Deep Water Crappie Action

[united jigsticker]

Most people who fish Crappies this time of year head out expecting one thing: shallow water action.

But as we have all found out, the weather and “Ma’ Nature” don’t always make the conditions conducive for active shallow water fishing.

While not finding any biters up shallow doesn’t always indicate that the fish aren’t there, it can, however, make for some pretty tough non-action, and thus, not a lot of fun for the anglers.

In these situations, a fisher folk has to follow that old adage. “They’re either in the shallows, in the deep, or somewhere in between.”

We’ve tried the shallows. No takers.

Now what?

For me, it’s time to crank up the electronics and seek out those deep water staging fish.

These might be fish that haven’t made a move to the shallow water yet, or could be fish that moved in during more favorable weather, and said “The heck with this…we’re outta here!” when the cold rain and wind settled in and dropped surface temps as much as 7-8 degrees, and moved out to “greener pastures”.

Ok, so now we’re gonna target some deeper Crappies. Just how do we go about doing this?

Well, in some instances, actually finding the fish when they have pushed deeper can be a lot easier.

Now, rather then trolling along a weed line and fan-casting a hair-jig and minnow combo underneath a float, or plastics on a tight line in seek of a school of fish, you are watching your sonar for the school. This can eliminate a lot of water fast, as the fish can be schooled up and easy to spot.

I’ll start with the first significant break-line off the classic shallow water holding spot. This area might be a deep weed edge off a shallow water flat, or a steeper breakline leading to a mid depth shelf. Typically I’m looking for fish in the 8-12 foot of water range.

These fish may not always be suspended high, so I’m gonna keep the gain low on my sonar to help seek out the fish that are hugging the bottom, and also decipher between possible deeper weed growth and actual fish signals.

If I find some fish, I try to keep the approach similar to what I would use on the shallow fish. I might size down a bit, or slow my approach if I am not getting much cooperation, but I try to keep the tactics much like what I’d be using in the shallows. These fish aren’t far off from where they were before the front pushed them off, so drastic changes in presentation aren‘t typically needed.

If this still doesn’t work, I might go with a live bait set-up and change the profile of my lure. If I was using feather jigs, I’d probably switch it up with some of my terminal ice tackle that holds a larger profile, and tip it with a minnow through the head. Or, I would go with a softer plastic that wiggles freely with the motion of the waves.

If plastics were already my shallow water tool, I would stay with them, but try a different profile, color, or size to trigger that strike.

But, if the fish aren’t there and didn’t just slide off their shallow water haunt into the next depth range, I have to go deeper yet.

Now we’re looking in the 12-20 foot depth range. These fish may also be hugging the bottom tight, but most likely will be found sitting up slightly, if even just a foot or so off the bottom.

These fish are probably going to be schooled a bit tighter then those that would be sitting just off the shallower water, so it might be best to throw a marker for reference, but be careful to throw it away from the school as to not spook them.

The first technique I use here is to vertical jig them. This is tight lining it without a bobber.

I’ll try keep my line as vertical to the jig as possible, while slowly yo-yoing it just above the top of the school. If these are Crappies, they’ll typically come for your offering.

The hit may not be very obvious however. Sometimes the fish may hit the bait as it falls, and you won’t know it until you jig it next. Or the fish will hit the lure up slightly, giving little or no indication to you that they have snatched your offering. So much attention to watching your line and rod tip might be required to help you hook up with the fish.

Once I determine I’m on a school of Craps, I might set-up a slip bobber rig. This will allow me to anchor and fish them effectively from a distance if I choose, or I might just want to hover near them with my electric.

A variety of lures might be effective here. Plastics are always a good first choice, as is small feather jigs. If the fish are real picky, a plain old hook and minnow combo could be the killer as well.

But if the fish are not to be found here, then we go a searching deep. 20 feet to the deepest water in the lake is what I call the next classification.

And if this is where you find the fish, chances favor they will be suspended high and schooled thickly.

However, they may be pretty mobile, meaning it could be hard to stay in touch with them as the school roams freely in open water searching for its next easy meal.

The good news is, in my experience, these fish are almost always aggressive and easy to catch, so once you find them, you could be in for some good action.

A variety of lures has worked on fish of this location. Tear drops, feather jigs, plastics, you name it. Often enough, the fish are suspending high and when your bait approaches them, they will make a run for it as far as 10 feet in vertical water depth.

A cold front may not always be bad news, and an opportunistic angler will take advantage of the chance to catch some open water Crappies.

Hey, the action can be pretty good!

[Powerstroke]

I have start by saying I didn't read all of your post, maybe later when I have the time....LOL

Over opening weekend, the lake we stayed on is a panfish lake. We fish elsewhere for wallys.

Anyway, the weather has been about the same, cold fronts and rainy, windy. We couldn't find crappies or sunnys in the shallows but I was able to find them suspended in about 12' of water near a 26' hole. This is the second deepest basin in the lake.

We had a flurry of large fish and some more eater size. To characterize "large fish" I mean we caught 8 fish totaling 109.5" (13.5" avg) and around 20lbs, but weights weren't taken. This included a 16.5" fish as the largest, but a 14.5" fish that looked like it weighed 3-4lbs. Very beefy.

This lake is very difficult to fish untilt he weeds come up, but now that I have a Vex its a bit easier to pinpoint these nomadic fish.

[Matt Johnson]

Once again UJ provides some excellent information. Deep water slabs can be tough, no doubt about that, and it can make a day on the water very frustrating. UJ really touched on some important points.

Great insight on a difficult topic!

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[cisco kid]

uni-jig stick.. One of the most informative and precise analogies I have ever read. Works for me here in No. Cen . Wi.

[CrappieJohn]

Good work there, Jeff! I saw some of what you describe today on the water.

[CrappieJohn]

I ran my butt right back out to the lake this morning and found the crappies and sunfish as I left them yesterday....right out in deep water. But today, I did not have to fish seven feet deep to get them to rise. They were really drilling the jig while set at three feet. What made a huge difference was staying well away from where the fish wre congregating and casting in to them. I was entertained for 2 1/2 hours smoking fish in this one spot with a move made once for a quick look-see how other areas were doing, but nothing topped this one spot I favor for deep water. Everything I threw into the water today was hit. Exude worked. Hair worked. CulpritPadies worked and the Stub Grubs were downright ugly to the crappies. Even very large (10") sunfish were inhaling the Stubs.

An interesting thing was talking place out there. We had a ton of rain last evening and while the water shed here in Rochester will not affect the lake for a couple days yet, the rain that fell locally there was really hauling in a lot of junk. And the water at the upper end of the lake was already getting dirty. The lower lake, where I fished, had cleaner water and warmer water on the average. But what really got those fish torqued up today was the sun. Whenever the sun peeked out from behind the clouds they went alsolutely nuts and would hit a jig still dropping....at times creating a boil on the surface they were so close to the top. But if you moved off from this deep water, you'd get zilch.

In my two and a half hours of play, I managed just over 65 fish. All but 9 were crappies ans the size today was much larger on average from yesterday. I caught a lot in the 12"+ range and they were all quite black....really pretty fish.

Deep water and cold fronts. Deep water and cooler temps. Both will sink the crappies. But you have to watch what is happening day to day to get them to respond to what you are throwing at them. Often times what you toss means little, but a little difference in actual fishing depth can either have you too busy to drink a pop or be so slow you think the fish don'r exist.

As Jeff said....just because they are relating to deep water in no way implies that fishing deep is the key to catching them.

[united jigsticker]

Great post Tom!

That's a great point, that is, fishing deep doesn't always mean "fishing deep".

Crappies can occupy any area of the water column at any given time.

I've had some down right obnoxiously fantastic Crappie fishing over 25 feet of water fishing only 2 feet below the surface!

It seems crazy that the fish would be hanging over that deep of water suspending that high, but it happens, and as Tom has described above, when it does, the fishing can be down right phenominal!

[BDR]

Great info guys! Just the schoolin I need right now.

[mnrstrider]

This is what I've been waiting for, I want out a couple days ago, and I always start shallow this time of year, searching for fish, and just keep moving out deeper til I find fish.

For me this is flasher season, bar none depending on the day I'll find fish very, very tight to the bottom, or sometimes suspended, normally I do not fish a lot of bobbers, but this is the one time of year I believe in them, I'll put on a light jig, and most of the time I will tip the jigs with meat, again another tactic I do not use 95% of the time, I also make sure to weight my bobber so it just barely floats. I'm normally fishing the fish tight to the bottom in these situations (6-12 inches off the bottom), I have more luck with them than the suspended ones.

I wouldn't say fish were smacking the heck out of it the other day, but it's the first sign I've seen of the fish starting to actively go after my bait since ice.

I would've never figured this out if I didn't have faith in another boat out there fishing an area, in deeper water (20 feet or so) and most inportant to me was the flasher, my graph said there was nothing there, the flasher told me they were tight to the bottom, and catchable, I know we were the only boats to have good luck out there that day, as I watched mulitple boats zoom around to shallow areas.