Puzzled by wintertime crappie by Brad Wiegmann

The key to solving any puzzle is figuring out where everything belongs. In a way, every time a crappie angler goes out fishing they are faced with a puzzle of where are the fish at today, how deep, what lure to catch them with and so on. The two keys to solving catching wintertime crappie are fishing in creeks and around baitfish.

Of course knowing where to fish solves the biggest problem facing any angler. In February, crappie anglers wish the crappie were up shallow spawning, however, most reservoirs have yet to start warming up. This keeps crappie in the creeks feeding on shad.



“The crappie move into the creeks following shad in February. So to catch them, I work my way towards the back end of the creek beginning at the mouth. I’m watching my depth finder looking for structure, stumps, log jams, lay downs, and drop-offs the entire time I’m moving to the back end marking locations to fish on the way out towards the mouth,” said Wally Marshall aka Mr. Crappie.

Marshall’s key to solving where to fish centers around shad. “I’m looking for baitfish the entire time. So when I don’t see them visually or on my sonar unit it’s time to stop and start fishing my way out,” said Marshall.

Major feeder creeks that stretch out from three to ten miles long are the best ones to fish, however, any major feeder creek will be loaded with crappie. “What a crappie angler has to keep in mind is that year in and year out crappie will change where they are located. Every year it’s different due to water level and other factors,” said Marshall.

As Marshall fishes his way out, he pays close attention to channel swings in particular inside channel swings where logs, log jams, lay downs and other cover tends to end up. Any deep hole with cover is another location where Marshall will fish.

How deep Marshall will fish depends on water temperature. “If a body of water gets a few days of sunlight and warms up the water crappie can be caught suspending from five foot and shallower. Often these crappie are suspending over cover in the deeper water of the channel,” said Marshall.

Anglers can approach catching them two ways. One is by casting or jigging a lure under a bobber. The distance between the bobber and jig can be adjusted according to how deep the crappie are located. When fishing from shore using a bobber and jig can be extremely productive while losing little tackle.

On the other hand, Marshall likes to vertically jig since he is normally fishing out of a boat. Vertically jigging allows Marshall the ability to pick carefully where his jig will go and how deep. Normally, Marshall will work the outer section of cover then work towards shore dipping the jig in holes or pockets.



His favorite lure to jig with is a 1/8-ounce Mr. Crappie Sausage Head jig (www.mrcrappie.com) rigged with a Crappie Thunder soft plastic lure rigged on a nine foot Wally Marshall Pro Series rod (www.lews.com) and Lew’s 8-pound test high vis line. Marshall prefers the Sausage Head because it can be fished in heavy cover without getting hung up along with a sausage shaped head that keeps it from rolling side to side for the perfect hook set. As for color patterns on the Crappie Thunder, Marshall likes hot chicken.com or tuxedo/black.

February, Marshall pointed out is a little bit before prespawn when crappie transition out of the creeks and into the main lake. “Once baitfish move out the anglers should follow them out of the creeks,” said Marshall.

Yes, it’s a puzzle to figure out crappie fishing during this time of year. However, crappie anglers can save themselves some time by fishing in creeks and finding the baitfish.