3/1/07

March means it’s time for shallow water crappie action
By Terry Madewell

Terry Madewell Photo

Angler Bill Garner had a great day with these two big, springtime crappie.

It’s March and it’s time for the crappie to begin moving shallow. Despite an extended burst of cooler weather in February that has kept water temperatures down, it’s time to think crappie and think about them moving to shallow water.

Based on the most recent reports, they are not being caught in big numbers in the shallows yet, but it should begin to get much better real soon. Here are some things to think about when chasing crappie in shallow water this spring. Now is the time to start and you’ll be there whey they make the big spring run.

When springtime rolls around and the crappie head for the shallows following the spawning urge, anglers follow the fish in droves. No bush, log, stump or brush pile is spared the onslaught of crappie anglers after their favorite quarry. Now is certainly a great time to crappie fish lakes Marion and Moultrie.

When these tasty fish move to the shallows, they are very susceptible to a variety of angling techniques. Even beginning anglers can catch limits of crappie during the peak of the spawn. However, just as during the majority of the year when the crappie are found in deep water, there is a select group of anglers that seem to consistently make the best catches.

What is the key to their shallow water success? Their magic formula is nothing more than keeping the role of structure and lure presentation in proper perspective, even in the shallow water situation.

Unfortunately, many anglers seem to think the structure fishing rulebook can be tossed out the window during the spring shallow water crappie season. That simply is not so. Granted, a large percentage of the fish do migrate to the shallows to spawn. It’s also true that some of the fish will seek out the most remote portions of the lake to fin around in. From what many experts have told me, to make consistently large catches during the spring you must think in terms of finding the spots that hold the majority of the shallow water fish.

First, the experts have told me that crappie do not evenly distribute their numbers throughout the shallows. There are specific areas in every lake that will hold high concentrations of fish compared to other areas in the same lake. The fish may not be schooled as densely as they might be along a deep water drop, but you can expect to find numerous fish in a relatively small area if you know where to look. This is one of the keys to improving your success.

Another key to success they say is the lure or bait presentation. A critical factor to crappie success in shallow water is precise lure presentation. When in the spawning mood, a crappie will readily take a jig or minnow placed right in front of their mouths, but often will not move even a few inches to take the same bait.

Finding the most productive areas is often merely a matter of common sense. Some of the very best shallow water crappie hotspots I’ve ever fished are those located very near a deep water drop. Think about it for a few seconds. When the fish migrate from their deep water homes in the winter and migrate up the feeder creeks during the pre-spawn period, they reach a point when Ma Nature urges them to proceed to the shallows. When they make this move they don’t linger in open, unstructured water.

The fish move to the first cover they encounter and take up residence there. As other fish move in, the area will reach its capacity and the overflow fish will move to another area. And so on. It has always been my experience the further I got from deep water access the fewer fish I found in any given concentration.

One lesson a wise crappie guru taught me long ago is that during the spring, crappie move to the shallow water, not necessarily to the shoreline. The fish could care less about where the shoreline is.

The shoreline simply holds the water in the lake.

Their innate need requires them to find suitable water for spawning purposes. If that happens to be near the shoreline, so be it. If the necessary water condition is found a mile offshore, that’s fine too. The primary difference will be in the presence of fishermen, not fish.

These are by no means the only spots upon which to concentrate your efforts, but they are typical of the areas you should look for. In a typical feeder creek there are going to be a few areas that have a high probability of producing a bunch of crappie, and largely unproductive areas between the hotspots. By keying your efforts to these specific high areas you will quickly become one of the most productive shallow water crappie anglers on the lake, especially if you present your lure or bait properly.

That’s the flip side of shallow water crappie fishing. Even if you locate the fish, you won’t reach your fish-catching potential until you master the correct presentations.

For many, crappie fishing at any time of year raises the “jig-versus-minnow” controversy. For me, there is no controversy at all. I’ve fished with several experts that use one or the other technique. The bottom line to me is, when in the hands of a knowledgeable angler, both techniques are deadly.

Confidence in what you are using is perhaps the primary consideration. For years I used nothing but live, wiggling minnows for springtime crappie with excellent success. I know they will produce plenty of fish. However in recent years, I’ve switched to jigs, using a 10-foot fly rod to poke the jig in and around all forms of shallow water cover. My best advice is to pick one of the two and stick with it for a while. If you switch back and forth every couple of hours you will never really develop your skills to full potential.

Regardless of which bait or technique you use, it’s essential to keep moving, looking for a concentration of fish. Don’t linger at any one spot very long unless you are landing fish consistently. Catching one fish every five or ten minutes is not good enough.

Concentrate on the areas that have the highest potential to hold large numbers of crappie (structure), and work each spot thoroughly and precisely (presentation) before moving to the next area to repeat the process.

Once you’ve found several areas that produce consistently, catching crappie in the springtime will turn from a dream to reality.