fall crappie

[snapper]

what do the crappie do in the fall and winter. i am normaly deer huntingbut going to fish this year i can catch them in the spring but have no clue about fall and winterthanks for the help

[speckfinder]

Don't know where you are at but on KY Lake you can catch them on brushpiles 8'-12' all fall and well into the winter until water temp gets into low 40's. Give it a try it could be some of the best fishing you have.

[CrappiePappy]

I see from your posts that you're in Arkansas possibly ???

Can't tell you what they do down there, but up here (KY & E TN) where I fish ... the Black Crappie come into the bigger/deep creeks and stage under docks, in the Fall. The White Crappie stay out on the creek/river ledges. As Fall works into Winter ... the White Crappie just move out to the main lake's larger channels, while the Black Crappie follow suit ... just not as soon. The Black Crappie will hang around vertical cliffs/rock walls and/or deep flats with timber, for awhile .. before joining the White Crappie out in the main lake channels.
Not all, of either species, will leave the shallower creeks, or docks, or wherever they were found during the Fall ... even after Winter arrives. A good water depth, cover, foodsource, and survivable water temps will keep some right in the same area ... late Summer, right on thru Winter.
The Fall migration is just the Crappie following the Shad (or whatever baitfish/foodsource your waters have) ... same thing they do most all year long, except when spawning is going on :p

If you know, or can find out, what the baitfish are doing (where they are & where they're going) ... expect the Crappie to be at some ambush spot along their path. They may be ahead of the baitfish, and waiting ... or they may be following behind, but in hot pursuit. They instinctively know that cooler water means longer times between meals, so they go on a feeding binge to fatten up ... for two reasons : to survive & grow larger -- and to provide the necessary nourishment for the production of eggs/milt, so they'll be in good health when spawning time rolls around

... luck2ya ... cp

[yankee doodler]

down into the mid to lower 60's and the fish are moving back from 30+ depths into the 15' and less. What Pappy said I think holds true most everywhere.

I haven't been finding them on the flats unless there is substantial cover. Mostly they are hanging alone the weed lines at the ledges now.

Also for some reason the artificials that were working great have now been pretty dead. Live minners seem to be the bait of choice.

[snapper]

thanks for the info i am from arkansas fort smith area

[Arkie John]

You're in a good area for crappie. The nearest Corps lake is Blue Mountain, I think, but then again, you ALWAYS have the river.

There are a multitude of smaller lakes in the area and they surely hold substantial numbers of crappie.

This is really my first time to fish in the fall for crappie, but already things are looking up. I live 10 miles south of Ouachita, my home lake and the specks are cooperating more often than not now.

Water temp is still in the high 70's/lo 80's here, so we need another two weeks. <><

aj

[slabbandit]

I catch my heaviest fish of the year between now and March. They seem to move back to the 8 to 10 foot depths on available brushpiles until the cold just drives them to the edges of the main river channel. Here in west central Arkansas, on Lake Nimrod, I rarely have to fish over 15 feet deep in the coldest weather. Our lake has pretty poor visibility though.