Need your crappy advice

 
going to Collins lake thu-Sat for family camping.
The idea is to get the kids excited for fishing as much as me, so i want to have constant action/bites- I'm guessing that means going for crappie/bluegills.

I've never fished Collins lake, but I'm guessing they have crappie there.

I've done some internet research, but I NEED YOUR ADVICE ON THE SECRETS TO CRAPPIE FISHING.
I'm a saltwater guy, so Pls give me your recommendations on bait/lures, hook size, setup and any other pieces of wisdom you want to part with.  I don't even know if crappie are bottom feeders, top feeders, middle feeders?
  thx in advance.
Your reward for  giving up your secrets will be a fishing report with happy kids' faces.

hamachijohn

Your reward for  giving up your secrets will be a fishing report with happy kids' faces.

Always worth the offering.   

I know nothing of it, but will look forward to hearing all the crappy secrets!

Good luck, John, and have a great time.

Haven't fish that lake so no "secret hole" from me    For early Summer Crappies, it's hard to beat Minnow or night crawler on a bobber. If no live bait available then use small Crappy jigs or Sabiki jig.

Send a pm to racinrob he spends a lot of time there  use power bait by marina with trout pens I watch people catch trout all day in those coves they sell small minnows  there take them to the damn and catch barely legal bass and possible  crappie  goodluck
 for Blue gill I use a 12/14 hook tiny piece of worm and a bobber  thats all and ultra light pole more fun to fight

I am full of crappy advice.  Crappie advice, not so much.  I have no idea if they are still available but the "no name lure" was the best crappie lure ever.  As a kid I slayed zillions of crappie with that lure.  Outfished guys with live minnows, flies, everything.

*if your fishing with a lot of kids, crimp the barbs for safety.

Troll deep diving shad plugs like the Rapala JSR 5 near underwater structure like submerged trees. You want a lure which dives to 10-15'. When you hook a crappie, circle back and troll the structure again or work it with crappie jigs. Crappie, like other fish face the wind so it is best to present your lure from upwind to downwind. Because you are fishing structure, you are going to get hung up. Most really big "slab" crappies are caught on trolled plugs.

Just got home from a long weekend at the racetrack. Good one day and bad the next race. Anyway, saw the post about asking me about Collins. I can help you with trout there, but do not know much about the bass and crappie action. I do know what the structure looks like there from seeing this spring with low water. The North East and East areas look real good with rock out croppings, and lots of bushes and trees. The west side north of the campgrounds and cabins has some nice looking areas too. There is a lot of underwater brush right now. I've fished crappie other places and usually use either plastic worms or rattleing type diving lures. A couple years back I was there about this time of year and saw a lot of bedding type looking areas on the east part in the shallows. You might want to try walking across the dam if you don't have boats for the kids. In the south east corner by the dam you might have good bass or crappie luck. Cats are being caught quite a bit now around the dam and camping area. Trout are going deep now from what I hear. Good luck. Post a good report when done.

John, I was just looking at my California Fishing book and it says to fish at dawn & dusk this time of year at Collins. Like Wilderness says do not use a whole worm. Try a small piece or buy some power bait 'crappie bites'. I was watching some dudes from shore at mendo today getting robbed time & time again with whole worms under a bobber. I threw them my bottle of bites & they hooked up a bluegill in seconds.Look for weeds, sumberged brush, or logs. Weeds seem to be best unless you have access to a dock or pier. Hook size depends on the brand & type but say a thin #6 or so. Buy an assortment and experiment. jim

thx everyone for your encouragement and crappie wisdom.
I will add it all to my arsenal and teach it to my kids (and 6 other kids at the camp).
hopefully, they'll be all crapped out with all the constant bites/action.   

Jonathan

The rigs in this article look pretty good http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPageC?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&&mode=article&objectID=32249&objectType=article