Once the Crappie Spawn is over and the “weekend warriors” have left the lake, die-hard Crappie anglers know this is just the beginning of great fishing. Many of the Crappie anglers I know also don’t mind catching a few White Bass or Perch either and these species can usually be caught by ‘accident’ while fishing for Summer Crappie.
The key to catching Summer Crappie is finding the fish. Easily done in the Spring when Crappie go shallow to spawn or use traditional staging areas for pre-spawn; that is why so many people fish the spawn for Crappie. Admittedly, looking out over a large expanse of deep, open water and guessing where they are can be a bit disheartening. In the paragraphs to follow you will learn how to “narrow” the water and then use good techniques to find the fish.

Summer Doldrums ?! I don't think so! Summer is my favorite time to fish for slabs thanks to ole Crappie Chatt! The hotter the better.

In the summer here in Kansas the crappie really like to relate to standing timber in shallow water. There is no need for fishing deep water, spider rigging or pulling cranks. Although they all produce fish this time of year dippin standing timber is my favorite way to target some big slabs.When I say shallow I mean that 4-12' range with 6-10' being the sweet spot most of the time. I will focus on flats off the creek channels with standing timber. Dont pass up any tree, big or small. Sometimes the smaller ones will hold that 1 big fish. You will not typically find schools of fish doing this, but pull 1-3 ish off a tree at a time. The stumps just under water are always good!