Until the shallows warm up enough for nest building, crappies stage along the first drop-off from the spawning grounds and make forays into the shallows to feed see map above. Changing weather conditions, which is typical for the early spring, will often push them up shallow on mild days and force them back during cooling trends.
Very often a swimming retrieve with something like a Northland Mimic Minnow Fry above allows an angler to pick off aggressive fish near the edge of or overtop the school without disrupting the pod. In murky water, it never hurts to add some flash to the offering with a chin-spinner jig such as a Thumper Crappie King below and if a less lively presentation is needed, dangle a jig tipped with a live minnow, or a basic hook-and-minnow, under a slip float just above the school.
Males move into the spawning shallows and begin building nests when the water temp reaches the low 60s, and spawning activity usually peaks when it approaches 70 degrees. While individual female fish may remain in the spawning grounds a day or two, retiring to deeper cover after depositing their eggs, males hang around to guard the nest and fry.
Again, swimming a jig tipped with a curly tail, paddle tail or tube body through reeds, pads or brush may be the presentation of the day for crappies about to spawn or tending nests. If not, try slowly moving a jig under a fixed float along the edges of the cover.
If spawning habitat is limited, crappies from different areas of the lake may wash over it in waves. This might leave the impression that the spawn is a long drawn-out affair for individual fish, but that isn't the case. Each individual female generally finishes her duties within a day. Spawning concludes as females move to post-spawn positions. In a natural lake, weededges along dropoffs usually key location. In reservoirs, crappies move to timber or brush cover along creek channels in major creek arms.
Post hatch, males may remain several days to guard the fry eventually moving to deeper cover to group with females. Fry feed on zooplankton in the shallows, ultimately transitioning to open water where they drift for the first summer, continuing to feed on zooplankton and other invertebrates, or even small fish depending on how big the young crappies are.
Photo: Eric Engbretson. Look to catch spawning crappies nearshore and relatively shallow. Patches of bulrushes, sedge, and maindencane collectively known as reeds in 2 to 5 feet of water are common in natural lakes.
Reeds attract spawning crappies because they provide cover and grow in ideal substrates. Hunt early spawners in canals dug for boat slips. Check bays and other backwaters before moving to the main lake or reservoir. These areas are usually protected from wind and often have appropriate depth, cover, and bottom type for crappie spawning.
Note prevailing winds. Northside coves and bays are generally more protected, but check the south side, too. Reach crappies at the edge of emergent vegetation with spinning tackle and small jigs. Longer rods with light tip actions cast tiny jigs well, yet provide power to lead big crappies away from thick cover.
Cast jigs into reeds and swim them back slowly, keeping your rod tip high to keep the lure moving along off bottom. Marabou and hair jigs remain staples in white, pink and chartreuse, as are jigheads paired with softbaits like curlytail plastics and tubes in the same colors.
Mini swimbaits are emerging as other top options. If crappies are shying from a fast swimming bait, try fishing the jig under a small float, either a slipbobber or fixed float, to keep the jig in the strike zone longer.
Retrieve the float a foot to swim the jig then pause, letting the jig slowly settle. Another float pairing is a minnow presented on an Aberdeen hook with a small splitshot pinched about 8 inches to a foot above the bait.
Crappies spawning in interior sections of thick weed patches are often plentiful but hard to reach and overlooked. To reach these crappies, use long rods, telescoping and multi-piece versions, to dabble jigs and livebaits into weed pockets. Position the bait beside individual reeds and on or near crappie nests.
Methodically work over multiple spots, as bedding fish may not move far to strike a lure. Reservoirs are often too murky to see fish on beds, so search areas that should attract spawning crappies — water in the 2- to 5-foot zone with cover, along with protection from wind.
Keep moving until you locate fish. If you aren't catching crappies where you are, the brushpile or submerged tree 50 yards down the bank could be loaded with fish. Shoreline and submerged brush make ideal spawning cover, and stumps and snags also attract spawners. Traditional slipfloat methods using split shot to drop livebaits into brush and to vertically probe adjacent to snags and stumps with jigs are time-tested methods in impoundments.
Use a trolling motor to fish from stump to stump in upper reaches of timber-filled creek arms and bays. Swimming presentations also can be top options.
A tough 6- to 8-pound line allows the hook to straighten when snagged. The flash from a small inline spinner or safety-pin style spinnerbait such as a Beetlespin can be irresistible to aggressive males. Fish them along weed- and woodcover and over brush. Like other swimming lures, spinners make for excellent search lures over vast shallow flats, stumpfields, and for locating bedding fish along shorelines.
Concentrations of spawning crappies combined with their aggressive nature this season often bring limit catches. Where crappies overpopulate, keeping what you catch is often best for the fishery. Yet quality crappie populations can be vulnerable to overharvest, particularly in infertile waters and those with marginal habitats, or where a single strong year-class makes up the bulk of the fishery.
It's not unheard of for a crappie population's annual sustainable harvest to be surpassed even before spring ends. What's more, many of the daily bag limits for crappies today aren't low enough to decrease harvest enough in situations where it needs to be substantially reduced. One more crappie in hand, and you're literally left "holding the bag" about which and how many fish to keep. Release the largest crappies, keeping enough smaller ones for a meal or two. It's all about selective harvest.
It's all about the future of crappietime. To tell if a crappie is actively spawning, hold it on it's back and run your thumb and index finger from just behind the gills to the vent.
Use moderate pressure and repeat 3 to 4 times. Spawning males readily release milt, a milky white fluid. Females emit eggs only if close to ovulation or actively spawning. Prespawn fish look plump, but won't release eggs or sperm. Post-spawn fish look thin and ragged and may have swollen vents. This will draw Crappie from deeper locations and get them feeding closer to the surface. Another tactic is to find the thermocline on your lake, river, or pond. A thermocline is a drastic change in water temperature and gradient.
For example, during the hot summer months, the water on the surface may be 80 degrees Fahrenheit. But 15 feet deep the water may be 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This change happens at a specific depth and will very often hold Crappie. Depth finders and fish finders often have settings to find the thermocline. Throughout the summertime, Crappie will move from shallow to the middle, to deep water depths as the weather patterns change and the thermocline changes. As the water temperature begins to cool with the onset of Fall weather, the days will shorten and this can make for fantastic Crappie fishing.
This is a period of transition for Crappie and a time when all fish are feeding heavily on baitfish and other forage from the summer months. You may have to work a little harder this time of year to locate Crappie, as they will be transitioning from deep summer basins into mid-depth ranges. Try focusing on points, troughs, submerged river beds and creek mouths. Crappie are on the move, feeding heavily and very active this time of year! Keep a close eye on the weather this time of year; big storms and weather patterns can really influence fishing.
Any drop in barometric pressure, or low pressure system is great for making stubborn crappie bite. I love fishing before a big storm front or just after the rain!
Some Crappie fisherman will tell you that actually the winter or pre-spawn months is the best time of year to catch crappie. They are beginning to gather up into larger schools to prepare for the spawn.
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