Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Crappie by Temperature

There are plenty of experienced anglers that consider the best crappie fishing tips to be the where you can find these fish once the temperature of the water begins to fluctuate. Here is how you can get the most out of your day on the water:

Degrees

35: Be looking for crappie to be holding anywhere between 50 feet and 30 feet deep. With a vertical presentation, begin fishing vertically using live bait such as minnows.

40: You can find schools of crappie beginning at depths of 20 feet and down another 10 feet or so. This is when they will band together and begin their journey towards their spawning locations.

45: Migration is officially underway and you will now be able to catch crappie off of channels in the deeper banks or near structures such as sunken logs or trees. They are a little closer to the surface now at depths between 20 to 10 feet.

50: The crappie are now preparing for the spawn as they now head for the tributary arms. This is when you will need to set your sites on their migration paths which will be in the creeks and channels.

55: The bites you are getting now start to get rather aggressive. Now is when the crappies are storing up fuel for the upcoming spawn. You will be able to locate many crappie as shallow as one foot at this time.

60: Males are now nesting as the females wait for the water to continue to warm before they spawn. Shallower areas will already have some fish spawning early.

65: Spawning is underway now. If you find that you are suddenly not having any success catching any crappie, back off a little and search for remaining pre-spawn crappie.

70: By now, some fish have completed spawning while others are still in the midst of it. Still, you may need to look to slightly deeper areas at this time in order to catch the larger of the species.

75: You can now rather easily locate the post-spawning fish near their bedding all the way up until the water reaches around 80 degrees. Look to find them near any cover.

80: As soon as their spawning season is complete, many fishermen decide to pack their fishing gear up and call it a season. However, it is still possible to locate plenty of crappie in between six feet and 18 feet deep near any flats that you may encounter.

1 comment:

  1. Jorgoin
    Excellent post on crappie fishing. I have seen this info. before but not this detail. I am going to print this out and use it as a guide this season. I will be going next week, because here in Jasper Al. we will be in mid 60's all week. Just curious about the jigs or lures you use for carppie. Thanks for sharing this post.

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