Even on a blustery day with a little snow falling, crappie still have to eat. (Photo: Richard Simms)
Our friends at B’n’M’ poles wisely say with the onset of winter, crappie anglers need to adjust their thinking in order to find large concentrations of crappie.
Crappie do feed heavily throughout the winter, though they may not feed as much or as often as they would in warmer water temperatures.
“Crappie are not going to chase a bait after the water starts to turn off cold,” said B’n’M pro-staffer Brad Whitehead. “In the springtime they might move 5 – 6 feet, or even 10 feet to ambush a lure. But when it gets cold you need to be more specific in your bait presentations. Many times they won’t move more than the length of their body to eat.”
In order to find fish that can be pinpointed with such precision, winter crappie anglers need to concentrate on very specific areas. Most of the time this means a vertical presentation in an area that is densely packed with both fish and structure. This structure can be either natural or manmade, but it also needs to be in an area with sufficient water depth and forage for crappie to be comfortable.
Read more from B’n’M here.
