Mississippi. River crappie

[Denzil Schuerenberg]

I fish river near. New Madrid mo for catfish were will find crappie around Dykes. Ect

[CrappiePappy]

Denzil .... look for any obstruction that changes the current flow of the river and creates a eddy. Everything from a log, tree, stump, wing dam, bridge pillar, even an underwater island can slow or divert the flow of water ... and Crappie will use the down current/eddy areas of these. Any hard turn in the channel will leave a slower current area in the inside of the bend, and Crappie will use any such area that affords them the slower current. Major creeks that empty into the river are also a prime place to look.

... cp

[Denzil Schuerenberg]

Thank you. That's. What I needed there is an island with a duke across back channel. With river. gets below. 20 ft becomes. A dam 80 to 100 ft hole on back side. On up stream. Sides shallow. As 2 ft

[NIMROD]

Be safe and stay off the river if it is still high . Should be some oxbows off the river .

[matzilla]

to add..during low water look for downed trees near or in the main channel - anchor and jig or troll over large ones repeatedly. In cold water, target structure in slack water 10+ feet deep. Late spring, normal to low water - look for schools of bait fish near the tail end of islands or side channel chutes near islands. You can often find active crappies pushing through the schools...this is also a prime catfishing pattern as well

[doggone]

you got some guys down that area I'm sure could give you a leg up,I have never fished it down that far, but around wood on the side chutes , and feeder creeks is usually where you start. The fish are going to reposition all the time based on what the water is doing. Any slack area with significant structure and a lot of baitfish is a good place to start. It seems like the crappie in the big rivers exhibit typical crappie behaviour even more so then other bodies of water or reservoirs. They seem to find a quiet place and pull in to structure and it takes a more precise and generally slower presentation. I rarely ever catch one when casting jigs for skipjack in areas where current is going around piers or dike ends or whatever...you'll catch white bass,hybrids and stuff but the crappie always seem to be holding in tight to structure and don't get in the feeding with the other fish. You need to get some weedless jigs so you can fish right in the brush sometimes. When the river gets way down you may find some structure out farther closer to the channel that is breaking current and may have some fish,but it's tiresome to dodge the tows all the time.Crappie use a very,very, small part of any of the major rivers. She is swift and murky and an endless parade of barge traffic down this way as you know. But I have found similar behaviour on the Ohio,Tennessee,and Cumberland. They just use a small part of the rivers compared to the other fish.

Get with some guys down there that know that stretch for crappie.I have heard talk.

[Denzil Schuerenberg]

Thanks. Guys there are several. Bar pits. but. Can't. Get my boat in most thought. Might try the rive