late october crappie?

[bgreen82]

probably gonna get the boat out one last time tomorrow, looking to run the gas out and hopefully try for some crappies on a east metro lake. where they at this time of year. i rarely target them when it's not winter or early spring.

[Borch]

Look in those deeper basin areas where you find them first ice.

[riverrat56]

I've had late fall luck catching crappies on steep breaks that top out into a relativly shallow flat around 8-10' and drop into 20'+. During daylight fish off the breaks but if you stay out till the sun starts to drop start moving up into the shallower water and drift jigs.

Also a good way to pick off a few walleyes

[hydro]

I agree on the "First Ice" comment. I was out yesterday on a west metro lake and did well. I covered a large flat of 18'-21' water that could be called the "basin" of that part of the lake. Crappie were scattered in small schools over a large area. Keep moving but painfully slow, Keep a jig/minnow at the depth that you see the fish, and you should do well. This pattern will continue until freeze up.

[half-dutch]

I've had late fall luck catching crappies on steep breaks that top out into a relativly shallow flat around 8-10' and drop into 20'+. During daylight fish off the breaks but if you stay out till the sun starts to drop start moving up into the shallower water and drift jigs.

Also a good way to pick off a few walleyes

If there is still a dock or two spanning the weedline, all the better. They can be magnets all year and especially good around now. And prime time it is. It can be like throwing a light switch. Try casting or drifting little jigs and tubes or twisters. Slow retrieves or slow lifts and drops; sometimes a totally vertical virtually dead stick with an occasional twitch or slow lift and settle. A lot of crappies will come off the bottom in these spots, but move up in the water column when they turn on in prime time.

[Luck e 1]

I agree with these posts. I usually find the break into the deep basin...so if the basin bottoms out at 25, I try to stay on the break into 25-20ft of water.

I have actually done better anchoring on the break and putting my LX-3 over the side of the boat. It is like ice fishing...

I always feel like i don't know how deep I am fishing when I drift. Am I a foot off? Or am I five feet off? When you anchor I seem to have more control.

Schools of fish seem to move and I always did better sitting and waiting, only because you have to move so slow to keep your tiny jigs about a foot off the bottom.

THere is actually a good article in In-Fisherman this last issue about this.

One thing they suggest is a three way rigs and a tiny crank...almost like walleye fishing. But then when you find a few fish they say to go vertical like I mentioned above.

Its funny though...I have had great luck doing this on the Chippewa Flowage in NW wisconsin...but tried it the other day on the St. Croix river with no luck (that was my first time open water fishing the Croix).

[slab master]

I've been fishing around the deepest hole in the lake wich is about 72 feet deep and they have been suspended about 10-20 feet off the bottom over 55 to 63 feet of water. I will usually look for the bigger schools for the better bite and bigger fish. when you fish this deep what comes up don't go back down so you can't be to selective on the size.but if you use 1/4 ounce fireballs and fathead minnows that should not be a problem.

[hydro]

Just a couple of things to add to my post above.

1. Once I find the fish, I throw out a float to give a visual reference point, then work the area with the bow trolling motor. I try to move slow enough that I can keep my line vertical and be able to contact the bottom on the drop. If the fish are suspended a few feet up, I just raise the rod tip.

2. I have noticed that once I move over a few fish, I can come back a while later and they will be within a few feet of where they were the first pass (here is where the float comes in handy). They will move a bit but not very much. All in All, it really is a lot like ice fishing, but from an almost stationary boat. I never anchor because I want to move about among the scattered small schools of fish.

[half-dutch]

I've been fishing around the deepest hole in the lake wich is about 72 feet deep and they have been suspended about 10-20 feet off the bottom over 55 to 63 feet of water. I will usually look for the bigger schools for the better bite and bigger fish. when you fish this deep what comes up don't go back down so you can't be to selective on the size.but if you use 1/4 ounce fireballs and fathead minnows that should not be a problem.

I never go that deep for crappies in part because like is said above deep crappies have to be kept because they do not recover when released. There is no question that a lot of crappies will go to the deep basin in colder weather, but never all of them. There is another much shallower pattern that is working right now. That is prime time in and around the outside weedline and often into it. Some of those shallower concentration points will continue to produce crappies all year around.

A lot of recent bite for us has been shallow enough that we see the flash of the take and watch the jig disappear. We worked a shallow pattern all last winter resulting in hundreds of released fish between the two of us, never going over about 12 feet deep. We have been working a similar one now since rain has raised the lake levels to enable the shallower breaks to be suitable for fish again. Catch and release can be a numbers game and right now the shallow numbers are there. If you get the point on the point right, they will likely be there all winter, too. In addition to highly mobile schools of crappies, there are some that are very resident. I had a pile of half hearted takes tonight and missed quite a few, but still ended up with 7 landed and released for about 2 hours fishing. I will be back there tomorrow evening, too. Some times the fish are quite scattered and you have to move around the spots some, others the same spot will produce fish after fish. Tomorrow, we are about due for another concentrated bite.

[bgreen82]

had a half day yesterday so i bundled up and got out. was on the water for maybe an hour and a half,and picked up a few small fish(gills and crappies) along with a couple between 9.5 and 10. gonna get out again before the vikes game on sunday and refine my search. good time though considering.

[Luck e 1]

I went out Friday, sat, sunday for crappies while everyone else was chasing deer.

Found the deep basins and anchored right on the break from deep to shallow. Threw my lx3 overboard and basically ice fished for them. We did pretty good. For the two of us for a couple days we ended up keeping 30 fish mostly in the 10inch range. Probably threw back another 15. I love late fall crappie fishing, and the best part is my dad and I could go back and have a nice dinner and make a bonfire with a glass of a nice...pop...yeah thats it...pop.