A Three-day, Three-lake Crappie Fest

The 2013 PA Crappie Camp has been put to "bed" following a three day blitz by outdoor media and crappie pros from Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania on three Western Pennsylvania lakes - Pymatuning, Conneaut and Shenango.

Spider-rigging

This year's Crappie Camp can be compared to the nursery rhythm of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  On Day one, the weather was too cold. (We had snow flurries the two preceding days!) On Day Two it was too windy. (Did I mention squall lines with thunder and lightning?)  But on Day Three, the weather was just perfect. (Okay, at 80-degrees-plus, it was a tad too hot - but no one was going to complain!)

Yet given the unsettled and unseasonable weather, a Camp Hero came through each day. 

Russ Bailey

Bryan Stuyvesant

At Pymatuning, Russ "Calico" Bailey of Mid-West Crappie TV provided instruction on how to catch tight-lipped black crappies with a long pole and 1/48-oz. jig from shallow pad beds.

Over at Conneaut Lake, local angler Bryan "Crappie King" Stuyvesant proved it is possible to catch monster black crappies that had suspended off the weedbeds due to post-frontal conditions.

During Day Three on Shenango River Lake, Crappie Now publisher Dan "Spiderman" Dannenmueller pulled off a remarkable catch of closed-mouth black and white crappies from brushpiles in 12 to 15 feet of water by spider-rigging.

TJ Stallins, Vic Attardo and Dan Dannenmueller (seated)

Although faced with extreme weather conditions, specialized contributions by exceptional anglers helped make the 2013 PA Crappie Camp a story-gathering and photo-collecting success.  Watch for details on how it was done in future articles from media attendees Jeff Samsel, Vic Attardo, Bill Decoteau, Jeff Frischkorn, Larry Claypool, John Hayes, TJ Stallings and others.