Crappie Fishing Deep

[CycloneFisherman]

Hey guys,

I truly enjoy fishing for Crappie but my confidence level fishing away from shore is fairly low ((Contact US Regarding This Word) Bass mentality). This year I would really like to focus on developing my Crappie fishing skills a bit.

Can someone explain the thought process, and way to fish in water 10-30' deep. Are they usually hanging on bottom structure that deep or suspended well above the bottom? I would like to keep fishing for Crappie all through the season and when they go deeper I would like to have at least an idea of what to try and look for.

I live in Minnetonka and I would like to try Medicine or some of the smaller less known lakes around eastern Minnetonka this weekend.

Thanks for the help.

[Matt Johnson]

Cruise with the locator until you mark fish. Usually they will suspend somewhat, and you can pick them up on your graph. However, once the summer heat hits you can usually find the fish up shallow as the sun goes down, and you can bypass the whole deep water situation all together. Then during the day you can chase sunfish or bass

If I do target deep water crappies though, I'll usually work a jig/platic combo with an aggressive profile allowing me to cover a lot of water. Keep track of what depth you're marking fish at and try and keep your presentation at that level.

Sometimes it can be tough to land consistent crappie bites during the middle of the day once the fish hold deep. Mid-summer/deep water patterns can be the most difficult in my opinion. You can find crappies up in the shallows during mid-summer as well, so you don't necessarily always have to search out in deep water. Many times have I found crappies relating to 2-5 feet during the hot summer months. I guess it all depends on the lake/body of water...