Thread: Locatiion of Crappies when water cools

My experience has been that when the water cools the baitfish move more shallow water seeking warmer water and I find Crappie following those shallow schools and often on brush piles (blowdowns) or shallow structure waiting to ambush a meal. I am no expert by any means but there are plenty of members on here that will chime in. Crappie Pappy will for sure answer I am sure.

I'm of the impression that some Crappie tend to stay around the timber all year long & some will venture out and back & up/down the lake. Kinda depends on the lake, too. One thing is for sure, though ... they aren't going to stay "anywhere" where there's no chance of Shad cruising by !! That's the one major factor that Crappie anglers sometimes forget about. If you know the normal movement patterns of the food source, you're going to know where the fish are going to set up their ambush points. I mean, if the Ice Cream Truck passes by your street every day at 10AM & then again at 6PM ... are you going to be on the corner waiting at 2PM ??

Man I have never seen an Ice Cream Truck on my rural road, I wondered why for all this time.. LMAO. I knew you would chime in.

And then there are lakes like Taylorsville, like now shad is everywhere!

Check the brushpiles in 8 to 12 ft. White crappies move into them when the water cools but the black crappies will use them all year. Keep changing jig body colors and head colors until you find the one they’ll hit best. I like unpainted heads best.