Where Not To Crappie Fish - By Brad Wiegmann

Everyone is always bragging about were to catch crappie. What a great reservoir or lake. It’s full of 3 pound crappie, but what about where not to go crappie fishing?

I can’t say that I have ever written an article on where not to go crappie fishing. It seems simple. You research your crappie fishing destination on the internet and pack up the lures that are popular there to fish. You know where the boat ramps are and which one to launch at once you get there.



Your research into the reservoir you are going to should include calling or visiting with crappie anglers that fish or live in that area. Most crappie anglers and guides are willing to share some general information on the reservoir. To get the most information on how to fish the reservoir you might even higher a crappie guide.

Next check out Google Maps of the reservoir you plan on fishing. An aerial view allows you to see the entire lake or a section that you will be fishing. Locations of old road beds or even the boat ramp you plan on launching from on the reservoir.

Check out social media for public posts on the reservoir. Most good or great crappie fishing destinations have multiple lake pages, but keep an open mind on who is posting the information. A fishing guide that says the crappie are biting great and all weigh 3 pounds might embellish the fishing conditions. Current fishing conditions posts will have appropriate seasonal clothing and trees have leaves or no leaves depending on the season. Remember the majority of all social media pages are really just fronts for a guide service.


Another resource is to call the tourism association that covers the reservoir. Normally they will have guides that they use. They can also tell you about lodging and places to eat.

All that being said where should an angler not go to fish for crappie? I know that there are places that just don’t have a healthy population of crappie. It might be due to unpreventable environmental reasons or overharvesting of the population.


Recently, we went on a fishing trip to Mozingo Lake in Missouri. We had envisioned hungry crappie snapping at our lures and rods bent, however, the reality was crappie fishing was dreadful. Obviously, we had not done our research or we would have known that catching a limit of keeper crappie was going to be nearly impossible to catch.



What we found out from Tory Mason with the Missouri Conservation Department later was the population of crappie had been plentiful, however, a change in the biomass might have influenced the crappie population. A couple years ago gizzard shad were introduced to the lake. This was not done intentionally. Before the introduction bream were the main source of forage for game fish, but now a large population of gizzard shad.


In the end, Mozingo Lake has a great population of big largemouth, but right now most of the crappie in the reservoir is quite small and not large enough to harvest.

But that’s not the end of this story; far from it. We don’t give up easily. So the challenge was on to catch a crappie. Not just any crappie, but a keeper crappie.

Mitch Glenn owner of PICO Lures along with outdoor writer Tim Huffman launched from the Mozingo City Ramp early one morning. After a night of 30mph north winds and a layer of fresh snow the water temperatures had plummeted to 42 degrees sending what keeper crappie there were in to lethargic state suspension. Never being on the lake before Glenn rigged up to troll crankbaits. “Multiple lures at different depths are the fastest way to find crappie. PICO INT deep diving crankbaits run straight and true right out of the package. No tuning necessary plus we have every crappie catching colors there is,” said Glenn.



After a quick pass around the lower end resulting in not catching a fish or even seeing much activity on the sonar units Glenn and Huffman reeled up and ventured to the upper end of the lake. Putting away the trolling rods it was time to try casting for crappie using live imaging sonar. We would use a single pole with one lure to try and catch an elusive keeper crappie.


Next what happened was a surprise to Huffman. He was shown a new set up that was called a PICO Rig. Huffman noted that the size of the rig was large for a crappie lure. After being assured that it wasn’t everyone rigged up.


Now a PICO Rig consist of a PICO Lures Eye Scope Jighead and a Crème Lure 3 ½-inch Reel Scremer, but the flat tail of the Reel Scremer cut off making a shad shaped body. A PICO Rig is perfect for catching roamers that are suspended; in addition to casting for them or fishing deep cover. It is an open hook rig that looks like a shad or minnow when retrieved or worked in an up-and-down movement.


After fishing for a while without any bites we moved to an area with shad and cover. Huffman noted it was a good place to catch a crappie. Dropping his lure for the hundredth time he finally got a bite. Huffman reeled it in and Mitch landed it.


“You did it! You caught a unicorn!” Mitch said referring to the rarely seen keeper crappie on Mozingo Lake.