Most likely, they are in the water. However, I have found a FEW in my livewell. And on very rare occasion, my freezer. But mostly in the water, I think. Now that you know THAT, all ya gotta do is FIND em. Easy peasy!!! This info is free of charge.
Find the lakes stumpfield first. Then take your time and find the stumps on the highest part of the field. Could be as shallow as a few feet. You'll be surprized how shallow those crappies will be. Overcast days will be best but they'll be there during sunny, hot days too. Shady side will be best on those days. If they're not there, they'll be close. Check the shady side of the drop before you head to deep water. You wont need to go deeper than 9ft in a lake like that. Go small. Use a 1/32 head with a 1 1/2" shad body bait with a crappie nibble added, under a small bobber. Cast and slow retreive back pass the stumps. Try from all directions as one will be better than all the other angles. Post some pics of those Cali crappies for us too. Good luck and have fun.
Most likely, they are in the water. However, I have found a FEW in my livewell. And on very rare occasion, my freezer. But mostly in the water, I think. Now that you know THAT, all ya gotta do is FIND em. Easy peasy!!! This info is free of charge.
><}}}}*> (C.J.)
You need a light action with a fast tip. The ultra lite wont have the back bone to set the hook properly. A 7' rod would be better than a short rod. Some just reel to place the hook point or just a light wrist snap will do it also. You can step up the poundage to 6 # or 8# and you will be fine. If you need any pointers shoot me a pm.
Finally got back out to the lake on 09/18 @ 12 noon. Air temp 76, water temp 78, water clarity is only a foot, and lake is extremely low. A big thanks to members who suggested dropshotN. I did manage to catch 13 bass for fun and 5 large bluegills off the dropshot rig, but no crappies. Finally located a large school of Crappie under a sunken log in 25ft of water in an area I would never imagine. Fished this lake 27 years and never knew this area had sunken trees in this location. Also never fished during this time of year, had always targeted crappies during spring only. A very big thanks to my little Hummingbird 798 side imaging. This unit is amazing and it works! You just need to put some time in learning it. It is not as big and high-tech as the 900+ models but it does the job. Caught around 25 10” above in 30 minutes, but only brought home a dozen for dinner and saving the rest to grow out for winter/spring. I also want to thank those who contributed ideas to my trip. I now believe the say "crappies will behave like crappies now matter where you live." Here is a pix of some we caught. My nephew:
Excellent fishing! The drop shot is really a crackerjack some days. Try slow rolling a Roadrunner too.
"A voyage in search of knowledge need never abandon the spirit of adventure."