Early Season Crappies

In the north, the early spring fishing season brings enthusiasm rarely seen in other parts of the country. The ice has melted, the snow is gone. The birds have returned. For the first time in several months, it feels like, well, fishing weather. Even to die-hard ice fishermen, there’s something wonderful in the spring air. Most species of fish are a few weeks away from really biting. A little time for the water to warm up, maybe to clear a little, is what the bass, bluegills, and walleyes really need. But the first good fishing, often right out of the box at ice out, will be for crappies.

Kim Balog with a nice crappie

Crappies are a member of the sunfish family, a warm-water fish similar to bluegills and bass. But where they differ is in their catchability in ultra cold water. I realize viable fishing exists for bass and other gamefish when the water is icy cold, but crappies are often the first fish specie to really get going. Perhaps it’s because they spawn a little earlier than their cousins – in any case, water temps in the high thirties and low forties can bring some pretty good fishing. Regardless if your chosen body of water is in the south or north, early season brings migrations of fish, and the timing and location of that migration can unlock the secrets to crappie success.

Plano Stowaway Filled With Jigs

The basin connection.

When first searching out spring crappies, we need to think like it’s winter. Crappies, like many other types of fish, including smallmouth bass, winter in deep basin areas, often in large schools. To fully understand where to look for our spring migrations, start at the lake’s main basin. In structure filled reservoirs of the mid-south, this may be twenty five feet deep, in grass-filled shallow ponds it may only be eight feet. The important thing to remember is that crappies will start their spring migration from those deep wintering areas. An often overlooked factor: deep marinas. If a deep, dredged marina is present, it may be the most stable wintering areas for crappies. In that case, our search may be quicker than usual. Start where the water is deep, not necessarily far from shore.

Plano Bait Bucket In Action

Movement.

As crappies begin their movements toward shallow spawning areas, they’ll begin to relate to cover. Look for deeper creek channel bends, deep marina boat docks and pilings, or submerged grass beds leading from the main lake basins to the shallow spawning areas. Utilize your electronics – it becomes vital to find concentrations of fish this time of year because crappies are still in dense schools. Miss the school, and you may draw blanks. With today’s incredible electronics, including Humminbird’s Side Imagery, brush piles can be located immediately, and fished quickly. Keep on the move looking for the motherlode. Later in the spring, the fish will spread out and spawn, but right now, look for schools. To fish these deeper areas effectively in cold water, try slip bobbers with minnows. It’s important to have lively minnows this time of year, as crappies study the bait for a while before committing. Utilize a Plano 722 foam lined minnow bucket. Foam buckets help out in two ways: first, they regulate the water temperature, keeping it cool on warm days, yet preventing freeze up in extreme cold conditions. Secondly, the dimpled foam surface traps air bubbles and releases them into the water, increasing oxygen content for your bait. Thus, your minnows are livelier, and more effective in the early spring. Who would have thought your bucket could make the difference in a day’s catch?

Progression.

As the spring progresses, crappies move to more “crappie like” locations and begin building nests. Shoreline brush, reed beds, boat docks – anything with overhead and vertical cover in two to six feet of water will attract crappies. Crappies love to hang around overhead cover, like floating boat docks, adjacent to pilings and treetops while waiting to spawn. And, as the spawn progresses, the fish will spread out more. Crappies will spawn in “colonies”, but, often times, one or two nests are built on each of a series of structures. It’s a couple fish off each target. For that reason, it’s time to “run and gun”, make multiple casts, and use all artificial baits. There’s no need for minnows when the crappies are spawning. Utilize small twister tails and tube jigs, or Roadrunner-type baits, on four to six pound line. Stick with 1/32 to 1/8 ounce jigs, and try lots of colors to get dialed in each day. Often times one will out produce all the rest – most lakes have a “best” color. But the key is to move a lot, catching one here and one there, until you’ve got enough for dinner. Keep the aggressive males, let the giant females go and make more giants. There’s nothing like spring crappies. The world is right again…