3 Ways to Find Crappies Anywhere

Crappie fishing can be a challenge through the ice, especially when compared to sunny spring days when the shallows were alive, and bobbers dropped with regularity. Rather than swinging specks into the boat, you’re now swinging a bucket by your side as you attempt to find them in what looks like a sea of white.

This time, you’re a bit more limited in your mobility than you were in the boat, making everything from getting to the spot, to drilling a hole and fishing it that much more difficult.

That’s before we’ve even decided where to fish, which can also present its frustrations given that no lakes are ever the same, and some places just don’t have classic natural basins and big schools of roaming crappies. That’s why it’s helpful to have a few patterns in your back pocket to address common lake types or waterbodies where you fish, such that no matter where you are, you have a few tools to find them. The key is interpreting lake types and common, likely locations during prime times of the year to find active schools of hungry fish.

Natural Lakes: Deepwater Basin Crappies

During late fall, crappies will start to congregate in deep basins in many natural lakes. These spots can be anything from a small, teardrop-shape, but deep depression off the main lake, or on edges or inside pockets and turns of main-lake basins. Call it the most classic of crappie patterns, this bite is the one that ice shantytowns are known for. Often by midwinter, groups of anglers will gather in these large community spots, with fish to be had — especially around the edges. Yet, if you head out in a boat at the end of fall to find fish with side imaging and other electronics, it’s much easier to be the first to drop on them when ice finally comes to your favorite lake.

When you’re drilling to find fish, keep in mind that crappies can be anywhere in basins that are frequently 30 to 70 feet deep. Usually, crappies will show up in schools on electronics, somewhere between 15 and 30 feet below the ice. It’s typical for these fish to segregate based on size or even activity level, so it pays to have a strategy for where you’re targeting these fish. Often, catching them isn’t the problem, but catching quality fish can be. For that reason, it pays to focus on your presentation.

I like to start with an aggressive presentation for crappies, like a 1/16-ounce flutter spoon tipped with a minnow head, waxworm or eurolarvae. If fish approach but will not bite, I’ll have another rod ready to drop with a 1/16-ounce tungsten jig and plastic combination. From there, the presentations get smaller and move more progressively toward live bait. Crappies are effective low-light eaters in these situations, so it pays to fish the last two hours of daylight, as well as the first, with the early morning hours seeing far less hole-drilling activity. People and vehicles on top of the ice, and also drilling through the ice, can move these fish around, so fishing them during the week or morning hours can certainly pay dividends with less pressure. Although the locations can be well defined, it’s typical that a small jog in the contours, or change in bottom content can hold most of the fish, so it’s best to look around before dropping down and waiting them out.

Shallow Water Natural Lakes: Weed-Pattern Crappies

These can be some of the more frustrating crappies to target, as they can be everywhere and nowhere all at once. In broad lakes with vast, monotonous depth ranges and little to no fish-holding structure, weeds become crappie havens. Although not just any weeds hold good crappie populations, cabbage and coontail varieties being the most attractive aquatic plants. These fish can focus their efforts on minnows, meaning that edges alongside broad openings where schools of minnow species roam can be prime real estate. However, these crappies often focus on bugs, which is true with everything from river backwaters to prairie lakes where depths rarely get past 10 feet.  

3 Ways to Find Crappies Anywhere
Photo courtesy of Jiffy ice Drills. © Media 360 LLC

These fish can be found on broad weed flats, and are often more of a sit-and-wait affair. When water clarity allows, it’s preferable to sight-fish them, during all parts of the season, but especially in the later part of the year. That involves fishing usually a small jig and plastic combination not far below the ice in rather shallow water, as you stay toward the back part of your chair and look for approaching crappies. Again, low-light periods are times when these fish become more comfortable roamers, although in shallow lakes with heavy bass and pike populations, I’ve encountered weedy crappies that never get going until well after dark. Crappies in the winter are notorious late-night biters, so don’t write off a particular water body until you’ve tried it after dark, as certain lakes and backwater areas can be night-only affairs.

When fishing during the day and in hunt mode, I prefer a 1/16-ounce rattle spoon like the Northland Buckshot to actively attract fish to my location. That’s especially true when fishing dingy or stained sloughs that really green up in the summer. These fish can be active predators, rather unafraid to hit lipless crankbaits when sized appropriately, or larger spoons typically reserved for walleye fishing.

In these locations, the challenge is them finding your lure, so roam far and wide, fishing active presentations until you pluck one from the relatively shallow depths. Often, more are not far behind. Keep in mind that these presentations should be pulled back in favor of more finesse approaches as water clarity improves. That’s also where a camera comes in handy to identify green weeds and study crappie behavior. During a really tough bite, watching them eat before setting the hook can be the only way to bring one topside.

Reservoir Crappies

Some of the best locations to fish crappies across the Ice Belt are on large reservoirs, but that makes for a great deal of water to dissect and even more species to sift through. Anglers are rewarded with everything from white bass to catfish when tackling reservoir crappies, making them hard to identify on traditional flashers and other electronics. Again, this is where an underwater camera can pay huge dividends — if the water clarity allows for proper viewing. The process is simple. Locate fish with standard sonar, Livescope or other side-viewing electronics, then drop a camera to confirm. I’ve seen everything from herds of small sheepshead, to balls of bullheads that may have been mistaken for crappies, so it pays to give a look before settling in on the mother lode.

Classic locations for winter reservoir crappies include deep water along sheer rock walls, the backside of points that block flow and create an eddy effect, or even the main channel provided winter flows are regulated at the dam end of the lake. Deep-water fish usually mark well on traditional flashers, making them easier pickings for the average angler, but that’s also where a good number of folks will look. That makes out-of-the-way schools of unfettered fish a bigger premium and more fun to target. Typically, you’ll have those fish to yourself, as well as the main channel fish, so it’s always a good idea to find your own bite versus settling in on Shantytown, U.S.A.

3 Ways to Find Crappies Anywhere
Photo courtesy of Matt Addington. © Media 360 LLC

When tackling midchannel fish, situate yourself along the edge of a particularly weedy or timber-filled flat. Good cover provides ample forage for nearby fish to come into and out of, even when fishing away from it in the main channel. Focus on fish you see at the same depth level as the nearby flat, as these are often crappies that swam off the edge and over the channel horizontally at the same depth range. While a number of species will do this, I find that crappies do it in greater regularity when fishing areas with a defined, hard channel meandering through vast acres of shallow surrounding water.

Don’t hesitate to fish points and other current breaks, especially on the deeper back-end side, as crappies during this time of the year in a reservoir can be eating anything from bloodworms to balls of shad, pending your specific location. It never hurts to clean a few fish and determine popular forage so that you can switch up your baits accordingly. For example, a bloodworm bite has me fishing very near the bottom with dark jig and plastic combinations. But a minnow bite means I’ll drop more spoons or even small jig and crappie minnow sets on bobbers or rattle reels.

Catching More Crappies

Winter crappies are fish of details, and this translates down to your equipment and tackle. Light line, often fluorocarbon, is preferred when trying to get these finicky fish to commit. Similarly, colors can be a big factor in success, and you’ll know either your lure type or its color is not in favor with repeated snubs as identified by an underwater camera or flasher. Consider dark lure colors, even black, when bites get especially finicky, and also work toward progressively smaller baits. If you’re not using an underwater camera to detect bites, invest in a spring bobber setup as seen on St. Croix’s Legend Black rods or a similar system, since you’ll need to detect “up-hits” and standard “down-hits” in order to catch them when especially finicky.  

Remember to match where you fish to standard practices for those locations. Crappies can inhabit a wide range of depths, cover and structure, making them a challenging species to offer prescriptive advice. So, often their location and feeding habits center around what type of water you’re fishing. Break down your water while considering deep, shallow and reservoir patterns to tackle your quarry depending on where you fish, and you’ll already be a few steps ahead of them.

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