Frustrating

[missoulafish]

I have never paid attention to the part of IS as there has never been and real population of crappies in Western MT but thanks to bucket biologist they are becoming prevalent in parts of the state. With the live scope, I have finally found a decent concentration of what I believe are crappies. They are shaped like crappies and from what I am reading they are acting like crappies do. I see them, dozens if not hundreds of them, suspended a couple feet off the bottom, some come look but never even a nibble. So frustrating. Lots to read here and hoping to find something posted that works help get a couple bites here and there.

[zcm_82]

They like small minnows, but they also aren't adverse to snarfing most anything they can get in thier mouth, either.

I don't specifically target them in the winter, but I get a few here and there when I'm after bluegills. Waxies, imitation fry/micro plastics, real small spoons will catch them. Occasionally one will cruise in and whack a rap if I'm trying to entice a bass or catfish.

They tend to hit more on the drop or a pull up than they do a suspended bait, in my experience. I caught a couple yesterday when pulling my jig up to check the bait after missing bottom hugging gill bites. A lot of times they'll hover just above the schools of gills.

[DR.SPECKLER]

Crappies around here are suspended off the bottom quite a bit.sometimes more than 10ft off bottom in 20 to 30ft.they seem to rarely be close to bottom where i fish.pretty easy to target and find.early morning or night bites are best but they will bite all day on some of the stained lakes i fish.night fishing i like to run a lantern to bring them in and use minnows.morning and daytimes i use jigs with plastics.

[hammerhandle315]

Tip a small spoon w minnow or small horizontal with waxwork. Crappies will almost never go dow to a bait always up..try slowly pulling it up and see if that works…also a lot better at dusk or early am

[missoulafish]

Appreciate all the tips. I have picked up 3-4 crappies all by accident while jigging with small spoons. Their behavior definitely changed as the day faded into evening. They appeared to move down to the bottom and they looked like they were more aggressively foraging. I also got their earlier one morning and they had moved well into shallower water and appeared to be way more mobile. could see them actively moving on the scope. I cant use live minnows in this part of the state and the jigging spoons and raps did not appear to interest them at all. From what I have read they are looking for invertebrates and i need to go to even smaller jigs....

[hammerhandle315]

Try a small white or black hair or Marilou jig tipped w waxie

[Fishin fan]

I use a small tungsten jig, mealworms from pet store, light line and a spring bobber. Stay just above them and lift slowly. Watch the bobber. They can be very finicky.

[pimple pounder]

I’ve had luck with 4mm tungsten jigs tipped with a wax worm or very small soft plastics. Jigging and slowing lifting causes them to commit when they are finicky here in Pennsylvania.

[fishinator]

What kind of crappie are they? White crappie like minnows, black crappie prefer bugs.

[MumbleSEED]

Tungsten wonder bread glow jig with a white 1.5 inch white split tail plastic.  Raise it slowly after a couple of knocks off the bottom.

[jrjach75]

I saw you said you can’t use live minnows, can you use minnow heads? Those work pretty well on a small spoon, I just put one of the treble hooks through the eyes and let it hang.
If I’m just fishing for crappies, opposed to whatever is around, a 4mm or 5mm tungsten with a whip style plastic tail is my go to.

[bootstrap]

very light line and the smallest jigs with a maggot or two is how we get them here in gin clear water

[butcher]

I target crappies very often year-round. I wouldn’t exactly call myself an expert, but I am pretty good at locating and catching them consistently. Here are a few key tips that may help:

1) Crappies tend to be nocturnal, but they are most active at dusk, dawn and on overcast days. The best bite in my experience is from dusk until maybe an hour after dark. Focus on those key times and conditions and you’ll ice more crappies.

2) When crappies suspend, they are usually feeding. Generally, the higher in the water column they suspend, the more actively they are feeding.

3) Crappies rarely hit a bait that is below them. They will hit a bait 4 feet above them, but not 6 inches below. Their eyes are situated on the top of their head so they can see very well overhead but really can’t see anything below them. If they can’t see a bait, they can’t hit it. Start jigging 1-2 feet above them and then drop lower if they won’t hit the bait bit always keep the bait above them.

4) Crappies primarily eat minnows and small fish but will also eat bugs. A jig tipped with a wax worm is a good option if you can’t use live minnows. Dead jigged baits will also work, but don’t forget to try some small soft plastics like Crappie Candy or Trout Magnets. They work well too.

5) Wanna try a next level trick? Cut a tiny piece of squid into a 1-3” strip (1/4” to 1/2” wide) and use it as a trailer for your jig. It looks remarkably like a live minnow when jigged. It also smells and tastes like one too. Squid is a go-to bait for saltwater fishing and works for just about anything that swims anywhere - fresh or salt.

I hope this helps.

Stay on top, tight lines and let us know how you do!

Butcher

[Fishin fan]

Tungsten wonder bread glow jig with a white 1.5 inch white split tail plastic.  Raise it slowly after a couple of knocks off the bottom.

I fish with any colour. As long as it’s wonderbread! 

[missoulafish]

Fantastic tips. Appreciate it all! Got a giant dump of snow I need to settle so I can get back out there and put this information to work:)

[Splattypus]

I've caught plenty of crappie on just a plain hook tipped with minnow (real is best, but plastics work as well, also on waxies both real or artificial), demon/moon jigs, horizontal jigs, small spoons of varying colors (wonderbread best).

Mostly on the fall, everywhere from a foot off the bottom to 6ft below the ice over 25ft of water. Definitely place your bait just above them, as pointed out.

When they're feeding, they'll hit about anything that they can get in their mouth, and where you find crappie you'll 9ftwn find some perch and bluegill nearby as well (and surely whatever eats them isn't far away either).

I primarily find the over holes in the middle of a plain at dusk and after dark, but have found them cruising between shelves and those holes in the plain during early afternoon, before they post up at their nighttime feeding spots.

Schools tend to go in circuits, you'll be onto the bite for 10-15 minutes, they'll move out for a little while, then come back for the next round. If you can figure out where they're moving (follow contours or structure) and you can hole hop and chase them around for hours. Good time.

They're the only species I can reliably catch on the ice, which is funny, because I cant catch them to save my life in open water (so I rarely try). Once you establish where to locate them, it's just a matter of finding the right bait and presentation for them. What works this week isn't guaranteed to work next, but you find trends.

I love panfishing through the ice, but I'm trying to get out more and broaden my horizons this year if I can get out with any consistency.

[butcher]

Excellent post Splattypus!

Here’s a helpful hint for finding crappies in softwater season: cover as much water as you can quickly to locate active fish.

As you mentioned in your post, crappies school up but can move around and will turn on and off quickly. Therefore, it’s important not to spend too much time in one spot if the fish aren’t there or aren’t actively feeding.

The best way to deal with this in open water is to use fast-moving baits that cover a lot of water quickly.

My go-to lure for locating active crappies is a 1/8 to 1/4 oz roadrunner tipped with a 2-2.5” split tail plastic trailer or similar-sized tapered plastic minnow trailer:

https://www.fishusa.com/road-runner/

Beetle Spins work well too but my personal preference is for the road runners.

I can cover a LOT of water in just a few minutes with that bait. The lead head jig makes it easy to work in shallow or deep water and the teardrop spinner attracts fish from quite a distance as well.

Once you land a fish or two from a spot, you can anchor up and hit it hard with finess baits, crappie jigs, minnows etc. to get the less active fish in the school.

When they stop biting, pull anchor and start searching with the roadrunner again and repeat.

The roadrunners will catch just about anything from gills, perch, crappies and bass to larger toothy critters and trout as well.

And don’t worry about that bait being too big for crappies either. I have caught crappies on 1/2 oz spinnerbaits when bass fishing so a 3” bait is barely a snack for even a small crappie.

Good luck!

Butcher

[Splattypus]

Wonderbread rattle spoon, tipped with gulp! Maggot (in red), suspended about midway in the column at about 18ft

This particular evening, they were hitting a more aggressive action on the jigging. While I caught others on different jigs tipped with different plastics, the biggest and most numbers came on this setup. Next week will probably be something totally different though