Novice Crappie Fisherman

I have only been fishing Pymatuning the last few years since we bought a place in Holiday Camplands.  I have fished the lake for Walleye and had relatively good success. I have read and heard about how great the Crappie fishing can be and would like to try and target those a little more. We always manage to land a few each trip but purely by accident. Just curious what methods are preferred, jigs, live bait, rod set ups.. And what areas do you target? Shallow, stumps, cribs, etc.. Any help from the veterans is appreciated.

7'0 light action rod and 5'6" ultra is what I use, 1/64, 1/32 ounce jig heads tipped with minnows, gulp alive, tub jigs, grubs,
when the water temps warm up and approach about 50* pre spawn will be in full swing, males move in close to shoreline along structure, larger females slightly deeper around structure/drop-offs brush piles ect....use the above baits either casting out with slow retrieve or you can fish under a slip bobber.
 
Good Luck!

Pymie is awesome for crappie (and in general).  Follow Blue Lagoon's tips, and you should be in good shape (on just about any lake in the region).  One thing to note, you will snag and lose a lot of tackle, they love being in cover.  Many times, refusing baits that aren't right in a sure snag.  If so, try to find the sweat spot, that they are biting and not snagging.  Don't worry about retreiving every jig/bobber, or you can ruin a productive spot.  When you go out, have a good supply of jig heads and bobbers handy.  You can always collect your bobbers when you are planning to leave that spot.
 
Do a search on this site for some of Chauncy's posts.  He seems to fish Shenango more than Pymie, but much of his info translates to just about anywhere, in the region at least.  There was a nice & informative article featuring him that someone had posted a few years ago.

I seem to do pretty good with a 1/32 in chartreuse jig head and any type of gulp...good luck

I know everyone's tastes are different and we fish with what we have confidence in.  Sometimes to a fault.. I am definitely a proponent of switching colors often until you find what they want, and that changes from day to day depending on conditions. I appreciate all the help.  Look forward to putting it to use.

I wondered if the perch/crappie rigs would be effective.  I am just going to have to try a couple of differnet things and find what works.
 

When their in cover especially the lilly pads, i use Braid line the water is always murky in the shallow end of the lake. This cuts down on losing bobbers and tackle.....
 
D-MAC