CALICO BASS or CRAPPIE

CRAPPIE

AKA

CALICO BASS

by Dick Alley

             Connecticut is by choice a trout state. Every season brings hundreds of thousands of these hatchery-raised fish to the rivers, lakes and streams scattered across the State. Trout are beautiful, scrappy, hit a large variety of baits, lures and flies, but they are by no means the only  fresh water species sought after by springtime anglers.

              While fishing rivers and streams is rewarding, geezers like me have to face up to the fact that it becomes a much bigger adventure as time creeps up. While looking for a bit more sensible approach to enjoying my favorite game, I jogged the memory banks all the way back to my pre-teen days.

           

John Tucker with a typical crappie found in lakes and ponds across the State

 Living in upstate Connecticut at the time, I was well aware that Crystal Lake was loaded with big trout. Problem was that we didn't even own a car until I was 14. Walker's Reservoir, another trout-stocked pond was always stocked but even that was a two-mile bike ride.

            Fortunately, I lived just across the street from the Hockanum River where it widened into the Paper Mill Pond. It was not stocked with trout. In my several years of fishing there, I never even saw a trout come out of the "Pape" as my friends and I described it.  There was "the log" left by an earlier flood, right in the middle of the pond. It served as a resting spot when we swam across the pond, and being the only visible structure was also a great fishing spot.  

            This fabulous pond did not hold trout, but there were lots of bass and  pickerel and bluegills and yellow perch and in the spring before the waters warmed up too much, there were crappie.

             We called them calico bass or calico's for short in those days. Yellow perch could be caught all year, especially on "perch bugs" (another story for another day) but those calico's were our early spring favorites.  

               They aren't normally a big fish. Crappie of eight to twelve inches are great eating size. Many southern and mid-west States boast big crappie. A one-pound fish is respectable, a two-pounder a big fish.  The world record crappie was close to six pounds caught in a small pond in Tennessee. (Check out this months Field and Stream magazine for the 14 biggest crappie on record).

               Crappie hit lures and flies and worms. They go crazy for small minnows. When the kids were young, we took a camping/ sight-seeing trip to Washington D.C.. We camped at Burke Lake Campground in Fairfax Va.  It was a cold, rainy couple of days, but one afternoon, the rain stopped and we rented a rowboat at the lake, joined a small fleet of boats anchored a few hundred feet from shore and went fishing. I recall the water being muddy, but I snapped on a small weighted jig, made a few casts, switched to a brighter color and bang-- a 6-inch fish swung into the boat. I rigged similarly for the kids and we spent a couple of hours catching and releasing small crappie on almost every cast.

A couple of nice slabs from Lake Lillinonah

We kept a few for dinner and returned to our tent site with happy smiles after a cold and rainy sight-seeing trip.

             Crappie saved the day for Eddie Rusnak and I when we rented a rowboat at Lake Candlewood one late May day. It was a hot one and fish were not biting. We were targeting trout 

and catching nothing when we decided to  head closer to shore and try for pan-fish. We found a small island with a rocky shoreline and small spinners quickly had us smiling when every cast produced either a nice crappie or a big bluegill. 

               When I purchased my canoe back in the 70's, I made my first trip to Lee's Pond above the Dam on the Saugatuck River. I launched next to the Dam, paddled around the corner to a fallen branch about 50 feet from the old rope swing we enjoyed as teenagers, dropped anchor and started casting. It was a warm drizzly day and the pan-fish loved it. First a bluegill, then a crappie, then another and back to bluegills and more crappie on almost every cast. By the time the drizzle turned into a downpour I was more than satisfied to head for the riverbank and  anticipate my next canoe trip.
               While popular just about everywhere, many southern and midwest States rate crappie among their most fished species. Check out catalogs for many of the big fishing retailers and you can appreciate the attention paid to these little fishing gems.

              When it comes to food fish, crappie also come close to topping the list of frying pan favorites. They can be scaled or skinned or filleted, coated in flour, dipped in batter and have a delicious flavor.

               Whether you're a geezer like me, unable to wade the trout  streams or simply want to try something different and relax a bit, put crappie and other pan-fish on your list this spring.

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