JACK WOLLITZ Crappies make good angling

They sneak across the lakescapes like wisps of fog, providing little hint of their presence or intent.
Their work stations are tucked in out-of-the-way corners of dams, causeways, brush-littered banks and off-shore drop-offs.
They go to those places because that's where the crappies flock as the autumn days get shorter and crisper. They are the dedicated corps of panfish anglers whose thrills are provided by a slab crappie flapping on the end of a spider-web line.
The best month
October is the month when the crappie once again return to the patterns that make them most accessible to those who like nothing better than a bucket brimming with fish.
A unique bunch of anglers, those who prefer crappie fishing typically are a secretive bunch. They often go solo to their favorite haunts and quietly go about their business of filling a five-gallon pail.
One might not even notice them, hunched at the waterline, camouflaged in the rip-rap, barely moving a muscle while peering at a tiny float holding a minuscule jig over a twiggy snag or a jagged rock pile.
They can sit that way for hours, providing little hint about their bountiful harvest, which is oh-so-evident when they put their buckets in their trunks for the trek home.
None the wiser
Equally as obsequious are those whose aluminum boats hover atop off-shore hot-spots. An angler in the right location can fill an ice chest with slabs and nobody in the vicinity may be wise to his success.
Many crappie anglers spend only a few weeks a year in pursuit of their favorite fish - prime weeks in spring and fall when the fish are ganged up in schools so large it would seem almost impossible to deplete them. Cool-water months are good not only for numbers, but also for size. The little squirts that steal bank fishers' baits all summer are outmuscled by 12-inchers in October and April.
Those who want to learn what's so special about autumn crappies have a variety of places to explore.
Mosquito and Pymatuning are two prime spots. Milton and Berlin have fans, and West Branch and Shenango reservoirs have good days, too.
Also productive are weed lines in Presque Isle Bay, Lake Erie off Erie, Pa.
Crappie gravitate to places where they have quick access to deep water, along with vertical cover to which they can relate as they snoop for morsels of food - small shad, minnows, freshwater crustaceans and insect larvae.
The smaller the better
The fish can be extremely line shy, especially if the water you are working is relatively clear. Lines no bigger than 8-pound test are recommended, but if you can get away with 6- or 4-pound test, that's even better.
Small jigs - 1/32- or 1/64-ounce are good -- or plain hooks with a few split-shot and a slip bobber are all the terminal tackle you'll need.
Set the float so the bait hangs just an inch or two above cover.
Crappie can be very fussy about how far up they'll go for a bait, and they'll almost never go down after food. Experiment with depth settings if at first you don't produce results.
With but a few exceptions, most of the better crappie hot spots in our area will have relatively few anglers on them. That's because many of those who might have been fishing those spots during the summer are up on deer stands or at home watching football on TV.
But the allure of late-season success pulls the die-hard crappie crowd out to the water and the fishing will be good for the next six weeks.
jwwollitz@aol.com