Finding crappie on a new body of water

[Warchief23]

Since spring is knocking on the door, any recommendations for where you all would start looking for crappie on a new body of water? Thanks!

[SuperDave336]

SK Crappie Catching has a playlist on this topic.

How To Find Crappie | How To Locate Crappie | Crappie Fishing Tips And Secrets | Part 1 - YouTube

[DockShootinJack]

If it is anything like down this way. You can tell where they are at by all the boats and bank fishermen hammering them.

[CrappiePappy]

On any "new to me" body of water, I look for them to be in much the same places & depths as they would be on a familiar home lake ... given the conditions and type of lake.
And I'd also take into account what Jack said about the "when in Rome" situation.

And since you're a fellow KY angler:

What lake are you referring to as a "new body of water", and what lake are you most familiar with ??
You might also want to post your questions on the KY forum.

And last, but not least ... to Crappie.com !!

[Warchief23]

Thank you SuperDave

[Warchief23]

Thanks Pappy! Home lake would be Dewey lake, I guess....small reservoir, fairly shallow. So, any body of water is very different from what I'm used to. Thank you for the welcome!

[Ketchn]

local bait shop first , ask nicely , they sell more bait if you ketch more fish ....
then as stated look for lots of vehicles near the water and or lots of boats ....
no need to search for them this time of year the masses will show you where to be ...just saying

[yobuck]

Since spring is knocking on the door, any recommendations for where you all would start looking for crappie on a new body of water? Thanks!

Id be figuring on spending a day just riding around the lake, looking at the depth finder and for things like trees that fell over into the water along the shoreline, also things like weed beds and lilly pads.
A boat is apt to bring another boat, then another.
Eventually the first guy might leave and go looking for a better spot. lol

[DockShootinJack]

Navionics is a pretty good app. Gives you a topo map of the bottom. Also has standing timber and other structure marked at well. It will certainly help rule out areas that are not deep enough for the fishes liking

[Alphahawk]

Google maps is your friend. Thirteen years ago I decided I wanted to try a new to me TVA Lake. Pulled up google maps and started looking. Saw a bridge that looked like it might hold crappie....had a pull off for parking...I was bank fishing mind you. Made the 90 mile drive...parked...walked under the bridge and started fishing. Proceeded to catch 60 crappie all in the 12-14 inch range. Did not have a stringer...tree limb...no cooler...nothing. So they all were released but I went back the very next day with a cooler and started bringing fish home. I fished that spot up until I moved this past September. A conservative estimate of the number of crappie I caught under that bridge would be 13,000. When I got back in to boating in 2015 I also used google maps to find crappie and bluegill spots in the same lake. Every fishing spot I had was found on google maps. Nickajack Lake provided me with some stellar fishing for those 13 years. And I am serious when I tell you I owe it all to google maps. Google Earth can help you out also. If you want to find some bluegill beds on a lake you might can do so using historical data on Google Earth. The point is I headed to Nickajack Lake only armed with spots I picked from maps...and it paid off immediately.


Regards