How would you fish this lake for crappie.

[32251]

I fish a 50 acre lake in Alabama a lot. I have been fishing for bass and have been having great luck, but now want to fish for crappie. The lake is very well managed and is kept fertilized and supervised by a lake management company. Threadfin shad were introduced about 10 years ago. The bass population is incredible and fish are big and healthy. A 48 pound catfish was netted the other day with a three pound bass stuck in its throat. The bluegill population is excellent and the crappie are big. It is fed by several springs and is very clean. Water is usually lightly stained in color. Depth of the lake is mostly in the 10 ft zone except at the dam end and that gets to about 15-18'. Overall it is not a deep lake at all. Some old docks around the lake, water depths are about 6-8' at these. Houses all around the lake so the shoreline is mixed, some grass lawns, some scrubs, trees etc line the lake.

What would you guys do if you fished this lake for the first time for crappie. I have never fished for crappie there and really don't know where to start, what colors to use, jigs or minnows?, depths, where is the structure, etc etc.

Should I do some trolling to try to find them or maybe just find some structure and try different depths.

Please share your tactics when fishing new lakes. I know how to fish the bass in this lake, but not the crappie. thanks.

[CrappiePappy]

50 acre lake - healthy population of Bass & Cats - Threadfin Shad for forage base - <20ft max depth - old docks w/6-8fow under ..... now you've done got me shaking, I'm jonesing so bad :p

Seriously though ... I don't see any reason why most any technique you'd care to try, wouldn't work. I know how I'd fish it, but that's just because that's the way I like to fish :p I'd be casting a 1/16oz chartreuse marabou Roadrunner over top of any submerged cover .... casting/swimming a 1/16oz weedless jighead/tube to any laydowns or standing timber .... shooting the docks with a 1/32oz weedless jighead/Panfish Assassin. If the lake is only 50 acres, you should be able to pretty much cover the entire lake in a days fishing. If all else fails ... put some minners on and drag them around

... luck2ya ... cp

[Hillbilly910]

i would start out with the easy stuff. Work the docks,slips and pontoons first. Then look for brush/timber/blowdowns to fish. Generally speaking, between these 2 types of cover, you should find crappie about anytime of year, maybe not in huge numbers, but enough to get you going.

Have you ever caught crappie there? Or even seen somebody else catch them there, can help to get you going in the right direction.

HB

[32251]

Have you ever caught crappie there? Or even seen somebody else catch them there, can help to get you going in the right direction.

HB

Yes there are folks there who have caught them. My brothers neighbor uses shiners! He says that 2-3lbers are not uncommon at all. He and my brother who lives on the lake also say not to use light 4-6 pound line as the crappie are big and will bust you off.

Here is a pic with a stringer of bass from this lake. The pond management company says since the lake is not fished enough by the folks who live around it and own it that they really need to harvest some fish from it in order to keep from overcrowding and stunting the fish. The lake is private and not open to any public fishing at all. They come in every few years and shock up fish, and remove what they need to to maintain a good healthy stock. They asked the owners to harvest some fish or throw the smaller ones up on the bank for the turtles and coons and such. I decided to harvest some for family dinner. They were incredible!

I am going for the crappie next!

[Pomoxis]

I'm new so don't take my post for gospel, however, on the main page of crappie.com there's an article link, read up on those a bit..

The highlights seem to be:
Color of jigs/bait depend on water clarity - course you can always use live minnows.

Fish in general will be in/around/near cover so find underwater trees/rocks..etc.

Find where the bait fish hang out and you'll be close.

Water temperature matters alot as to where the fish hang out. Hotter water they will generally be at deeper/cooler cover, colder water they'll generally be shallower more dense cover (I'm guessing to stay safe/save energy/be near food).

Since your lake is mostly the same depth I'd be find out all the tree/rock spots and temperatures of the water around the whole lake. I'd figure the sping end would be coldest in spring/summer maybe.

I'm a total newb but my approach would be to find trees/brush in the water, fish that for crappie, and notice around me. try different colors and such. if I had a boat I'd probably verticle jig with a dual jig with different colors until I found what they liked to eat.

*shrug*... sounds like shooting fish in a barrel to me *shrug*.

["G"]

I fish a 55 acre lake a lot and in the spring I find the crappie by laydowns or near the backs of the coves around any stumps or standing timber. The rest of the year I usually find them in deeper water just off of the points. I usually try different things to see what they want...jigs, jig and minnow, or just minnows.

[Eager Beaver]

Does the management co have any maps of the lake? If not draw yourself a map of it and if your in a boat map out the lake as you find some structure no matter what it is, mark it on your map. When you catch a crappie make a note as to where, what you caught it on, and weather conditions at the time, water temps. Mark your structure with a number and when you catch a fish just write the number in your ledger along with the other information you have. This may sound silly but next year you will have a road map and to how to fish this lake. jmo EB

[Papa Dawg]

Where's this lake at? I might half to come show you how to find the Crappie. Sounds like a good place to give it a good try.

[PanMan_VA]

The lake is small enough and shallow enough that you can long line troll around it until you find the crappie.

[chaunc]

The lake is small enough and shallow that you can long line troll around it until you find the crappie.

Thats exactly how i'd learn the lake. Watch your locator as you troll and mark the brush, humps, stumps or whatever you see that YOU think may attract crappies. Take a lot of marker bouys with you and throw one when you see something you want take a look at later. If you have a gps, thats even better. Just mark the spots and come back later and check them. Troll for an hour at a time as you mark spots. You'll be surprised at what you'll learn about that lake. If you know anything about crappies, you'll have an idea of where to start fishing. If you dont know much about crappies, read some books about them so you know what to expect.