It all depends on the time of the year and the environmental conditions. During the winter months the insect activity of the lake is at a minimum. Most of the small fish have grown to big to be eaten and or died. Food is much less in the winter time than in the hot summer months when life is abundant and there for the taking. There are some mud flats that hold worms that burrow in the mud. Crappie are said to feed on these small worms when they can find them. But if a minnow were to swim by while the crappie was hunting those worms on the bottom the crappie would eat that minow.
Catching suspended fish is difficult. First they must be in the mood to bite. Second you have to present the bait right in front of their nose at times. Lots of time the suspended crappie are resting or in a neutral or negative mood. Crappie along the bottom are harder to see on the depth finder but they may be more active and feeding. They may hit a jig faster than those that are suspended.
It took me a long time to finally catch some suspended crappie. Most of the time I fished for crappie that I though were schooling crappie I didn't catch anything. I never knew what type of fish I was fishing for as all I knew was that my depth sounder showed some fish suspended below me. But after I learned to better set my jig depth and to find the true depth of the fish shown on my depth sounder I started to catch some suspended crappie. Then I knew what fish were being shown on my depth sounder. You have to present that bait right at the same depth as the crappie and let them have some time to see it and decide to hit the jig. Boat speed is critical not only for keeping the bait at the right depth but also to encourage the crappie to hit the jig. Now a minnow works better at times than a jig but still you must be a the right depth (that is the depth that the crappie are below the surface)
Also make sure that you compensate for how far your transducer is below the water's surface. You may have to add a foot more to the depth shown to get the right depth of the fish readings. Remmber that the transducer is showing how far the object is away from the transduer not from the boat or from the surface of the water.
This quarters Crappie World has a good article by Sam Heaton on swimming a jig at the right depth to catch suspended crappie.
Originally Posted by crappster