Keith Lusher 11.15.24
Because the chilly air pours south, the river temps are dipping. For Matt Schwierjohn of Raceland, LA, the temperature dip is forcing him to divide his time between his two loves – duck looking and crappie fishing.
Currently, Schwierjohn has been fishing the Tickfaw River in Southeast LA. The river is understood for its wholesome inhabitants of crappie. And whereas Schwierjon fishes for crappie year-round, November is certainly one of his favourite months to fish the river as a result of the fish are beginning to collect in tighter teams. “I discover the sac-a-lait college up higher and are simpler to search out in deeper sections of the rivers,” he mentioned. Along with the crappie grouping up tighter, Schwierjohn mentioned he finds that they’re much less hesitant to chew.“They appear to feed higher when the water temperatures go down,” he mentioned.
Schwierjohn makes use of Garmin ECHOMAP 93SV for GPS, aspect scan and down scan. On the bow of his boat, he operates a Garmin GPSMAP 1022. “This setup has turn into invaluable when focusing on sac-a-lait in deeper water,” mentioned the 29-year previous.
On his newest fishing journey, Schwierjohn was on the Tickfaw River. He was on the primary channel utilizing his side-scan in 20 toes of water when he noticed a bunch of marks on his display screen.
“It was a brush-pile with what seemed to be a big group of fish suspended over it,” he mentioned. “Each time I discover sac-a-lait suspended over construction, it will get me labored up as a result of I do know these fish will in all probability be feeding fairly heavy.”
The anxious angler lowered his Bobby Garland jig down and stopped when it was about 5 toes above the varsity. Suddenly, 4 sac-a-lait swam up and tried to swallow the jig.
“Then I knew it was on,” he mentioned.
Schwierjohn pulled 9 crappie out of the varsity with all of them being over 10 inches.
November Setup
This month, Schwierjohn stays in the primary rivers and targets tree tops and brush piles which can be in 15-25 toes of water.
His rod of alternative is an 8-foot ACC Crappie Stix rod. For a reel, he makes use of Lew’s American Hero and spools it with Seaguar Fluorocarbon. His favourite lure is a Bobby Garland Child Shad in “Bone White” coloration. Since he’s fishing in deeper water he makes use of a heavier jig than regular. “I like to make use of a 1/16-ounce jig head however I additionally add extra weight with a 1/8-ounce spilt-shot on the road about one foot and a half above the jig.
The load serves as a marker when dropping his line down into a college of crappie.
“It’s a lot simpler to search out my jig on the display screen once I use the split-shot as a result of it’s simpler to identify two falling dots on the display screen slightly than simply the one,” he mentioned.
Because the climate will get colder, Schwierjohn mentioned anglers have the possibility to fill the field with fish with out overlaying an excessive amount of water.
The colder water temperatures will group baitfish tighter which additionally helps in protecting the crappie segregated to remoted areas within the rivers.
Schwierjohn recommends focusing on the deeper rivers just like the East Pearl, Tchefuncte, and Tickfaw Rivers in Southeast, LA.
