Night time crappies

[fisherdog19]

A majority of the time I am only able to fish at night (8pm-?) and I'm wondering what you all know about crappie movements at night. The lakes I will fish typically have a dusk bite in the 10-12' range. So, I'm wondering if the crappies will be in the same areas or will move out and suspend at the same dipth but in deeper water. This 10-12' bite has weeds about 2' off the bottom and adjacent deep water only is 16' deep will less weed. Any infor is appreciated.

Fisherdog

[CrappieJohn]

You do not say whether the water is clear or not, but I'll assume thatjudging from the depth and the area in which you are located, that they are at least stained. If your lakes have a mud bottom, a night bite is less likely to be a wild affair. Sand seems to bring the beast out in Crappies at night. Regardless of bottom, look at the fish as having a vertical adgenda: the movements thru a 24 hour period are more up and down in nature than they are horizontally. That doesn't mean that they will not move from side to side, they will. They just do not travel a great distance on that plane. If you know where the fish are hitting in the evening, try sinking some holes in a fair-sized circle around the area, get your rods rigged, and cover that particular water, being sure to fish it thoroughly from top to bottom. Don't be surprised to find the fish a foot under the ice, so be cool on the lighting and the noise from loose gear, etc. In most of the water I fish, staining is the norm and mud bottoms as well. Our fish tend to hit the best that last hour of sunlight. We can still pick up the random fish, but the night bite just doesn't really make it worth staying out very late.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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[7 grand kids]

Crappie Tom, always read your posts with interest. What is your definition of stained water? Being able to see a jig 2 ft? 4ft? Secchi disk readings?

Just curious.

Thanks.

[CrappieJohn]

Stained water is water that has both color and clarity....like coffee or tea. There are varying degree of staining. Generally I consider water with a sicci(?) reading of about four to five feet a stained water. Less than that and I begin to define it as dirty. With winter and an ice cap, even stained water will become somewhat clearer so stained water may seem almost clear. The lake I fish the most for crappies has a very stained water, yet with the lack of rain this past summer I found disc readings down to almost nine feet...don't think that didn't force me to put the thinking cap on when I 82 degree water on the surface and 77 degree water at 19 feet. I cannot remember a tougher year to figure the fish out as last summer. Between the temp and the increased clarity, I honestly think that the clear water made things the most difficult.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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[united jigsticker]

Sounds like you have some pretty decent clarity judging by those weed growths.

Daytime Crappies on clear lakes are tough, especially in winter.

You were right in assuming those Crappies probably being down in the 16 ft of water range during daylight periods.

To entice fish like this, I typically head just off the breakline, and drop down the slowest presentation I can. It takes alot of patience, but my bet is the fish are hugging the bottom during daylight, and the quickest way to get them up is to flutter down a single maggot on a plain hook. For some reason the old Crappies can't resist it...that is if they're present.

Good luck

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[Matt Johnson]

I love nighttime crappies! Always nice to sit with the lantern lit watching the flasher light up like a christmas tree.

So many lakes have excellent crappie bites at dusk and after dark. Some of the best winter fishing for crappies can be during low light periods. Sometimes and on some lakes its like clockwork, right when that sun hits the trees the crappies show up like wildfire, suspended all throughout the water column.

Deadstick a minnow and pound a glow jig packed with euro larvae or Bio Bait. Crappies will often times follow

I would expect that you could find those dusk bite crappies still hanging around the same areas come 8pm. Might have to punch a few more holes in the area but they won't be far. 12 feet of water with weeds on the bottom sounds like a good spot for those early ice crappies. See if you can find any pockets in the weeds, those crappies will often times locate there for periods of time. Also might be good to hit the weed edges and see if crappies are suspended in deeper adjacent water.

During this time of the season I like to find weedlines and follow them out until they flatten for a bit, then I try to locate any new structure on the flat areas like humps, saddles, or bars and see if they have any deep sides. More often then not you will find suspended crappies right off the new structure in deeper water at dusk and after dark. Those crappies will relate to the weeds during the day and afternoon, and then they will move out off the new structure to feed on plankton suspending in the open deeper water at night. And like Tom said, those crappies move vertically a lot during these periods, the plankton rise as do other micro-organisms once light diminishes, and you can find a lot of crappie movements incoordination to the plankton movements. Thats why its not uncommon to see crappies sitting only a few feet below the ice. Drop a jig down amongst the plankton and those feeding crappies will hit.

Good Fishin,
Matt Johnson

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[fisherdog19]

Sorry, the lake I'm refering to is relatively clear, you can see bottom in daylight down to 10 feet or more. The lake itself has some sandbars throughout that come up to about 3 feet of water with 15-16' of deeper water surrounding. The area I, and most other people are fishing is a soft bottom with weeds up 2'. Tom, would you recommend I find sand? There is plenty of sand but its not very deep water. I'll try drilling a bunch of holes around a point in deep and shallow water and see how that goes. Keep the suggestions coming.

Fisherdog

[LOWinEYEin]

Crappie Masters

Best place to find the Slabbers?
When the smaller ones are 2ft below the Ice.

THe pond/lake has weeds,2 sandbars, possible moving water, average depth of 13ft.
I have noticed usually when you get a nice one more follow, which leads me to believe that the crappies school by size. Truth?

[Havin' Fun]

Fisherdog,

Hey, your curiosity is growing about that spot.
You are fishing the right stuff...but keep moving. It's funny how I sat out there night after night not catching anything, or very much...but eventually I found the fish. Somedays they would move though too. It's a gamble out there. That flat is so big that the crappies are scattered all over it, but really stack up in certain areas...but change from night to night. I'm guessing they are following the minnows around. This is why I suggested starting away from the people because the less noise, the better the chances of you finding a bigger group of fish.

On the weed line thing, I've done that out there to some extent, but haven't had much success. Have spent some time searching the basin too, but not much.

Try sliding up a touch shallower. Like 10 feet of water. I was always one of the closer to shore houses out there.

Good luck

[CrappieJohn]

Given the water clarity, I would not attempt the sand unless it is fully dark out. The important thing to remember during hard water is the relationship of the fish to deep water and available cover. As the ice thickens and weeds begin to die and flatten down the fish move accordingly. They will always relate to the deepest water in the immediate area. If you locate some deep stuff with a breakline, try setting up so that one line can cover the deeper water while the other line can be worked right at or just over the lip of the break. I would deadstick the deep one with a small minnow and jig the higher line with either small minnows on a jig or waxies or maggots. You may have to move to follow fish onto a flat to stay in touch with the bite. If you anticipate that happening, drill those holes as soon as you arrive,clear them and then do your deeper holes. You do not want that sort of activity happening as the fish shallow up. A little tid bit here for you to ponder....Crappies have remarkable eyes. They can go from acting as microscopes to being telescopic in an instant. In the clear water you describe, these fish would be able to see very well a 1/64 jig with a single maggot on it at a distance of about thirty-five feet. Given the light-gathering capabilities of thier eyes as well, they can see very well in lighting we would call jet black! If you are with five feet of those fish in any direction during the night, all they need is to feel a tiny vibration (jigging action or minnow swimming)to help zero in on the baits visually. And that is what the ultra sensitive lateral-line is for. Just because a locator shows no fish in that depth of water is no indication whatever that they are not in the area...you need to fish everything, every hole thoroughly . I would start fairly deep on one rod, cover the water column with the other, be prepared to make moves noiselessly, and be persistant. As the night wears on you may well find yourself on that sand; however, starting there is not a good way to begin unless you know that they are there with consistency.

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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[united jigsticker]

If you got some energy, find the bottom transition area, within some structure if possible, and search on both sides of it.

I won't throw out a geneal rule of thumb on this scenerio as far as if the fish should be in the soft or the hard areas, because I have seen both too many times to detirmine.

They could be on either one, but odds favor they won't be too far off that transition line, and your efforts may be greatly narrowed and your fish catching odds vastly increased once in those types of areas..

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Good fishing,
UJ
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[fisherdog19]

Boy, that's a lot of information to digest. Hammer, I was Wednesday night from 8:30pm until 1am and got 3 crappies and all the sunnies I wanted. I did not move at all as I was feeling lazy that evening. Fished in 13 feet of water amidst all the houses, but they were all empty. Next time out I'll drill holes from 8' out to 15' and see what happens. I looked at the map quite extensively and found a funnel area of 15' with a submerged island coming up to 5' on one side and a shoreline break/contour going up to 5' or less of water on the other. If I can find that spot I think it would be a good area to try. You wouldn't happen to have coordinates for it? Its off the Southeast point of the lake going into the bay that has the river outflow, accross from the bowling alley. I'll give a report next time I get out, and thanks for all the input guys. This is only my second season ice fishing and I usually target walleyes and muskie during the soft water season but would like to learn how to find more slabs as I enjoy fishing for them, not to mention that they are my favorite fish for the table.

Fisherdog

[CrappieJohn]

Fisherdog...You may have just found a gold mine! Most lakes in the stae are mapped in one way or another and those maps are the surest tool for finding what you need before even hitting the there is ice!

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Sure life happens- why wait....The Crapster....good fishing guys!
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[jlm]

Can you guys talk a little bit about the weed growth. I fish a small lake that has a tremendous amount of weed growth in the Summer in all the shallow bays. Before the weeds choke them out, the bays hold all the crappies in the Spring and early Summer. The water is stained with a visibility of about 6 or 7 feet. There is a 40 foot hole (on the main lake) that most people fish in the Winter and they do ok but the fish tend to run much smaller in this area. Is it possible that the larger slabs move back into these bays when the weeds begin to die off? One bay in particular had lots of wood structure and has deeper pockets from the beavers. Do you think it would be worth setting up in the shallow bay areas at all or am I better off sticking to the suspended fish in the deep holes. As far as I know the lake is mostly a mud bottom. Any help would be great guys and thanks in advance!