Ideas on locating the fish now.

[Pier252]

Hello all. First time poster here although I've been hiding in the shadows for some time reading.


We caught 28 nice paper mouths Monday. 8 Tuesday. And I only managed one yesterday. Fishing the same type structure and depths were between 10-15 where we caught them all. They were all male except one. And no fish in the shallows.
I am a newbie to hunting these fish on my own. My dad has always crappie fished but only a hand full of times each year. I've always been a catfish guy and striper addict. Until this week when a buddy and I decided to go dip some minnows. Now the fact that these little guys can beat me this easily is wearing on my soul. And I now catch myself thinking about them constantly and how I need to go about finding them. HELPPPP. Please! Haha. I now have them in my crosshairs and won't stop until I can consistently catch them. A cold front is coming through tonight and my brother and I are planning to pursue the little devils this weekend before I head back to work Monday.

Thanks in advance.

[Crappiegirl1]

Welcome from fl

[Turtlebait]

They should be in the same area the front may put them a little deeper.Next time you realize your catching all males move out farther in the lake looking for the schooled females.They should be schooled in open water and not around wood.They come in on wood when temp is right to lay their eggs if they sre busting to lay their eggs and the temp is not right they abort and go about their way.High and low pressure is your main goal in learning how and where....

[Cmj]

This is exactly how I got into Crappie fishing three years ago! It gets easier to find them with experience and time on the water. The best advice I can give without knowing your lake and all the variables that come with it is this: dont get stuck fishing a certain spot or a specific type of structure for too long. Just because they were there yesterday doesnt necessarily mean they will be there today. Sure, try those spots first, but if you dont get bit pretty quick, then move on. Also, this time of year they will move up and down in the water column due to changing weather, frontal systems etc. So, use your electronics to locate fish and/or shad. Just keep moving until you find them.

[Pier252]

Thanks guys. I'm having that feeling that this will be a new obsession for me. Plus they taste so insanely good. I'm going to keep studying up and we are going to try and find them tomorrow and Sunday. In the process of dusting off dads crappie rods and re spooling right now. Guess I get to learn how to spider rig next!

[skeetbum]

Welcome from Middle Tennessee. If you get no fish keep changing depth/color/speed til you connect. Pay attention to what works and the changes you make so you can adjust. They might be shallow today, front come through, now they're 8-14'. It will become an obsession, just like the other 28,000 of us on this site deal with. Enjoy the game most of all.

[Pier252]

Went back out today. Caught 5 males In three hours. Up in the flooded timber about 8 feet deep. Came in for lunch and going to rig up some tight line rods for Tuesday and go get after them. The timber is anywhere from 1 ft to 25 feet deep towards the creek channel. Thinking I can drift some just outside the timber and make it happen. Hopefully anyway.

[owl]

I always seem to catch some crappie around structure through the summer while fishing at night with lights (lantern, submersible, and or floating) with minnows sometimes they will be down deep 20 feet plus but always try different depths to begin with and throughout the night