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Spring Techniques
During the spring spawn, fish the concentrations of crappies in the shallows. Use a sensitive fiberglass crappie pole with a bamboo handle instead of a reel. Often, anglers do not feel when a crappie has taken the bait. Gently lift and drop the line continually to hook these gentle biters. To find the fish, tie a No. 4 hook to the line, attach a small slipshot above the hook, and add a bobber somewhere on the line so that the hooked minnow swims near the bottom. Hook the minnow lightly under its back fin and direct it through the shallow reeds and underwater brush piles. Try inch-long minnows early in the season, switch to larger minnows as the season progresses, and use jigs in the summer.
Each body of water is different, but generally the north side of the lake warms more quickly than the south in early spring. Try the north shallows first, then after the spawn try the submerged reedy islands in the body of the lake. Map out the warmer waters of the lake to find the early spring crappies.
Summer Techniques
When the waters warm in the summer, crappies move to deeper water that has the same bottom cover as the shallows they frequent. Outside of the shallow bays, many fish gather together on the deep side of a drop-off in water six to twelve feet deep. Other places to look for elusive summer crappies are at the mouths of slow, narrow channels, at areas less than a hundred yards out from a fast-moving bay opening, or in the shallows at dawn and dusk where the crappies return to feed until early summer.
Search for large obstructions or rockpiles in deep water, as well as weedbeds and brushpiles. Carefully fish rocky shelves ten to fifteen feet deep that have rockpiles or a submerged tree. Since summer crappies follow schools of smaller fish, anglers should make note of where the smaller fish like to feed.
Summer crappie fishing gear usually consists of an ultra-light spinning outfit or fly rod with a spinning reel. Slowly work a small (1/32 or 1/64 of an ounce) jig in white or yellow with a gold-wire hook. Yellow 1/4 ounce spinnerbaits work well for bigger crappies. Some anglers add a bobber to the line to maintain the jig at a desired depth. Anchor or drift in ten feet of water above the underwater structure and slowly jig the lure. Slowly reel the jig while only slightly twitching the rod tip, and tug the line at any hint of a bite.
Fall Techniques
In the fall, crappies move back to the shallow bays. Use the fiberglass pole and live minnows, or try ultra-light spinning tackle, a plastic casting bubble, and No. 6 or 8 artificial trout nymphs fished 40 inches below the bubble. Retrieve the lure at a pace fast enough to keep the line tense.
In man-made lakes the water level often fluctuates. The fish stop biting when the water level drops, but often reanimate with a vengeance once the levels rise. During an hour or so when the water rises, fish the shallow brushy areas with any bait or lure.
Experiment to find the right combination of depth, bottom cover and water temperature for clusters of crappies. Check new brush piles for big crappies and largemouth bass, and if the crappies aren't biting, try forcefully beating the pile with an oar or stick and then fish the pile again.
Winter Techniques
In the winter, catch the active crappie using light ice-jigging equipment with 4 pound-test monofilament line a No. 4 hook. Use a live 2-inch minnow bait on a No. 4 hook and one splitshot: place a splitshot one foot above the minnow (hooked lightly beneath its back fin) and fish the setup at varying depths. Prepare for a very gentle bite, then set the hook and reel in the tasty, white, flaky meal.
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