Shallow water fishing

[crappiefarmer]

What is your favorite way to crappie fish Shallow? Bait, Technique? What cover do you target? Thanks. CF

[Jason Piper]

I prefer to use minnows under a float 2'-4' down. I key in on buck brush, tree lay downs or just about any cover that is near the bank. I like banks that have a slight curve to them also, like a channel bend or a small cove. Deep water near by is a plus as well! I will also take a 1.5" YUM curl tail on a 1/16 oz jig head and position the boat close to the bank and make long casts along the bank retrieving slowly. This can be very effective also.

[fishingpox]

Depending on the lake and at what depth they spawn. I fished a lake last weekend with some success. I caught them in about 14 inches of water. They were caught on big tree limbs covered with small branches. The day before that I caught them in duck weed. I like to use jigs. Though now it is time to start wading.

[skiptomylu]

Jigs, trolling in water around grass that is 3'-7' early and 6'-12' late Spring. Also Casting into water near shore like lately I have been doing catching them in 2' of water. Fished Sunday for 1 1/2 hours with 14 keepers and today for another 1 1/2 hours to keep 10. Most are 11"-14" in this last few days.

There is a lot of buck brush where I have been fishing and some grass. The fish have been some 10'-30' off the bank and the brush.

All jigs!

Todays 10...

[1weezer]

I love to spider rig in very shallow water. 1 to 3 feet of water. Ain't nothing like catching a 2 pound crappie in 18 inches of water on a 12 foot pole. Very exciting!

[NIMROD]

Here the water is dingy and has cover. We use jig on a 12 ' Buck's Jig pole.

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[tarheel]

Nothing beats a lazy cork with a minnow under it duing the spring spawn!

[minnowsoaker]

minnow under a cork.

[skiptomylu]

Nothing beats a lazy cork with a minnow under it duing the spring spawn!

No doubt minnows work well, but I just don't like messing with them if I don't have to. Soon though I will catch near as many as the minnow guys and I will usually catch the bigger ones. I hate minnows so much the only time I will buy them and use them in when it gets so hot I only fish at night and even then I still have a 1/4 oz. jig 18" below the minnow and the bigger fish come on the jig.

Last Spring trolling I caught quite a few crappie in the 17" range and lots 15" or better. So far this spring I have caught lots of throw backs on the first couple of days last week before I was on them shallow. However since They went to trolling depth down to about 2' of water I have caught almost all keepers. I have not topped 14" yet this year, but a lot 12"-14"; probably 30% that size and something like 20% is all that were under 11".

[CrappiePappy]

What is your favorite way to crappie fish Shallow? Bait, Technique? What cover do you target? Thanks. CF

If by shallow, you mean less than 8ft deep .... casting jigs to wood cover.
Less than 4ft deep ... casting a 1/32oz Roadrunner "over" submerged cover.
In between the 4-8ft range, and depending on lake and cover type ... minnow under a slip float (or Vertical Casting a jig).
Most likely subject (cover) to target ....... wood !! (anything from a pencil thin twig, poking out above the surface ... to a full sized blowdown tree )

...... cp