Not shallow yet - By Brad Wiegmann

These warmer days have every angler thinking about fishing for spawning crappie. The longer, sunshine days have the female crappie in the initial stages of spawning, but the majority of crappie are still in deeper water. To catch these crappie anglers need to fish in the right areas and using a presentation that will put a lure in the strike zone.


“Up on Wheeler Reservoir in Alabama during this time of year I’m looking for a creek channel or creek channel that runs up on the flats where the depth might be 3- to 5-feet deep,” B’n’M Poles and Charlie Brewer Slider Pro Kevin McCarley went on, “Areas like Flint Creek, Limestone Bay or Mallard Creek are areas that hold crappie that time of year.”



McCarley will spider rig eight 16-foot BGJP B’n’M Poles (www.bnmpoles.com) rigged with 6 pound monofilament fishing line to catch crappie. He likes to rig them two different ways when spider rigging. One is with a cork and the other without. “Some days they just like it better if there’s a cork holding up the lure or bait, but you just never know until you get the poles in the water,” said McCarley.


Normally, McCarley uses just one lure per pole, but will switch lure colors throughout the day depending on how the crappie are biting. “The water color up on Wheeler makes it perfect for a Charlie Brewer Slider Crazy Tail Grub in Black/Red/Chartreuse or Black/Chartreuse color patterns rigged on a 1/16-ounce jighead,” McCarley continued, “I will either tie on a Crazy Tail Grub on a 1/16-ounce jighead or a #2 hook with a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce split shoot attached 4- or so inches above the hook that I will put a minnow on.”



He will position the lures or minnows 2- or 3-feet below with or without the bobber, but typically off the bottom. “Live sonar has made it easier to spider rig up on Wheeler even with all the stumps you can see and avoid running into them, however, it also lets you see how many sniffer’s that actually come up and see a lure or even follow a lure, but never bite it,” said McCarley.


Another way McCarley will fish for crappie on Wheeler is dragging corks off the back of the boat. He will keep the boat moving at 1-mph with the trolling motor to keep the jigheads high in the water column. McCarley uses the same B’n’M Poles, but will switch to the Charlie Brewer Slider Curly Tail when pulling them from the back of the boat.



“This is what we did before live sonar and one that will produce crappie everyday out on Wheeler,” McCarley continued, “I learned how from my Dad who also likes using the same set up with a minnow, split shot and hook or our favorite Charlie Brewer Slider soft plastics.”


Charlie Brewer’s Slider Company is located just north of the Shoals area in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. It was started in 1970 under the original name of Crazy Head Tackle Company because of the unique and crazy looking jighead design. In 1984, Charlie Brewer Jr. his son bought the company and officially changed its name to the Charlie Brewer’s Slider Company.


2021 Mr. Crappie Invitational team winner Jeff Larch and a fishing guide on Lake Nimrod in Arkansas concentrates on areas where the edge of a creek or river channel is located right now. These are areas where the shad can move up in the flats and ambush baitfish. Depending on sunlight and warming trend the crappie maybe higher in the water column, but retreat back to hugging the bottom if a cold front comes through.

To catch these roaming crappie, Larch will use a long rod 13- or 14-feet Power Crappie rod and pitch a lure like the a 2-inch Charlie Brewer Slider Grub (www.sliderfishing.com) rigged a 1/8-ounce jighead. He ties the jighead to 12 pound mono or 20 pound Braid.