don't just think deep in the Summer

[mikeg]

A lot of us think deep water in the Summer time,you should think about the 8 to 12 ft. water the last three fishing trips I have taken I have caught Crappie in this bepth of water. It is deep water nearby but they have been holding about 1 to 2 ft. off of the bottom.

mikeg

[J White]

I agree - esp. if you've got some color to the water, or low light.
I've caught 'em at times 7-8 deep in summer, though it has usually been
over 40' of water. But they will be where the food is, and I don't think
hot water really bothers them, at least not near as much as the sunlight.

[Bob G]

I spent the last 4 days fishing and my son and I were catching black and whites, large and small all in 4 feet of water in the weeds. The water temp was 82*.
One of the reasons for this was the lack of oxygen in the lake due in part to water temp and less weeds in the lake than in previous years. I live in western pennsylvania. I talked with the dnr and they did a Dissolved oxygen study last week and found that the oxygen levels were low to non existent in depths greater than 10'.
I guess my point is to not over look the shallows. I fish thru the ice up here also, and we catch all kinds of fish in water less than 10' all year.
I'm not sure about the southern waters but, I would imagine if you can find a good weed bed and dip jigs in the pockets you will be surprised as to how many crappie you can catch.
Give it a try and post here the results.
Good fishing!

[Tommy]

Just depends on where you are fishing. I fish one lake that is shallow and the fish do hold in 8 t/ 10 foot of water. The other anywhere from 18 t/ 20.

[jigdragger]

Caught 67 Sun. morning in 4' of water. Fish will be where the bait is.

[DENNIS BOWERS]

10-12 ft of water is a pretty common depth to find them here 80% of the time.Must be a comfort zone to them.

[spawner]

The last couple of times I have gone I have had success starting the morn in shallow water (8 to 12 ft) . I think the key to that is early. The areas I have fished are not far from the river or ditch and those crappie are chasing bait fish up into those shallows. I hit the water at daylight and by 9.00 am the bite in shallower water is about over.

[J White]

The last couple of times I have gone I have had success starting the morn in shallow water (8 to 12 ft) . I think the key to that is early. The areas I have fished are not far from the river or ditch and those crappie are chasing bait fish up into those shallows. I hit the water at daylight and by 9.00 am the bite in shallower water is about over.

BINGO! I see this in deep water too - the fish will move vertically with the
time of day. Last Sunday saw the bite get deeper and deeper as the
morning wore on.

[chaunc]

Been catching lots of nice crappies in less than 10 ft water here in N/W Pa. Even tho its been really hot this summer, the fish are still using the brushpiles in 7ft water all day. Last weekend i got a hundred keepers ( 3 days ) in these areas. I promised 3 groups that i would fry fish at their picnics or cookouts and had plenty of fillets to go around. These same areas produced again yesterday. I promised the church group fish for their fry next week. I've caught these fish in mid-day too. Has to be the baitfish i see swimming around this area that keeps them there. I'm gonna need a new electric knife if i keep this up...

[Tube4Slabs]

One thing about most of these PA lakes is that they stratify into layers. This creates a thermocline and when you get to the colder thermocline the oxygen quits mixing and thus gives you very low (unliveable) DO levels. I used to always fish deep b/c thats what you read in crappie world about those southern lakes, but up here in PA in most of these mad made impoundments if your fishing below 10 ft your probaly not going to be catching fish the DO will drop off at that point