Fall Crappie

[Chadku]

Hey guys I am having trouble locating these fall crappie..I just got a boat this year and have never really went after them during the fall..Everything I hear is go shallow...It has been cool around here lately and the water temp has dropped into the low 70's...I hear go shallow like spring time but it seems like everytime I have a chance to go out a cold front has just gone through and its 55-60 outside and a stiff wind....will those fronts cause the fish to move back into deeper water or will they stay in the shallows and stick closer to the trees?

[Jerry Blake]

Those cold fronts will give them a good case of lockjaw for a day or two. They probably won't move much deeper unless the water warms up or until it gets below 60. You may have to fish deeper and tighter to the cover though and use smaller, slower presentations after a front passes through to get them to bite.

If you can get out the day before a front goes through they'll likely be a lot more cooperative.

Don't expect them to get quite as shallow in the Fall as they do in the Spring. In our deep reservoirs we usually find them about the same depth in the Fall as they stage for spawning in the Spring - 4 to 12-feet - but not 1 or 2-feet deep like they are when spawning.

When your surface temps fall through the lower 70s and through the 60s your crappie should get bunched up a lot better and a lot more aggressive.