Crappie often school in cold weather and related closely to the deep sides of ledges where structure is located. Here you can see where author Steve McCadams has dropped a marker on a particular piece of structure.
Cold Crappie Warm Your Heart
by Steve McCadams
Nothing chases away the chill like a hot fishing spot. A bent rod from a hefty slab on the line will indeed warm the cockles of your heart – even in the dead of winter. Some of the symptoms are memory loss as you quickly forget your worldly troubles. Sort of spoils a body, as Andy Griffith might say, with a touch of southern drawl.
Crappie are known to be a structure-oriented fish. That is especially true during the winter months as they have a tendency stay hot on the trail of their forage base, namely threadfin shad.
Once surface water temperatures fall into the 40’s (or cooler), shad find a comfort zone in the deeper depths of most reservoirs or lakes. Threadfin shad will actually begin to die if water temperatures reach the low 40’s, so they are going to be seeking warmer water, which is usually deeper water.
It is not that unusual when extreme cold winters occur in the South. Perhaps it is Mother Nature’s way of “thinning the herd” so to speak.
Shad Go Deep – You Should To!
Whatever the reason shad know their limitations and thus navigate their way to the deep confines during winter. The deeper depths offer some insulation as surface temps don’t change quickly there.
Like nomads in the desert, shad roam to deeper depth zones, often taking up temporary residence along ledges, humps, ditches and various pieces of structure. Keying in on main lake drop-offs or even creek channels within large bays will be put you on the right path.
These meandering ledges offer the best of both worlds; deep and shallow zones close together. Target the deep sides and search for structure.
Crappie seek refuge around submerged cover such as natural stumps or manmade fish attractors such as brushpiles or stakebeds. Encountering a smooth stretch means move on slowly until structure is discovered.
Following their forage are schools of crappie sporting a hefty appetite too.
By closely observing your sonar units and allowing them to be your bird dogs, anglers can key in on the cold weather habits of crappie. Schools of baitfish will show up good on screens as will schooling crappie.
Sometimes crappie may be holding tight within a treetop or stakebeds like a rabbit hiding in a briar patch. It is great if you can see a hefty school on your electronics, but there are times when only a couple of fish may be there, holding tight to cover and not easy to distinguish.
Masters of present-day forward-facing sonar have been able to pinpoint tight holding crappie but finicky fish can play tricks. A few scattered fish may be there relating to the deep structure playing hide-and-seek!
It may take a few knocks on the door before tight lip crappie respond. Sometimes aggressive. Sometimes sluggish.
That’s not unusual during winter months as the crappie, once they key in on the depth zone of their prey, are likely to be there in good numbers. It’s great when you find them stacked in a spot and jockeying for position.
There are times when it’s a few here and a few there. Working along a creek channel or irregular turn or indention on a shelf may lead you to a school that pushed the baitfish into a spot ripe for ambush.
It’s sort of trial and error. Working your way along a shelf, closely monitoring the sonar screen for signs of baitfish and bigger fish. A long ledge may just have a specific spot or two that’s holding crappie.
Buried treasures hide from sight. Yet establishing the productive depth range, such as 18 to 24 feet for example, along a ledge may simply require searching for good structure. It’s the combination of the right depth and structure that attracted the baitfish in the first place. Crappie are going to be there too.
Experimenting with jig color combinations and different size jigs are active ingredients in the recipe for success. Live bait should be in the equation too. Don’t be too stubborn to experiment on the presentation.
The fish are the ultimate judge here. Let them make the decisions but offer them choices.
Your Productive Presentations May Vary
Vertical presentations are hard to beat. Whether your preference is live bait or a potpourri of jigs, putting the bait smack dab in the face of the fish usually pays the biggest dividend.
Casting jigs have a time and place too but there are times crappie just don’t want to chase a bait.
Feeling the structure. Meticulous presentation of the bait while developing a feel for light strikes. Watching the rod’s tip and close observance of the line. Knowing when to set the hook…and knowing when not to.
Testing yourself at times on a finicky bite by lifting the rod slightly to see if he’s really there. Careful not to pull the trigger and fall prey to the illusive snags.
Everyone likes to “feel the thump” but sometimes big slabs only display a feather light bite. Sort of like a butterfly landing on your rod tip so to speak.
And, the old double-hook bottom bumping rig armed with jigs or minnows still has a time and place as well.
Study Topo Maps
Studying topographical maps before and during the trip has merit. Today’s fancy technology still hasn’t replaced doing a little homework. Know before you go and looking at maps then monitoring your sonar once out on the water work hand in hand.
Steve McCadams is a professional guide and outdoor writer from Paris, Tenn. near Kentucky Lake. A member of The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Legends of the Outdoors he’s been under the spell of the great outdoors for more than 60 years.
