Winter Time Crappie Fishing
Wintertime Crappie Fishing is one of the most enjoyable cold day activities out there. The crappie are bunched up in brushpiles and once found can be easily caught using electronics to identify their mood. Dont get me wrong, I love catching em when they go to the bank in several months. However, my perspective is this........I think of the lake as a Motel. The crappie go to the bank and pick individual rooms to carry out their business. If a person can find the room where they are at, then catching those few fish is easy. For myself, I like to go from Motel to Hotel and look for the Hotel lobbies where they are all at and waiting to check into the rooms.I have learned that almost every brushpile has crappie in it, this time of the year; Steep banks, channel banks, flats, channel swings, etc, etc. The mood of the crappie depends on whether they can be caught or not. Utilizing my 2d sonar I will troll over the top of brushpiles and see how they are positioned within the brushpile and therefore what tactic I will use to catch them. Sequence #1 - Conditions - Cloudy and some light wind breaking up the surface water tension:If I can see several crappie down in the brush pile I will drop vertically to them and see if they will chase. The crappie will rarely bite if they are located as shown in the photo. In this case, I left this brush pile and decided to come back once the weather conditions changed.Sequence #2 - Conditions - Clouds are burning off and winds are dying down:When coming back to the brush pile I noticed that the crappie were starting to suspend more towards the top of the brush pile. I dropped vertically and was able to raise a few crappie and catch (2) keepers. The sun was getting higher and the winds was dying down. I left and checked a few more areas and was going to return in an hour or so.Sequence #3 - Conditions - Very Light Winds and High Bright SunshineWhen water temps are where they are, as shown in the pic, crappie seek a comfort level and suspend higher in the water column in order to benefit from the radiant heat. Ive learned that wind and clouds prohibit that and are counterproductive when trying to find active winter time fish. If this sun can not penetrate then the crappie are more comfortable within the bowels of the brush and do not easily come out to feed. I came back to this brushpile and noticed that the crappie had made a move to the top of the cover. I trolled off the cover and made casts with a 1/16 oz jig, counting down 8 seconds, and was able to limit out on the brush pile. I pick my crappie wintertime spots, in sub 50 degree water, based upon staying out of winds, finding the brightest sunshine, and then picking the brushpiles within those areas. This particular brushpile was located in a place where the crappie will be until April, when they only have to swim 30 yds to go to the bank. Youd be surprised as to how shallow of a bank crappie can be this time of the year. However, the shallow "piles" are much more susceptible to conditions. The crappie dont leave the "piles", they just hunker down outta the wind. Try this tactic the next time that you go and see if you can make it work for you and fill up your Basscat livewells with a wintertime dinner delicacy.Thanks,Matt Beckler
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Nice post. I really got into crappie fishing this past Fall and had a blast. Mainly fish bass tourneys but this Fall was all about nice crappie on docks
Puma Jim – Glad you liked it. I love catching them crappie. We should hook up soon if you are in the Ozark area sometime!!!
Very informative! Even me. I have dedicated the last 10 yrs to crappie fishing. Im still learning my electronics I have all but quit bassin. Here in the south I chase the slabs from the end of November to the middle of may and sometimes later. There are good day but do prefer the high blue bird skys. Though have caught caught crappie in 54 degree water in 2ft of water if its murky. Which we will have quite often since Im a old river rat. Thanks for the post!2013 PANTERA 2MERCURY 200 PRO XSMINNKOTA 80LB FORTREX25 fury
Im getting excited about whackin some crappie just talking to yall!!
Just a simply question. I run hds units on front front and back. Even though I think your probably running birds. You can probably answer a question. Wat kind of transducer do you use a front? I understand people have different preferences. I here different thing about different type. My main concerns is the 2d sonar. Though I use my side scan and down scan in conjunction with sonar2013 PANTERA 2MERCURY 200 PRO XSMINNKOTA 80LB FORTREX25 fury
For me the most important thing to have is a transducer with 200/83 capability. I run the xtm9wide
This seems to be a highly overlooked way of catching them, especially in Alabama. It seems most people want to either troll for them or set up around a brush like and cast out a handful of rods. My dad lives on a highland lake in central Alabama and regularly catchy larger than average crappie deeper than 30 from post spawn until around Christmas. He has also hooked several giant largemouth while pulling a crappie up from those depths as well.
Mine is 200/83. I am always playing with different settings comparing if I change a setting. This helps me a great deal. As stated Im still learning my unit though Ive been using my entire fishing carreer. Though learning is on going. But have learned a tremendous amount in the last 5 yrs. Thanks for the input!2013 PANTERA 2MERCURY 200 PRO XSMINNKOTA 80LB FORTREX25 fury
CoosaCat wrote:This seems to be a highly overlooked way of catching them, especially in Alabama. It seems most people want to either troll for them or set up around a brush like and cast out a handful of rods. My dad lives on a highland lake in central Alabama and regularly catchy larger than average crappie deeper than 30 from post spawn until around Christmas. He has also hooked several giant largemouth while pulling a crappie up from those depths as well. You are so correct on this statement. I think crappie react different on different bodies of water.some go Deep. I have found crappie in 10 ft of water in the coldest days bunched like core wood. This is wat makes us better. Being optimistic. Our willingness to to adapt. I will alway try shallow before looking in the depths. IMO I think the slabs will be close to the deep even in the midst of spawn2013 PANTERA 2MERCURY 200 PRO XSMINNKOTA 80LB FORTREX25 fury
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