Map Reading for Crappie

[Gansett]

Although I've been fishin for crappie for quite a while, there's something I just don't get (or understand). While watching "Crappie Time" on TV the other day, Ron Capps and his wife were fishing on Lake Dardenell. Ron said he'd never fished that lake before, so before going he poured over a map. He picked out a few spots on the map and there was one he especially liked. He didn't go to that area he found on the map until the second day of the tourney and they both slayed some nice crappie. OK, finally my question. What exactly do you look at when searching a map of a lake? I understand looking for depth, but by itself that doesn't mean anything. What are the factors that go into picking a good spot just by looking at a map? Thanks for any helpful tips.

[earl 1234]

I am no expert but I would guess that a couple of things would be bridges and stump fields . Lanier and Oconee maps have the stump fields noted on them .

[rnvinc]

If the lake has them, crappie follow creek channel ledges to and from their spring spawning shallows and again in the fall for their winter fattening stage...

Time of year (water temp) would dictate where the crappie should be on their migration route following those creek ledges...

Rickie

[Phantom309]

Edges of steep drop offs (the little contour lines get closer together = deeper)...

[gabowman]

I've heard Capps say before that even the lakes he's never fished he always treats them as the same....looking for the things he likes to target. I assume that's exactly what he was looking for whether it be shallow water flats, humps in deeper water, stumpfields, following creek channels towards shallow water, etc. He's fished long enough with enough success that he knows EXACTLY what he's looking for on any lake he visits.

[JTMavs]

You also have to consider that the map may give him a spot to start looking like a drop off, but his side imaging is what put them on fish!

[crappiefarmer]

Use the Map to identify areas where the crappie are going to be in a particular time of year. You need to have an understanding of seasonal tendencies of crappie. Then Your just looking for quick depth changes but more important would be a bottom feature (bottom structure) like a hump or point or secondary point where the quick drop offs intersect. Like a point with one side having a quick drop off. These areas also have brush on them a lot where anglers are sweetening the spots up.

If it is a huge lake, the map will help You dissect it down to smaller areas where it is not so overwhelming.

Seasonal tendencies; spring, crappie will be towards the back ends of the feeder creeks of a lake spawning. Once the spawn is over, they migrate back out to the main lake for their summer haunts where they have cooler water and oxygen to get through the hot summer. They will stay there until the water starts to cool. Brushpiles in the main lake will produce. Once the water starts to cool into fall, crappie will start to move back into the creeks running the contours with the deeper water. As the water cools, they will school and feed heavily on flats next to drop offs. As winter comes on, they will go down in the deepest water of the creeks so Use a map to find the holes and You'll find the fish. In late winter/early spring, crappie will go into prespawn mode and start feeding heavily again as the prepare themselves for the exhausting spawn. They will be feeding on deeper flats but still close to drop offs. They will be about middleway of the creeks when prespawn begins but will head to the backs to the spawning flats as spawning nears. They will be traveling the channels along the ledges(drop offs) on the way to the back. Once they are ready to spawn, the males will prepare the beds, but the females will only come up to lay the eggs and then they go back to the deeper water using the drop offs. The males will stay and guard the fry for a short period and then go back to deeper water. So if You are catching males in shallow water in the spring, You may can fish just away from them in deeper water and catch the staging females that are bigger. After the spawn, they begin migrating back to the main lake again for summer.

If You noticed, the main theme of movement is drop offs. Know which ones to be targeting for the particular time of year and use a map to tell You that info. Any maps that show brush piles or stump fields close to those drops is a plus.CF

[LR77]

What are the best maps to order . I ordered the Kingfisher maps thinking they would have contour lines- but they do not have any contour lines.

[huskerwill]

very well put cf. find the spot on a spot

[feelay]

Maps are a big help. What they don't tell ya on the shows is that they have an extensive list of phone numbers of local fishermen.