Crappie never stop biting even in the wintertime you can catch them. That’s great news for anglers wanting to catch crappie, but catching them can be challenging in cold water. Once the water temperature drops below 47 degrees, crappie anglers need to target mouths of creek channels and main river channels to catch wintertime crappie.
Professional crappie fishing guide Barry Morrow (www.barrymro.com), a featured guest on fishing shows, or at boat shows and crappie seminars along with guiding on Eufaula Lake in Oklahoma and on Truman Lake in Missouri, adjusts to the colder water temperatures by moving out into the 15- to 30-foot range to catch crappie. “I target the mouth of creeks and the main river channel once the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. The only time I fish shallower is if the sun has been out warming up the water a couple of degrees and then I will move in to 10- to 15-feet of water,” explained Morrow.
Morrow is fishing open water out of his boat. It’s a different approach then many of the other angler’s crappie fishing in the wintertime who are fishing out of heated docks. While heated docks have brush piles put under them to attract crappie, Morrow relies on his electronics to locate schools of crappie or brush piles in 15- to 30-feet of water.
Location is critical for catching wintertime crappie. Morrow recommended that crappie anglers should target favorite underwater structure and brush piles on familiar lakes. On unfamiliar lakes, Morrow recommends anglers should graph around in potential areas looking for crappie before fishing them and only stopping where they graphed crappie to fish.
When fishing open water in the wintertime, Morrow uses a two hand-two rod approach. “By using two rods you multiply the number of lures you’re fishing with. In open water fishing situations that can make a huge difference in catching crappie or going home empty handed,” noted Morrow. Morrow basically holds on to the two rods while moving along with the electric trolling motor watching the graph for crappie or structure and brush piles that are holding crappie.
One exception to using the two rod approach is when Morrow finds crappie around thick cover or trees. In that situation, Morrow will change and use just a single 1/4-ounce jig because it’s less likely to get hung up.
For rods, Morrow uses the 11’ Todd Huckabee series crappie rod. “It’s a long rod and designed to allow the angler to make quick hook sets,” pointed out Morrow.
He uses a baitcaster reel on the 11’ Todd Huckabee series crappie rod spooled up with 12 pound test Super Silver Thread fishing line. Although, Morrow may go to lighter pound test fishing line if the conditions call for it.
As for lures, Morrow keeps it simple. He rigs a 1/4-ounce 2-inch Lindy Watsit jig (www.lindyfishing tackle.com) with a 1/8-ounce Lindy Fuzz-E Grub tied 14-inch up the line towards the rod tip. This double lure combination is extremely productive when fishing in open water during the wintertime.
Normally, his favorite color patterns for the Lindy Fuzz-E Grub include black/chartreuse, silver flash, shocking yellow or gold strike. He likes the chartreuse with/purple flake/purple on cloudy days or in stained water, but will change up to green pumpkin with/ black flake/pearl in sunny conditions. Morrow went on to add that those are the colors he starts fishing with, but will change up to different color combinations if crappie refuse to bite them.
If the two lure in deep water approach is not productive, Morrow has a backup technique. He will switch to standing timber that is located in 15- to 25-feet of water and fish them vertically with a jig. “When I go fish standing timber, I like ones that have extra brush around them. They always seem to be more productive,” pointed out Morrow.
When fishing in the wintertime, Morrow did have one tip for anglers to catch more crappie. “You should always set the hook once you feel the crappie bite your lure. If you wait until you see your line move, you will miss a lot of crappie,” revealed Morrow.
Crappie fishing in the wintertime can be a productive even when the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. Anglers just head towards deeper water with a two hand- two lure approach and keep in 15- to 30-feet of water targeting the mouth of creeks and in the main river channel. The results of fishing in deeper water will surprise you and put a mess of crappie in the livewell.
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