Author Topic: Locating Crappies  (Read 5922 times)

Offline sleddog1

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Locating Crappies
« on: Feb 07, 2019, 02:55 PM »
I fish a small 3-4 acre pond frequently, open water & Ice. There are nice Gills, 7"-8"Crappie 9" -11"& Bass,13"-20"even caught an 8" perch this year. I've never got into a good Crappie bite though. Usually 1 or 2 at a time. I may fish 3 or 4 times before catching another.
 The pond has some down timber,along #1, which of course holds fish. Consistently catch Bass & Bluegill with an occasional Crappie.
It is pretty much a bowl. Along the edges it's 3'-7' with short flats before going to 10'-12' then to the deepest of around 17'.
I have drilled & fished a lot of holes trying to locate them without success. As I'm hole hopping, the fish i mark & catch are the Gills. Never have caught or marked much in the deeper water.#4
Got any ideas?



Offline slipperybob

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Re: Locating Crappies
« Reply #1 on: Feb 08, 2019, 01:42 PM »
In my experience with smaller bodies of water, the crappies tend to not school up.  So it is usual to typically only catch one or two or so.

My theory is that the crappies are roaming as since the food source is not concentrated in one area.
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Offline RyanW

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Re: Locating Crappies
« Reply #2 on: Feb 13, 2019, 03:29 PM »
In my experience with smaller bodies of water, the crappies tend to not school up.  So it is usual to typically only catch one or two or so.

My theory is that the crappies are roaming as since the food source is not concentrated in one area.

I fish a similar sized lake in my area but it’s mostly 12-30 feet deep. It’s bowl shaped and spring fed. Relatively low fishing pressure. I agree with your statement about them roaming. In my lake, the fish can literally be anywhere at any given time because the food can be anywhere. It can be frustrating on the best of days because you think you have them wrangled in to a few areas and before you know it you’ve drilled out the entire lake and are still having a hard time staying on them lol.
“When the fish are biting, it really doesn’t matter what you’re using. When the fish aren’t biting, it really doesn’t matter what you’re using” - Uncle Dave

Offline RyanW

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Re: Locating Crappies
« Reply #3 on: Feb 13, 2019, 03:35 PM »
Also, for the OP, try bouncing a jig off the bottom of those deep holes you say aren’t marking any fish. They could be tightly hugging the bottom and making your sonar read a false bottom when it’s in fact fish. Have a rod ready with a little jig and one with a spoon. I’ve had “empty holes” I’ve jigged with a tungsten and a spike and NOTHING happens at all. Zero marks whatsoever. Then I drop a small spoon (1/16-1/32) with a spike on each treble point or a small minnow and things start coming up from the bottom to investigate. Those holes certainly weren’t empty.

You can drill holes till you’re blue in the face but at some point you have to start fishing. I struggle with that myself as I’m sure a lot of us do.
“When the fish are biting, it really doesn’t matter what you’re using. When the fish aren’t biting, it really doesn’t matter what you’re using” - Uncle Dave

 



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