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Thread: Catching crappie deep 60ft.

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    Default Catching crappie deep 60ft.


    Last year I heard a report of a fisherman catching crappie 60ft deep in a deep lake I have fished a few times, is that really possible? At 60 foot I dont think I could feel anything, maybe just watch for slack line? I would appreciate any hints. And how about identifying crappie on sonar??? I have heard verticle strings of fish should be crappie?
    "Some days im Basstastic other days im crapptacular"

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    CrappiePappy's Avatar
    CrappiePappy is offline Super Moderator - 2013 Man Of The Year * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Exclamation depends on the lake ...

    60ft deep in Winter, and possibly even in Summer on some lakes, is not out of the realm of possiblity. But, it would have to be a lake that was well oxygenated at that depth. If the fish are at 60ft - they're there for a reason ... :D
    The "bite" may be subtle, and therefore hard to detect ... but, a "watcher" (line watcher or rod tip watcher) should be able to see that telltale sign that something "extracurricular" is going on down there ...LOL!!

    ID'ing ANY fish species on sonar is tough, unless you're catching some of them ...LOL!! Supposedly, Crappie tend to school in a "pancake" formation (when they are schooled and suspended in the water column) ... so I wouldn't think a "vertical" stack of "fish symbols" would be a good indication of a school of Crappie. Most of the time, when I see a vertical stacking of fish symbols on a depthfinder, it's White Bass or Hybrid Stripers (and the occasional pod of Largemouth). Maybe, with a high end depthfinder, one may be able to discern a species by the shape or formation of the school ... but, where they are located / depth / area structure / presence of baitfish / cover in close proximity/ and other factors may be a better indication of what fish is actually showing up on the screen. Even if all indications point to the 'signals' being a school of Crappie ... there could very well be other species of fish in that same area - and they might be in more of a biting mood than the Crappie ...LOL!! Best advice I can give is to put your bait down there and see what bites ! ...............cp

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    the deepest we caught crappie last year was 52 ft on one lake we fished. there was a hole out in the channel that dipped from 48 to 52 and it was probably 30 yards wide or so. we was drifting minnows on the bottom rigged drop shot with 3/4 oz bell sinkers. . we would only catch fish when we drifted through this hole, with all bites for the day only in this deepest hole. the bites was not hard but small taps but was still easy to see. we let the wind push us through the hole one way and pulled back through with the electric going back, till later on in the day when the wind died and we used the electric to move around the hole. what was strange is no fish was showing up on the sonar at all.. looked like dead water. i guess they was hugging the bottom so close the sonar wasnt able to seperate them. we caught 96 nice fish that day. no real slabs but chunky little fellers just right for either filleting or frying whole. the difference in water pressure was so much that when you got the fish to the surface, their swim bladders was poking out their throats and their mouths locked open.. after a few minutes in the cooler, things went back to normal, with bladders receded and mouths closed.
    i use my sonar to find the particular spots i wanna fish and not to locate fish. it makes you feel good about a place to see the fish echos but all fish make the echos so i dont know what kind of fish is there. it could be anything. sometimes i catch fish and no fish echos show up and sometime i dont catch fish with a ton of echos. it would be nice if a sonar maker put labels on the echos, telling the fisherman what hes looking at. as much as some of them things cost, it probably could be done. till then i guess its all guesswork.. I think all fish tend to relate to about the same type areas since if theres something there that fulfils one species needs,, its gonna fill others. so if you seein fish echos, its probably a mixture off all kinds of fish and not just one.
    listen with your eyes---its the only way to beleive what you hear...

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    I havent had much success in the deep holes. I have fished one area that is nearly sixty feet deep, and caught nothing. Forty yards away where the water comes back up to between 30 and 10 feet, I've done well. In some of my past experiences of catching crappie deep, whenever I had to release a small one, alot of them would die because of the difference in the water. I didnt want to kill any fish, so I limit my deep water fishing.

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    chaunc's Avatar
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    Haven't caught crappies that deep but we catch lots of perch 65ft deep on lake erie. I learned to read the marks there. If the fish are close to or on bottom, they're perch. Up higher than 10ft off bottom, they're white bass or white perch. Its been a very consistent read so i trust my locater to tell me. Even the walleyes suspend up high there. I'm in the east/ central basin area.

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    If you plan on fishing deep use a braided main line and a mono leader.
    Eat your wheaties
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    now that's deep

    "If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." ~Doug Larson

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    Talking Truman Feb 04 54' deep

    We did a trip to Truman lake in Feb 04 and heard they were catching Crappie along the bluffs in deep water. Put in at berry bend and went looking with our old hummingbird ID which showed the fish just off the bottom at 54 feet. Tried minnows first but no takers then tried jiggs and they went crazy. Dropped to the bottom and came up a foot and held there jigging. You could feel a light tap on the line and then set the hook. The eyes would pop out and they only fought about half way up. When on the surface they would lay there due to the pressure difference but would get active after a while in the live well. My dad who never jig fished (nothing but minnows for him) before became hooked on jigging. All 3 of us limited out with 11" - 12"without moving from the spot. That is the deepest I had heard of anyone catching Crappie and a trip we will never forget.

  9. #9
    David Waters's Avatar
    David Waters is offline Moderator Shoals Area Crappie Association Forum * Crappie.com Supporter
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    Default deep slabs

    caught these fish on Wilson Lake last year in March-April in from 45-55 feet deep, on the bottom. Would drop my Kentucky rig all the way then reel up a few cranks. There was some big cover down there. You could feel the bite easy. Was spider rigging with a one ounce weight.
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    Guy I used to work with told me some "tales" of 60' deep crappie on
    Pickwick in dead 'o winter, but he is sort of windy, so I didn't know.
    Good to hear somebody has done it. I think I'd like that.
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