small water crappie

[jarhead]

It's early Feb. went fishing at a small farm in Borden Indiana, Clark Co. I used a smart cast to find the crappie. I thought that I had found them in a few stumps about 13ft. deep. The smart cast was showing fish all over. I fished about 12 to 13ft deep with minnows and slip bobber but only caught 4 largemouth bass. Could all of those fish on the depth finder be bass and no crappie? I thought as many fish that was shown it would have to be crappie. Will the bass hang with the crappie? Why was I only catching bass? The water is still very cold. What is the technique on these cold water crappie?

[bugman]

I fish a few small ponds here in mo and when the water is cold they are very unpredictable i have found the crappie will bite better after a couple days of warm weather and it dont seem to make much difference to the stinking bass.If your smart cast is anything like my fishfinders they tend to lie just a little.Next time set your bait at several different levels, the active crappie will tell you which depth is correct. The main thing is to stay at it because the day you dont try is the day they will bite like hell. I mostly use jigs under a float and fish real slow but on some days they like minnows more thats why i always have both with me. Be prepared there is some real slabs that come out of small ponds each year,a large crappie here on the big resoviors is 1 1/2 lb,i have a friend that caught one out of a 3 acre pond last year that weighed just under 3 lb.