Years ago most crappie fishermen ONLY fished in the Spring. But nowadays more and more anglers are learning that there are crappie to be caught even when the snow flies. (Photo: Richard Simms)
Understandably many, if not most anglers stay home by the fireplace when the weather turns bitter. But you never know what you’re missing.
By Richard Simms
Obviously Northern crappie anglers understand quite well that they can’t be deterred by cold weather. They are routinely drilling holes through six inches of ice to get a jig down to where the crappie live.
Southern anglers, on the other hand, often shy away from cold water crappie. They shouldn’t. Buy good, warm clothes, hit the water and you are likely to discover a brand new world of crappie-catching.
- You’ll have far less competition from other anglers. In fact, you are likely to have NO competition.
- Crappie tend to school up in the winter. It might be on a deep bluff, a deep water ledge, a dock or a brushpile – but in the winter, when you find one crappie, there is a good chance you’ll find a lot.
- Pick out an unseasonably warm day that happens to hit and you are likely to find the crappie taking advantage of it. Some anglers report catching crappie surprisingly shallow – five feet or less – on sunny days in the winter.
- Fish the Birds – On our Tennessee lake huge schools of baitfish often congregate in the winter. It is easy to see when it’s happening because birds, usually seagulls, will congregate with them. Every game fish that swims, including crappie, will suspend beneath those bait schools.
Moral of this story – don’t stay home just because you think the fish won’t bite, no matter how cold it gets.
