trouble with cold water crappie

[Matt Lad]

Hello from NJ. I'm a new member and I need some help. I've gotten pretty good at catching crappie during the warmer months here in NJ but I am at a complete loss when fishing for them in cold water.
The water temperature where I'm fishing has been 42. I'm marking fish on my sonar throughout the entire water column but they're not responding to anything that I put in front of them. I've been fishing very slow because of the cold temps, using different baits with different presentations and have had no success. I don't expect every mark on the sonar to be a crappie but some of them must be because I have caught plenty of slabs in these lakes.
I read an article by Jeff White about trolling crank baits for cold water crappie and am going to try that this weekend. Has anybody tried this method in cold water with any success.
Suggestions, tips and information of any kind will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Tony the Tiger]

Me being from the Alabama gulf coast I can't be much help with cold water conditions but I'm sure some one will chime in to help. Welcome from the Alabama delta

[Cray]

If you haven't done it first thing I would do is down size my baits. Seems in cold water they like tiny baits. Also crank baits will catch fish in cold water.

[doggone]

try fishing only around some structure for a while and see if that helps.Sometimes the fish to catch are so tight to cover they get lost in the return.Just go structure to structure and try to put your bait right in front of them... Fish wood first,if you don't have a lot of wood then try rock,weed beds,something that gives them something for cover. If baitfish are present close by so much the better. The other thing is try to fish under baitfish balls. That gives you specific targets to look for and make your presentation. Try to find a creek channel with standing timber or stumps,and then look for brush piles in among the timber that are along the creek channel. Locate some at different depths and then try to find what depth they are preferring. You may want to try a weedless jig because you will need to drop it right in the structure at times. Get situated and sit real still and look and feel for a real light bite. I sometimes use a slip bobber even if I am right beside the boat and fishing 30 ft deep. I use enough weight to have the bobber where it will barely float and look for the slightest movement. Just use different size split shots to get it just right.

[Zippy]

Most fish at those temps will be right on the bottom. You may see suspended fish and they might be active crappie but for the most part, in water under 45 degrees the majority of fish will be within that first two feet from the mud. A steep transition from shallow to 10 -15 feet deep will be where they are. Preferably soft bottom and better still if there are sunken wood or stumps down there. They will still be in protected spots without sunken wood. If there are standing trees they will be around them but again deep. As already said, small and slow, many times verticle will out fish casts and soft plastics will out fish live bait.

Scan steep drop offs around points either visable or sunken until you see fish. Keep in mind when fish are that close to th. bottom and your moving slow the eturn will be noting more than a smear of color on the bottom line on th screen. With mine it shows up as yellow when right over them or red when they are off to the side of the cone.

Also, there is a chance that you are already getting bites but not feeling them. Use nothing over 6 pound mono, and jigs no heavier than 1/16 oz. I like straight tailed baits in the winter and not twisters. When in a likely spot drop the jig right to the bottom and give the reel 2 revolutions. Hop the jig up and down two or three times then let it sit completly still and wait for a tap, then set the hook. If your not feeling a tap a slow lift will often indicate a fish when you feel the weight.

One last thing I do. I use my jigging mode on the fish finder constantly to confirm fish. When i roll up to a spot I will drop a jig straight down and see if there ar any reactions. If you see a fish come up to look, at least you know there is so ething alive down there and it raiss your confidence a lot. Hope this helps.

["G"]

Going to move this to Main Crappie board....so you can get more info. Welcome to C.C

[SlabSlider]

Went the other day and fished some submerged trees visible on surface. Each were about 40 feet from each other. There were two other anglers on a couple of trees close by but I did not see them catching anything. They were moving around their jigs fast and popping them to much from what I could see. The water was 22 feet deep around trees and I could see some signs on the sonar that were faint.
I pulled up as quietly as possible to a lone tree and anchored without moving the tree one bit. Once in place I fished from the bottom up with a 1/32 jig head with a Bobby Garland baby shad in Lights Out color and tipped the jigs with crappie nibbles or a minnow. I let the jig hit the bottom and cranked up one or two reels and STOPPED. And WAITED. And WAITED. I moved as close as I could to the tree and BAM! They are tight and will not swim out, up or down to your bait when they are that cold. The water makes them lethargic and not want to move unless the food is dangled right in their face.
I jigged without the minnows and nibbles a bit as well but they wanted something to smell and taste it seemed to me.
My suggestion is to SLOW DOWN and go small and use live bait or attractant to help find them. If they hit the jig alone you are golden. If not just sit and wait and they will hit it.

[Matt Lad]

Thanks to everybody who responded to my cold water crappie thread. I will definitely try all of the suggestions. I'm on a mission!!!!

[Matt Lad]

Thanks "G"!

[bee]

If I was you I would fish like I do. I use a short 5 ft rod and vertical jig using my fish finder / flasher to find them ad then watch the bite.