Pre-Spawn Crappies

[Tugaloo]

I would assume that, right now in SC, we are in the Pre-spawn mode. The temps for the last few days have been in the 50 - 60 degree range. Today it's 64 degrees and cloudy. Friday & Saturday the forecast is for mid to upper 50's. I don't know where any brush piles are right now, but I'm taking a Christmas tree and 6, 1 gallon milk jugs with 4 pieces of bamboo in each jug & I'll be putting them out on Friday.

But for right now, in these conditions, what are the kinds of places that crappie are more likely to be? Will they be in the bottoms of the creek channels, suspended near the tops of the creek channels, or what? I will probably do some trolling around those creek channels to see what I can find. Any other suggestions of the types of places to try?

TIA

Tugaloo

[Bruce Carp]

What is the water temperature? Air temperature doesn't matter, water is what counts. If water temperature is at 64 then look for crappie around brushy areas in shallow water early and late in the day. Pebble gavel with some brush makes a nice crappie bed for hatching. Bruce

[Jason Piper]

When the water temp hits that magic 50 degree mark on Beaver in NW Arkansas the pre-spawn is on! I look for breaks in the shore line. For example a river or creek channel that curves close to shore or a straight stretch of shore line in a cove that suddenly has a slight bend in it. I usualy find pre-spawn crappies in about 15'-20' of water suspending down about 10'. Brush is good but if you can find a good break in the shore line you will find many crappie!

[Tugaloo]

Well, I did a Google search, checked a BUNCH of websites & finally found one that states that on Feb 11, 2005 the water temperature was 44 in the morning and 46 by 2:00 PM.

Here is the Crappie Report:

Crappie fishing is starting to pick up this week. Finding the brush piles and larger structure in 12 to 15 feet of water will be the key. Use small crappie minnows and small Blue Fox crappie jigs for the best results.

Since I quoted, let me say that this came from:

http://www.fishin.com/reports/ga/gar....html#hartwell

"Structure" means "creek channels"??? Right???

So, I guess that gives me a starting point. Except that I don't have any Blue Fox Crappie Jigs, & don't know what they are. I do have some BPS tube jigs & some Blakemore Crappie Thunder jigs.

Looks like I'll be using my finder to identify water that is 12 - 15 feet deep & then look for irregularities on the bottom like creek channels, & brush piles if I can find them. Would fish suspend at 12- 15 feet above deeper structure?

Can someone describe a Blue Fox Crappie Jig for me? Are they available at Wal-mart?

Tugaloo

[whizkids]

Last weekend the water temp was 44. The fish were 2 ft off the bottom in the main channel. Fish were caught from 28 ft to 15 ft depending on the depth of the channel at that point. There also fish in 5 ft of water holding near the shore on a sunny bank. All fish were caught tight linning. Trollers, even those that fished deep did not fare as well.
They are holding on channel breaks at wateree also same pattern basically
same water temp.

[Jerry Blake]

http://www.bluefox.com/products/lures/jigs.html