The 2016 Crappie Masters Championship at Grenada, Mississippi, revealed several things. At least two factors were a major influence in crappie mood and movements. Catching had been good for several weeks but shut down during the championship.
First, fishing pressure had been heavy and got super-heavy during the week of the tournament. Top ten teams after day one experienced very high fishing pressure from other boats on day two. An example was Morgan and Watson who won, had two boats in their area all day on day one but up to 35 boats on day two. This slowed the bite from bigger fish.
The second thing was a cold front that moved through. It scattered fish to different depths. Many of the fishermen who had been catching fish at 14 feet found them up at two to six feet, the opposite of what most cold fronts do to fish. This proved that general rules-of-thumb are good but keeping an open mind is important. -TH
