculatus · also speck
How to catch Black crappie
Black crappie feed in 38–86°F water and bite best at 56–72°F. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows them in 48 waters; in October they are at their peak in Florida fresh water, Texas fresh water, Louisiana fresh water and 45 more.
8 pts · trophy at 14"Feeds 38–86°FBest 56–72°FIn season nowLakeReservoirDock / pilingsBridgeRiverPond / pitFish attractor / brush pile
About
The speckled perch: the winter fish of the big lakes — Okeechobee, Kissimmee, the St. Johns — schooled in the open water in December and on the beds in the reeds in February. The best-eating freshwater fish in the state.
How to fish it
Drift or troll minnows and jigs across the open water in winter; when they move to the reeds to spawn, a jig under a cork tight to the cover.
What it eats
live minnowssmall jigsBeetle Spins
Live bait for it
Minnows (fatheads, shiners)Hooked lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal on a #6 to #2 hook under a slip bobber for crappie, perch and walleye; a big golden shiner on a 2/0 to 4/0 for largemouth, pike and stripers.
Grass shrimpTwo or three on a #6 hook under a small cork — the bream, crappie, sheepshead and mangrove snapper bait nobody sells.What to fish it with
the sizes that fish itLeader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
Hook#2–3/0
Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
Braid10–30 lb
The rule
not confirmed hereTwenty-five per day — confirm at MyFWC.
The current rule →Where it is, month by month
PPeakSSpawningAArriving·AroundLLeaving
Fresh water by state