Early season Crappie at CJ

CJ IS LOADED WITH CRAPPIE....NICE CRAPPIE...and some HUGE CRAPPIE!
The problem is that the water is WAY TOO COLD and it continues to drop. CJ has water temps in the low 50's from the surface to about a foot below, down further in the water column it is still in the 40's....THIS IS A LATE WINTER/EARLY SPRING Pattern.
Crappie at this time are sluggish and are eating EASY and SMALL meals...MOST of them are not going to chase anything unless they get warmed up!

The best technique at this time is vertical depth fishing...THINK ICE FISHING!
They are deep, on drop-offs, or deep cover, some will move slowly looking for food. Some way up in the North end, will have a different pattern of extremes...one day the water may be warmer and they'll wake up, but it cools faster and they'll slow down quicker...shallow water has more extremes then in the main lake.
You can fish vertical like "Grandma Bluegill" with a little jig under a bobber set to depth, you just leave it set and jiggle it in front of their face...Grandma uses a meal worm to entice them even more.
You can also use minnows, other live bait, or swimbaits or lures under a bobber!
You can vertical jig without a bobber if you can control depth from a boat, or swim a swimbait or lure by controlling depth from using different weights and techniques...this is normally the hardest for people to achieve.
The main thing is that Crappie are not going to chase food at this time...they are in a mode of sustaining until the water warms, if you do not keep the bait in front of their faces, they will not bother with it.
By the looks of things this pattern is going to continue through this entire week and thru the upcoming weekend...they water is WAY BEHIND Schedule...my Dogwoods are blooming and Dandelions are seeding....the water is not where it needs to be!
Like Mike Said...once it hits the 60's at depth, is when you can throw out a piece of tin foil to catch Crappies...this is when all the "Experts" can tell you how to catch them....then after the spawn, the "Experts" disappear again, because "they just don't bite in the summer"!
During the summer, the fish are back to depth, on drop-offs, and deep cover, for cooler water...they will crush a lure if you get it close, they mainly will feed shallow from after dusk till just after dawn...then back to deeper water.
Crappie see the same color palette as Walleye...Pink, Yellow, Orange and Red spectrum...they are suckers like Walleye for Fluorescent colors of the spectrum....dark reds through blues and violet look gray to them...black is a dark CONTRAST color! Natural colors are great when you are MATCHING A HATCH...the mayfly larva when they shed are perfect examples, same with newly hatched fry.
Vibration, through a swimming tail, or blade, or spinner, help them to locate food until they see it...flash, color, and scent all can be helpful...technique varies...sometimes they want it presented slow, sometimes dying, and sometimes they want it burning through the water.
Normally if they stop biting you have alerted their "flight/fright" sense...there are still plenty of fish...change colors, change presentation, and change technique, and normally the bite will pick up again....normally they take a break from about 10-11am until 4-6pm, especially when the sun is out...if it is cloudy they may bite all day!

EARLY SPAWN TIMEFRAME
They are in the same pattern as here....the small males are building nests where-ever the BIG Males allow....At CJ, the BIG Males are normally in the best spots in about 10-12 fow. Small fish normally start spawning first, then the SLABS...People get so impatient and just throw close to the bank and catch small fish....keep throwing out to deeper water first, let it hit bottom, and slowly bring it back...bobber fish the same way.
The Big Slabs you are looking for, just like other times, will not normally associate with smaller fish and will have the BEST nesting spots WHICH ARE DEEPER!
Sometimes The BIG Slabs will feed shallow, Raid Smaller Nests, or Run off Smaller males that might be too close, or feed on fry that have just hatched....BUT, if you cast deep, make sure you stay on the bottom, you will get some BIG Fish, then bring it in shallow and do it again!

Like Doc said at the meeting...where there is manmade rip rap, the rocks extend out into the water UP TO 25 yards, some areas are less....what this does is create a line on the normal bottom. If it is preferred gravel, there may be a single rock or two, that will make a perfect Nest that the male can back into and helps him defend his nest...most of the BIG Males are in this area!
Normal Sandy or gravel areas are open and hard to defend, so smaller males will find small pockets in rocks closer to shore....most, especially in High Pressured areas NEVER get to do the deed!
But, there are so many areas that get no traffic, the Prolific Crappie continues!