Winter crappie

[koko]

I am going to make an effort this winter to do some serious crappie fishing on a 10 acre private strip mine lake. The lake is loaded with crappie, and I know where they winter in the lake. The question I have is am I better off casting, drifting, or anchoring and vertically fishing for them? The water clarity is usually around 6 feet, and the fish in the winter are usually about 15 feet down in 20-25 feet of water. Is this a situation where slip bobbers would work well? You guys are better crappie fishermen than I am.




Thanks,
Micah

[bwillaub]

A vertical approach would be best. That can be accomplished by either sitting over them in a boat or using a slip bobber. I prefer the boat and no bobber myself. A lot of the time Winter crappie don't want the bait moving at all. Just lightly twitch ever so often and let sit. You can also raise the bait up a couple of feet and let it fall. Be sure to watch your line incase they hit it on the fall.
Good luck.

[Jigging15]

Strip pits can be tough in the winter time. If you can get two or three days of warm weather the action can heat up though. I lived on one that was about 200 acres but had very few trees. Seemed the trees held mostly small fish. Caught the bigger ones off of points and a couple beaver dams. Just vertical jigging and drifting real slow. Small baits with some type of scent on it. Nibbles should do the trick. Never tried them on pit fish but should work.

[kazualobzerver]

Good advice in my opinion. Know nothing of pits but think vertical is the most controlled presentation. 15' with 6' clarity don't think they would spook. If no success vertical maybe sit away from the area and cast allowing your bait to fall slowly on a semi slack line where you can maintain contact with it, a line with some visibility above the water (blue florescent) always helped me. Crappie, and other fish, suspended on bait fish can be caught. When suspended in open water with no bait around always thought that was a tough bite. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[BuckCreekMike]

I lived on a pit in college, and there was good fishing for sure. If you want to up your odds see if the owner will let you put in brushpiles. I f he would I would put them on a point or something if there is one, a lot of those things are just straihgt, so in that cas you might have to look for other factors or irregularities that might attract fish and pu them there. Good luck, I wish I could still fish that one I lived on, I didn't appreiate it as much then as I would now.

[UFCreel]

Vertical is the way to go. try some ice fishing jigs. They work good. Check out customjigs.com Tight lines.

[bwillaub]

Try tipping the small jigs with a waxworm. Wintertime crappie love em!

[UFCreel]

Try the red or green glow jigs. try waxies or spikes. Around these parts rosie red minnows as small as you can get. Put them on a dead stick. Jig your other rod with a waxie or spike. Seams when they are active you will get them on both. When they are negative the jigging draws them in and the dead stick seals the deal. give it a try on open water too. Tight lines.

[koko]

Thanks for the tips guys! As far as slip bobbers go what brand/size do you guys prefer? Will a 1/32 head work well on them, or do I need to go heavier? I've tried some slip bobbers before but I haven't found one I really liked. As far as cover is concerned the lake has tons of it. It is easy to find fish in the lake, I am just looking for the best way to catch them once I find them. I'm more of a bass fisherman (sorry) than anything else. It sounds like the plan is to fish real slow, real small.


Thanks,
Micah

[UFCreel]

I like the wood Thill slip floats. Good Luck.