Crappie question..

[Kylersk]

I'm currently located in about 15 feet of water off a drop off. Catching a bunch of small pearch and an occasional sunnie. I wanted to move, but also wanted to spend the night in the spot. Last night was the first full night on the spot. AT about 8:30 I caught a crappie suspended at 11 feet or so. A couple more came in at this depth, overall I only kept 4. This leads to my question.

Should I move up the drop off to the 11' depth? Is it safe to assume the fish are suspended there because they are coming from the 11' depth and hovering over the deep water?

[Coach1310]

In my experience to catch these fish you will need to be in at least 11' of water. Don't be afraid to head out deeper and I would be willing to bet those fish would still come in at 11' even in 20' of water. Just my experience talking here, not an expert. I would look to anything that provides structure relating to that break... like a decent clump of weeds, a turn or bend in the break or even a hump that relates close to that break. Obviously you are in the right general area, you just need to find the cliched "spot on the spot". Good luck.

[AceintheHole]

I would have to agree with the coach. I have my house in 22-23' and the crappies I'm getting are coming in at 15' from a 24-26'hole. They seem to be headed up to the deep weedline at about 16-18 feet'. I would more out deeper find the deeper edge.

[Dooley87]

i have never had good luck fishing crappies shallow, all of our good crappie spots seem to be close to known spawning areas and shallow bays but we are out in the deep holes and flats around those spots. the lake our cabin is on we have 3 or 4 known crappie spots that almost always produce and the shallowest spot is in 27 feet of water and the deepest is in 40 feet, but the crappies will school between 10 feet down and 15 feet down, maybe 20 feet down to 30 feet down in the deep hole but DEEP is what i have learned for craps

[ice_it_06]

I've been sitting in 38' feet for two weeks plus now and catch them all day, every day. any where from 28' to the bottom with "large" ones ( 12" +) @ 28' or on the bottom.

Thought today would just be a "therapy" day out there but from 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. it was fast and furious. Was @ home by 10:00 with a limit. Been a very good year so far on the crappie end of things.

[rockman]

A general rule of thumb I learned from the Infisherman folks years ago is that crappies will suspend over deeper water that is level in depth with the closest structure.In other words, a deep hole with a shelf/first break nearby will have crappies suspending generally in the depth range of the first break/food shelf.Sunken humps, or rock humps are even better examples of this.A rock hump that tops off at 17 feet of water, in a basin , or a deep hole that has 32 feet of water, may have crappies suspending in or around the 12-19 foot depth range.These are not hard and fast rules, but guidelines to help possibly locate fish.Areas where there is food for the crappies will always trump deep water,or a specific piece of structure.No hard and fast rules there.For the most part, I would go deeper,especially if you know there are good sized fish in that body of water you are fishing.

[Matt Johnson]

You might have better luck finding those crappies in the shallow water during the day, especially the larger fish. All of my daytime crappie fishing is done in less than 15 feet of water, sometimes as little as 5 feet. I also believe that you can find them in the shallows during the evening hours too.

Basically what a crappie needs is forage and comfort. Shallow water oftentimes provides both, especially in lakes where you have a nice sticky-bottom flat or a shallow bay with an abundance of weeds. Crappies will hold in those shallow areas throughout most of the year.

However, like mentioned, I would also venture out into deeper water to see if you can located a school of fish. Oftentimes you can move out onto the second break and find the school of crappies roaming out there. Punch holes over 20 yards or so and move until you find fish. Once you find the school then they will generally relate to the same area. However, a lot of my findings come up with smaller fish in the deeper water areas, especially the schooling fish. My best catches for larger fish come from shallow water on average...

[Fever]

I think I know the lake you speak of. My friend has his perm out there near the "city" on the west side of the lake. He is in 20 fow. I was out there friday eve from 5 - 11 and did get a limit of decent crappies between 9 inches to 11. Really had to work for them and sort through a lot of smaller ones like Matt said. Weird thing is that there was fish on the vex the whole time. Sometimes active sometimes not at all. Almost all fish were caught within two feet of the bottom although a couple did come in towards the middle of the water columb. The fish that came in suspended were more active toward the lure and tended to be better sized fish.

Really though It shouldnt take that long to limit out on crappies on that lake. It was work. Very cold out there. Holes were freezing shut before the eyes.

[BK19]

now i am all confused it seems as everyone says go in deeper water for suspended crappies i just dont have a clue ,so where would i go on lake washington by st peter to target crappies then thanks bill

 Originally Posted By: Matt Johnson

You might have better luck finding those crappies in the shallow water during the day, especially the larger fish. All of my daytime crappie fishing is done in less than 15 feet of water, sometimes as little as 5 feet. I also believe that you can find them in the shallows during the evening hours too.

Basically what a crappie needs is forage and comfort. Shallow water oftentimes provides both, especially in lakes where you have a nice sticky-bottom flat or a shallow bay with an abundance of weeds. Crappies will hold in those shallow areas throughout most of the year.

However, like mentioned, I would also venture out into deeper water to see if you can located a school of fish. Oftentimes you can move out onto the second break and find the school of crappies roaming out there. Punch holes over 20 yards or so and move until you find fish. Once you find the school then they will generally relate to the same area. However, a lot of my findings come up with smaller fish in the deeper water areas, especially the schooling fish. My best catches for larger fish come from shallow water on average...

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: BK19

now i am all confused it seems as everyone says go in deeper water for suspended crappies i just dont have a clue ,so where would i go on lake washington by st peter to target crappies then thanks bill

Most lakes will have crappies in both areas- shallow weeds & deep holes. If you can find weeds that are still standing and green, there is oxygen there and there will be food for the panfish. Like Matt mentioned, it also gives them a place to hide from the predator fish. The predators typically prowl the edge of the weeds so the smart fish will stay away from there and back in the weeds.

[rockman]

My reply was based on my past experience fishing mainly deeper water areas for suspended fish.Hanson, and Matt J, are right on with the advice to fish shallow areas,too.Where to go as far as deep and shallow spots depends on the type of lake your on,water clarity,weeds,structure,etc.All these factors have to be considered to decide where to begin the hunt.There are really no super hard and fast rules in fishing.Sometimes you got to think outside the box to get on the fish.As far as deeper areas go, I would look for inside turns, corners, points that are adjacent to deep holes, or deep basin areas.The rim of deep holes can be good spots for suspended fish,also.

[walleyematt]

iv all ways heard when the little perch start to bite its time 2 move.

[Matt Johnson]

Shallow water offers a lot... forage, comfort, and most of all... a lack of fishing pressure. If you're looking for bigger fish, don't be surprised if you find them in the shallow water all winter long. Fishing pressure can oftentimes contribute to an influx in shallow water fish. When the deeper spots are getting pounded by anglers you can look to the shallow nearby flats to hold fish, especially larger ones. The smaller fish will continue to relate to the school out in the deeper water, but you'll typically find your larger fish relocated along a different piece of structure. Now, this doesn't mean you're not going to pick up a couple big fish out in deeper water, but you're going to find out that its a timing thing and they only eat during certain time windows throughout the day. The shallow water fish will be more active when the sun is up, not to mention during those active windows too...

[slipperybob]

I was out on Washington...too cold to move around and the schooling fish seemed to had been over deep water. about 30 fow. I caught fish at 24' my buddy caught fish at 11'.

Three of us were out there and 2 to 1 wanted to go deep with the neighbors...I personally would've gone shallower away from everyone else.

[Rick]

Matt is absolutely correct. The key to shallow water crappies is as Matt said and finding the green weeds or if they are not available shallow water with a lack of dead weeds.

[TNFL]

So, this is a clear lake, where would you start. I only fished the grey dot area as it was -10 degrees.

49 ft is the deep hole and the lake has clarity of at least 10 ft, so the weeds grow pretty deep. I chose the spot I was on because I drilled a bunch holes and seemed to get a bottom change to muc, also as I went deeper I was not marking fish. Some fish passed through at 30-24 ft and a few were hungry, but most were not.

[rockman]

As I found out yesterday, now with cold weather,thicker ice depth, and people driving everywhere,the deeper spots are going to get just pounded.One spot I had been fishing previously had 4 times as many permanent shacks as the last time I was there.The fish are almost gone from that deep water haunt.Time to go to plan B, or whatever plan a guy can have, and that may include shallow water and weeds.Get away from the crowds,that's the ticket.

[rockman]

Ah, gee, that sounds a bit familiar, about the fishing pressure.Maybe I need to attend a seminar, or somethin'...

[Craigums]

TNFL I woulda started right were you did then punched holes on the 30,25,20,15 and a little to the left of the 20 and just hopped around checking everything out. If I was setting up shop I would have gone close to were you were, But what the heck do I know

[Matt Johnson]

There are some nice fish in that lake

Try the breakline to the north where you see the series of underwater points. Or else hit that steep break just to the east of where you are fishing now.

The shallow breakline to your southwest will hold fish too. Look for 8-15 of water during the day...

[Borch]

That muck bottom with some shallow gravel bay is looking good to me. Theres gotta be food there and if there are some weeds left was well it could be very good. With the relatively easy access to deep water it's a good possiblity. You were likely too deep and catching those few fish as there were heading up into the bay to really put the feedbag on.

Kinda reminds me of back in the day when folks use to send lake maps into Infisherman to have the hotspots marked.

Good Luck!

[TNFL]

Rockman--"fishing pressure"-- there were only 4 houses in view and none were occupied, as stated, it was -10 degrees (last weekend).

Craigums-- two of the houses were setup in the 25-30 ft range, even though they were unoccupied I thought I'd stay a little ways away. I actually went out an hour before the 2 girls and other guy, and drilled the initial search holes, and set up shop. Once I got that heater going and the shack warmed up, i didn't feel like moving.

Matt--"There are some nice fish in that lake" There are nice fish in all lakes. You head over to Wisc. much? I just happen to become "dating" brother-in-law with someone with a cabin on that lake, actually the channel between lakes.

"Try the breakline to the north where you see the series of underwater points." That spot looked good to me too, the other 2 houses on the lake were over der. unfortunately i didn't drive onto the lake and that looked like a haul in that weather.

"steep break just to the east " I'll keep that in mind. After reading some more post after my lack of success, I was wondering about that spot.

"shallow breakline to your southwest" the cabin owner has had a little success on the main lake side of that point.

Borch--"You were likely too deep and catching those few fish as there were heading up into the bay to really put the feedbag on."

As stated, we were marking fish occasionally and I was just hoping they would turn on. I was also thinking I might catch fish moving from deep to shallow water.

One other thing I noticed. As soon as it started to get dark, the marcum started to really light up with the bugs, etc coming off the bottom. I had to turn the gain way down to seperate the fish from the food. I thought the fish would start biting at dusk, but that was not the case.

[hanson]

You are finding fish so that is a good thing! Now you gotta figure out what they are and get them to bite. I don't really subscribe to this idea of "waiting for them to turn-on" although this is sometimes the case with crappies. My opinion is you have to give them something they want to eat.

You have a flasher and have located some of these critters so the game begins. Start aggressive... maybe its a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head. Crappies will eat this. Work them good. If nothing, downsize. You might have to give them a small horizontal plastic and slowly let it drop to them. They'll respond. Maybe you have to go smaller yet to a jig w/ a Eurolarvae or two. Work the fish, watch how they respond on the flasher, learn from that, and adjust.

I hate to say this but a big mistake a lot of crappie fisherman make is fishing with crappie minnows under a bobber. I have not caught a single crappie this winter on a minnow, its probably 50/50 plastics vs. eurolarvae on a small jig that I work with various jigging motions. I rarely bobber fish now, and I rarely fish crappies with minnows.

Not sure if this helps you or not in this specific instance, but its something to keep in mind while you are searching.

Good Luck!

[theicehooker]

exactly what Johnson said. With a GPS and Lake Master chip I would have done the exact same thing. Maybe start out around the under water pts. Between, edges, and out a little deeper right off those 2 pts

[theicehooker]

Also have to agree with Hanson. I would be catching sunnies and then an occasional crappie would get pulled up so I would switch to a jigging ?? and a crappie minnow or a head of one to see if I could catch more crappie than sunnie, and nothing would bite. Switch back to the small jig and larvae and here we go again with the crappies!!