? about Crappies

[kingkidfisher4431]

How much will they move from a good summer place to when ice is here? Because on our old lake we would kill crappies on one shoreline in the summer but see all the icehouses on other side of lake about a mile away during winter? Just curious... Or should we keep trying summer place in hope of hammering the craps?Thanks for input!!!

[Matt Johnson]

It's not uncommon to see crappies make big moves from summer to early ice. Crappies will typically make a fall migration and relocate from late summer to early winter. Often times, some of your classic summer spots turn sour come first ice, and you might find crappies in unlikely places. Keep track of where the crappies were during late summer and into fall. See if you can find a pattern developing and locate them again in late fall. Where you find the crappies in late fall is usually close to where you can have success come first ice...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[CrappieJohn]

Every body of water will present a different situation. There may be striking similarities between many waters, but the differences are there. This is where knowing the lake is very beneficial.

To make my point, I fish a local body of water very hard from late ice until ice up. During the dead of summer and winter alike, the crappies are found in the same general area of very deep water. In the spring months and fall months they are found in very similar areas for those times of the year. In the early fall while water temps are still quite high the crappies are easy to find in the summer waters , but somewhat shallower. As the fall months progress and water temps decline the fish move to areas which are commonly much shallower, relating heavily on emergent and submerged structure: weeds, wood, rocks, etc. When the fall water has dropped down into the 40"s, these fish will slowly begin to shift back to the deeper water where they were found in the summer, but instead of having, or making, horizontal movements in the water column they begin to do so in a vertical manner. They will be found on the fringe areas of the deepest water by early ice and will gradually shift into the deepest as winter progresses. About February one can start to snoop around where they were getting fish at ealy ice. Thick ice, lack of sunlight penetration, and declining levels of dissolved oxygen force these fish to move back into the slightly shallower water.

The distance traveled by these crappies is seldom more than a mile. But it shows how following the fishs' movements will be a deciding factor in keeping yourself busy removing fish from hooks.

Winter fishing spots are, or tend to be, historic. The mile you speak of is not that far really. Stay with the masses to get yourself on track. If you find yourself among the shacks and things start to dwindle after a few weeks and people begin to resettle elsewhere on the lake, don't be afraid to follow them....especially if the shacks stay put and you see daily activity there. One of the best ways to get back into fish is to wander over to where things seem busy, go knock on a couple doors and ask how the bite has been. If they invite you in, do the usual jaw jacking and be sure to comment on the locator...how nifty it appears to work. Ask some questions about it. And pay particular attention to the depth of water they are in. When you leave all you need do is to stay in the same general area and in the same depth of water. Granted , the other guys might be right on top of a main-lake hump and no room around for setting up is available. The point is that if the fish are hitting at a particular depth over a particular depth of water, there is a fair chance that they will hit in similar water within this general area.

Buy a map of the lake you fish. Mark the places where the shacks appear and date these spots. If you have a gps, benchmark these spots as well. Start logging your fishing trips....keep it simple and just put down the date, where you fished, and the number of fish taken. This will provide a chronological timeline for you to use in the future.

[delmuts]

great info guys! del

[Corey Bechtold]

Too.....much.....info.....Brain....can't....compute....

A lot of good info here Guys.

Good Luck

Corey Bechtold

[kingkidfisher4431]

Thanks alot guys! It really helps. The lake i was thinking about fishing that we had a cabin on during the summer was Island Lake near Sturgeon Lake. I always see the guys in this one spot over winter but know theres got to be crappies on the other side of the lake? So im thinking about getting a map marking some spots and trying to find them using vex. So thanks alot for the info again and any more on how to be succesful in early to mid ice would be much appreciated!

[augernaut]

Is it pretty safe to assume that in most bodies of water, you won't find crappies in shallow weed cover (4-10 FOW) during the winter months? I haven't spent alot of time chasing them, and want to do more. I never seem to catch many when gill hunting in shallow weeds - even at primetime (dusk). Are these fish hanging somewhere between the shallow weeds and the deep holes during early ice, then moving over deep holes at midwinter???

[Matt Johnson]

You can find crappies in the shallow weeds. But, you are right, bluegills will dominate those areas during daytime.

Crappies are less known to be "bully" fish, where bluegills will over-run the crappies and you might think that the crappies are not there, but they actually are. If you get a chance, drop a camera down some of the those spots and just watch whats going on, you will see a lot of crappies roam through as well, and some of them are suprising large.

It is true however, that you typically find crappies relating to deeper water than bluegills during the winter, but don't bypass the weeds at early ice when searching for crappies. I like to fish right up inside the weeds. When I drill a hole I like to see bits and pieces of weeds coming up through the hole at early ice. Now, this doesn't mean that the weeds are touching the bottom of the ice, but it means that I'm in the area where weeds are thicker and vegetation is all around me.

If you don't feel confident fishing in the weeds, try the weedline/weededge. Crappies will be found on the weededges come sundown, as well as sunrise. At this time, those crappies become opportunistic feeders and will take advantage of their "night vision." Micro-organisms come out to play, as do minnows, and crappies always seem to join the party. Pockets in the shallow weeds can be really good too. Depths from 3-6 feet are not uncommon, and usually you can find a decent daytime bite for crappies in those areas out on stained lakes.

Weeds are important at early ice, and they seem to draw in all different types of species, big and small...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[augernaut]

I love to fish gills right up in the weeds - sight fishing them that way is a ball. you are right in that the gills will bully the crappie. At primetime, do you find the crappie relating more to the weedlines, or do they they still remain active inside the weedbeds at early ice? And when they vacate the shallows, do they immediately hit the deep water, or do they stage in between on dropoffs?

[CrappieJohn]

As winter progresses, ice depth increases and the snow pack thickens...both of which will cause the weeds to die off. As this begins to happen, the movement of the crappies will begin when there becomes less to hold them and the minnow forage. It will not be an over night exodus, but the shift can be as little as a couple day type thing.

Matt has mentioned the creepy crawlers that like to come out and play during low light periods. Light is one of the limiting factors in the lives of these creatures and becomes an important part of finding your crappies a bit later on....when they shift to the deeper water.

When the weeds begin to fail as holding structure for the crappies, the fish will seek the deeper water. Not necessarily the deepest water in the lake will be sought, but,rather, the deepest water in the immediate area where the crappies had been found. The forage for crappies is still minnows with some bugs tossed in. The minnows themselves consider the bug-life their primary forage and will go to where that best satisfies their needs. Since much of the insect activity is controlled by available light (or lack of), deeper water is the logical place to look. When the crappies do get into the deeper water, you will see a shift to spree feeding in the low-light periods during the day with often-times a phenominal night bite. You will also see the food preferences take a subtle shift from minnows to insects as the daylight dwindles in the evening and the opposite happen in the wee hours of the morning as things lighten up. Really overcast days can produce some outstanding fishing when the fish are deep.

Deep water does not mean that the bite will be deep. It is not uncommon to find inactive crappies within a foot of the bottom in 32 feet of water at 2 in the afternoon only to find them hitting baits set at 9 feet at four oclock. The crappies are food driven eating machines, are opportunistic feeders, and follow food sources where they are most prolific. I have seen where the bottom 4 feet of the screen on a flsher will be an absolute haze with bug activity, but a sign of a crappie until you get up above that fog where either larger bugs are feeding on the small ones or minnows are feeding on the small stuff. The crappies will concentrate in areas where these microscopic insects flourish, not to feed on them, but to feed on the larger insects and minnow life that do. The larger bugs and minnows become easy prey while feeding and their defenses are compromised. As I stated, crappies are opportunists.

What you are seeing here for answers to your original question Kingkidfisher... are an awful lot of generalities. Not all of these replies will pertain to where you are fishing. The best thing you can do is to not get tucked into a pocket of houses for the winter when only an occasional fish is being caught. Go check out around those three or four houses that are set apart from the others, but if there is a solid bite taking place where you are at, you wouldn't want to move from there. Get a map of the lake and really study it. Deep points, sharp drops/drop-offs, feeder creeks with deeper water nearby can become gold mines for fishing even if there is nobody else there. Challenge yourself.

[Matt Johnson]

I find my crappies during sundown more out from (relatively speaking) the thick weeds. The smaller fish will generally still hold in the weeds, or tight to the weededge. This is mostly because the smaller fish are still holding onto whatever cover they can, even though the predator relation might not be as much of a factor come sundown. The larger crappies however, look at this as their time to shine. It's not uncommon to find crappies suspended just off the nearest break from the weeds once the sun hits the trees. You will see them suspended at the same depth as the where the weeds are. So for example, if your weeds are sitting in say 7 feet of water, and you have a nearby drop-off that goes down to 15 feet, you will find those crappies holding at about 8 feet off the bottom, give or take a little. Why that is, I'm not totally sure, but I've found that to be the case more often then not. They seem to like that level of the water column where the weedflat is. What I think happens it that forage comes out from the weeds and they have no where to go. Another big factor I think contributes to that is the fact that often times at the bottom the drop-off, you have a change in bottom content, and it is often softer or loose, and micro-organisms will hold in the soil/bottom and once the sun goes down they begin to rise. This happens all the time on mud flats and such. So, those big crappies are out there feeding on an easy meal. I mean how hard can it be, a million tiny pieces of candy free-floating in the water, its just just too easy for them crappies

So, to answer your question , I would check the nearby deeper water and see if you can locate some slabs out there come sundown. Make sure you punch your holes prior to when the sun goes down, that way you are not spooking any fish by punching holes when prime time rolls around. But, even though there is nearby deeper water, still keep in eye on the shallower, weedy areas.

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[augernaut]

Matt, that's the game plan I have in my head :-) Now, I just need to spend some time chasing those little buggers. I LOVE crappie, but I just haven't put a lot of time into them - that will change this season :-)

[The Grebe]

I've got a pretty good sized gourd, but if I tried to retain all the excellent information that you guys put into these posts, I'm sure my mellon would explode!

If I can even retain some of it, which I will, I will be a much better fisherman and catcherman!

Now I have to go and find some ice somewhere? Tried a couple of places and they were to spooky to be messing around with (I'm solo today, casino bagged the nephew!) might have to book up to Kannebec county?