Pro Angler David Walker Shares Wintertime Crappie Tips, by Cory Schmidt

David Walker has earned more than $2 million as a professional bass fisherman.
But he really looks forward to his off-season when he can get back to his roots catching crappie

Pro Angler David Walker Shares Wintertime Crappie Tips

by Cory Schmidt

The Z-Man Fishing Baby BallerZ is just one of David Walker’s favorite go-to crappie lures on Douglas Lake in East Tennessee. Buoyant superplastics in Z-Man lures hover horizontally at rest, showing crappies a natural baitfish mimic.

David Walker is best known for his accomplishments on the professional bass fishing circuit. However, Walker loves the off-season from the bass circuit – usually wintertime – because it affords him the chance to chase crappie. He is a lifelong panfish pursuer and says, “After a long season of bass tourneys, I love coming home and catching a boatload of crappies with my daughters.”

He knows that late fall through winter, crappies really do enjoy the company of a good brush pile, but he knows that catching winter crappie isn’t a guarantee. Especially so as plummeting water temps and declining metabolic rates induce sluggish, unwilling-to-chase attitudes.

He says in short, dropping a rapidly sinking lure past crappie snouts is a no-no.

A Fresh Panfish Approach

This year Walker says he’s excited about some new crappie offerings. Z-Man Fishing has introduced two new bait shapes – Baby BallerZ and Micro GOAT – both ideal for coldwater fishing. He says they also added a new jighead, the Micro Shad HeadZ.

**David Walker says sometimes a single rock or log is enough to hold some crappie. And he says that many times, the biggest fish in the school will be the first one to bite.**

“I can’t believe more anglers haven’t discovered the magical properties of these (Z-Man) baits for crappies,” said Walker while launching his boat on Douglas Lake in East Tennessee, his home lake. “If they haven’t heard of them, they will. And when they do, every crappie angler out there is going to catch a lot of fish.”

On Douglas and numerous other reservoirs around the country, winter means cooling water and receding lake levels. Dropping water, Walker knows, can consolidate crappies around remaining woodcover, docks, submerged vegetation or suspended in openwater. “When the water falls and a lot of my favorite cover is left high and dry, I’ll chase crappies like I’m bass fishing on a smaller scale,” Walker explains.

“I’ll target ends of points or go right down the middle of pockets in creek arms, looking for bait and groups of crappies on sonar. With live sonar, I’m also sniffing out isolated pieces of cover—sometimes, a single rock or log is enough to hold some fish. What’s also cool is that crappies school by size, and often, you’ll catch the biggest fish in the school first. But I always release those bigger 14- to 16-inchers in favor of 11s and 12s, which taste so much better in crappie tacos.”

Micro Swimbaits

Walker also loves fishing the Z-Man® Shad FryZ™.

Professional angler David Walker says water dropping in the winter can consolidate crappie around remaining wood cover, docks or submerged vegetation. Double paddletail baits like the Micro GOAT can be rigged and fished slow and vertical or slightly faster like a swimbait.

“I’ve been catching a ton of crappies on this little paddletail lately, part of the remarkable new Micro Finesse system. What’s cool is I can rig the Shad FryZ on a slightly heavier 1/10-ounce Z-Man jighead and retain plenty of weight for casting distance. The bait’s buoyant ElaZtech® material slows its rate of fall. So, in terms of drop-speed, the lure flutters and fishes more like a 1/16-ouncer.”

To further tweak rate of fall, Walker spools with “straight 6- or 8-pound test braided line and no leader,” he suggests. “After trying those micro-thin 2-, 3- and 4-pound test braids, I realized thicker diameter braid, which floats, slows the lure’s rate of fall a bit more.”

In the winter Walker is typically going after bigger, less pressured crappies in 15 to 25 feet of water.

“Simply count the lure down to the right depth and begin a slow, steady retrieve. The hover can also be key to triggering reluctant fish. While retrieving, I’ll pause every 5- to 10-seconds. Let the bait stop and hang momentarily. That hesitation or hover—when the bait isn’t darting away—often makes a fish that’s been following commit; opens its big pouting jaw and gulps the bait down.”

In extra clear water Walker says he likes to vertical fish LarvaZ insect-imitation. He says it is perfect for vertical presentations, either right below the boat on a jighead or beneath a bobber.

“What’s really cool about these Micro Finesse baits is their durability,” said Walker. “Especially for perch, bluegill and fish that nip tails and tear other baits to shreds, durable ElaZtech is the answer we’ve all been waiting for.

“As more and more crappie anglers discover these advantages—buoyant, super soft and easy to activate and surprisingly durable—we’ll all be sitting down for a lot more crappie dinners.”

In this Wired2Fish video, Kyle Peterson shares great tips on locating and using microplastics to catch cold water crappie.