a fall crappie fishing seminar

[fatrap]

This spring the fishing here on Lake Wappapello was easy and very good. I thought that I had this crappie thing figured out. All summer I have struggled and caught very few fish. Fall is coming and every one says that the fishing gets better. What do you good fishermen and ladies do then? I suspect that a lot of us beginners need all the help that we can get. We don't have much standing timber but we have massive schools of shad. The people that I talk to say, "shallow flats just off the river channel". Do the crappie go back into the creeks like the spring migration? Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

[CrappiePappy]

This spring the fishing here on Lake Wappapello was easy and very good. I thought that I had this crappie thing figured out. All summer I have struggled and caught very few fish. Fall is coming and every one says that the fishing gets better. What do you good fishermen and ladies do then? I suspect that a lot of us beginners need all the help that we can get. We don't have much standing timber but we have massive schools of shad. The people that I talk to say, "shallow flats just off the river channel". Do the crappie go back into the creeks like the spring migration? Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

Black Crappie do tend to follow the Shad back into the creeks, in the Fall. They just don't go way back into the shallow waters of the head of the creek. White Crappie seem to stay out in the channels, either the main lake ones or the deeper ones in the larger creeks. At least this is what I've observed over many years of fishing in Oct. on a certain E. Tenn. lake.

Fall fishing at some local lakes, I've had good success around standing trees in deep water (20-30ft) and fishing 8-12ft down. I've also done fairly good fishing a minnow @ 6-8ft deep, down in the branches of cedar tree hulks that are standing in deep water (20-30ft). These times were generally in Nov., though.

The thermocline, if your lake has one, will dictate how deep the fish can go ... and still survive. Finding cover (brushpiles, standing timber, bridge pilons, etc) that rises up through that depth, would be the first places I'd try. If your lake has a "turnover" ... you'll need to fish it beforehand, then once it occurs, wait until the lake has settled back down.

... cp

[waterturkey]

I grew up fishing Lake Wappapello. In the fall we would catch crappie in coves around shallow stumps and brushpiles. Some so shallow you wouldn't think there be enough water for a fish to be in.

[slimeyslab]

Where I fish the fish seem to go back to a spring pattern chasing shad in the backs of the creeks.