wintertime crappie fishing

[tnjeff]

I have never fish for crappie in the winter.Can I get some info on have to help me catch a few?Have do you rig,what size of jigs,what size of line,do you troll or cast,any info would be great and a big help.I mainly fish pickwick,and wilson lakes in north alabama.

[Crappie Reaper]

Welcome Jeff to c.c! I personally use 1/32 and 1/64th oz hand tied jigs on 6lb braided spider wire stealth. I also normally will verticle jig, dropping straight down into brush and cover. There are many people on this board that frequent the lakes you mention. You will hear from most of them.
Steep dropoffs near points should be a good place for you to start. Look for structure around the 20'-25' depths if you have a graph. Usually, this time of year, if you can find one decent crappie, you may have just found 200. I know that is the case here in NE Oklahoma where I fish. I locate the fish using a 1/2 -3/4 oz sinker hanging at the end of my line, with a hook just above it about 12", tipped with a minnow. I have three rods set up like that and move them around very slowly until they get bites. I mark the spot I catch a fish with a marker bouy. Use different depths, but, I've found that this time of year, the crappie will tend to hold closer to the bottom for the most part. Certain times of the day, they might suspend, or even be shallow. You just have to find out where they are by trying different things. The depth they are at will also tend to fluctuate during the day as well. I wish you luck, and continue to visit the board as much as you can. There are no stupid questions. We try to help everyone, and once we get to know you a bit, might take a few jabs at you in jest. (hehe)
Good Luck my friend, and once again, welcome to crappie.com!
CR