Try standing timber
When turnover ends and the water starts to clear, crappie often concentrate around standing timber. Here the fish can move shallow or deep as water and weather conditions dictate. On cloudy or windy days when light doesn't penetrate very far into the water, crappie may be within a few feet of the surface. Bright, sunny, post-frontal days may find them hugging the bottom. Adjust your tactics accordingly.
"When fishing standing timber, fish each tree for only a couple of seconds," says Missouri pro Kevin Rogers whose specialty is jigging vertical timber. "If you don't get a bite, move to the next tree. Too many people make the mistake of sitting or tying up to a tree. You'll catch more fish by using your trolling motor and moving from tree to tree."
Rogers has used such tactics to qualify for the Crappie USA Classic during six consecutive years. The way you present your lure, he says, important.
"When vertical jigging around standing timber, after your lure reaches the bottom, grab the line with your free hand and gently raise the lure bait up the tree," he says. "Crappie will not go down to hit your bait so raising the lure puts the bait in their face. They can't stand it."
Dealing with cold fronts
Passing cold fronts are a common fall phenomenon. And when a front moves in, the fishing can quickly turn sour. Crappie still can be caught, however, if the angler knows how to deal with this situation.
Anglers can't control the weather," says Kentucky crappie guide Steve McCadams. "But they can adjust their presentation and be more effective in catching crappie when weather patterns turn nasty. I've seen crappie have a drastic mood swing literally overnight when cold fronts descend, lowering surface temperatures with bone-chilling winds. After the front passes, high skies with a high-pressure system alter the crappies' feeding habits, too."
Crappie relate close to structure in this scenario, says McCadams.
"To catch them, you must slow down your presentation to a vertical style, keeping the bait in front of the fish longer and in their specific depth range," he notes. "Don't expect the fish to be aggressive and chase down a moving bait because they're holding tight on structure. Light or small lure sizes will help too, as will using a bobber for slow, sinking presentations that assist you in keeping the bait in the strike zone longer."
Pontoon flipping
Ohio crappie guide and tournament pro Russ Bailey often concentrates his fall fishing efforts around floating docks or "pontoons."
Pontoons provide excellent crappie fishing in early fall when the days are still hot and the nights are starting to cool off," says Bailey. "Pontoons provide one key thing for the crappie this time of year: shade. You don't have to have brush or other cover under them to catch fish. As the nights begin to cool, the fish start moving to shallower water. During the day, when the sun is hot and bright, the pontoons provide the cover they need."
Bailey uses a long pole to flip jigs into the shady reaches beneath the pontoons where crappie are likely to be holding.
"If you work at it, you can learn to use a 10-foot or 11-foot rod to flip under the pontoons," he says. "But 'shooting' with a 6- or 7-foot rod can be very effective as well. Using colored line such as Berkley Iron Silk or Stren Hi Vis Gold will help catch more fish because many times you will not feel the strike at all, but you can very easily see the colored line jump. Concentrate on getting your jig back as far as possible under the rear of the pontoon. This can make the difference between catching just one fish and catching 20 fish."
Selecting lures/baits
In fall, as during other seasons, lure selection depends primarily on water and weather conditions, available forage and the physical characteristics of the area you're fishing. But remembering these tips should help you make the best selection.
If visibility is severely restricted due to circulating debris, crappie rely more on sound, vibrations and odor to find food. Using lures with rattles, flashy spinners, spray-on scents and other such attention-getters may improve success.
Because crappie in stained water move in tighter on whatever structure they're holding on, work jigs and minnows closer than usual to cover in dingy water. Bumping the cover may be necessary to elicit strikes.
As turnover waters clear, crappie move deeper. That's when it's time to use real small baits fished on light line. Small jigs, spoons, bladebaits and vibrating plugs are among the best.
During turnover, shad schools chased by feeding crappie may pop to the surface anywhere at any time. Keep an ultralight rod-and-reel combo handy that has a silver jig, small spoon or other shad-like lure tied on.
Don't depend only on lures. A shiner minnow rigged to remain lively is one of the best crappie attractors during turnover. Smart anglers carry a variety of lures and a good supply of minnows when fishing this time of year.
Additional tips for fall fishing
Spider trolling and drifting are excellent ways to pinpoint scattered schools of autumn crappie. Rig several poles with different lures/baits set at different depths, then move around in likely looking areas. When you catch a fish, change rigging so all your poles conform to the depth and bait preferences exhibited by that fish.
Fall crappie often follow secondary bottom channels when moving between deep water and shallow. A sonar unit is invaluable for pinpointing this type of structure and the fish themselves.
Jigs and minnows are the best crappie baits year-round, but if one or the other doesn't produce, try a jig/minnow combo. A marriage of live bait and artificial lure sometimes does the trick for finicky fall crappie.
Weedless spoons are superb enticements when fall crappie are in and around timber, brush and weed beds adjacent fast-breaking bottom structure. Effective models include the 1/4- or 1/2-ounce Johnson Silver Minnow, the 1/2-ounce Johnson Silver Minnow Spinner Spoon and the 1/2-ounce Cabela's RealImage Weedless Spoon.
Be patient and persistent. Fall conditions force fish to roam, thus fishermen must also be willing to move frequently, forsaking likely looking spots or those that produced yesterday. If the tactics covered here don't produce crappie, improvise another strategy and keep trying.
In conclusion
The transition from summer to autumn is jolting for both fish and fishermen. Crappie find their once secure world literally turned over on them. Anglers who fish these waters find their quarry more unpredictable than ever. Overcoming this seasonal nemesis will require all the skill, knowledge and patience you can muster. But when you finally zero in on a big school of hefty autumn crappie, you're sure to agree that the rewards make the extra effort worthwhile.