Crappie question

[wrightap]

 Been fishing a pond that I know has some monster crappie for the past week and all I have been able to catch are gills.  This time of year what do you guys use to catch crappie.  I have been using a ice jig with a bee moth on 4lb line.  Should I use some minnows?  Do the crappies hang out with the gills in the deeper water?  Just thought I would throw it out there because like I said I have caught some monsters out of this pond but always in the spring.  Thanks in advance.

[tbirdbassr]

Try at dusk andd dawn thats my most preductive time of day

[spoonfed]

find some structure and use minnies or wax worms.  craps will be right under the ice at dark or early morn. maybe 1-5ft under the ice. during the day they will suspend in deep water.

[pituko]

I usually catch nice crappies during the day about 1 ft off the bottom with waxies on a jig.  Sometimes minnows work well too.  I have never tried 1 ft under the ice at dusk and dawn.  This is for real?

[tbirdbassr]

Yeah I catchem 1" below the ice some nights

[wrightap]

 Need to specify that we Hoosiers don't have any ice.  Open water fishing.

[spoonfed]

Need to specify that we Hoosiers don't have any ice.  Open water fishing.

use a lighted slip bobber and start 2ft deep and deeper till you find them. single hook or ice jig with minnies or waxies.

[chicagill34]

I like taking a lively lipped hooked minnow,put it on an ice jig and jig up real slow a few feet or so and let the minnow swim back down. Keep an eye out for slack line. Try various depths at this unless your in shallow water. Hopefully the ice will build bigger than Rex Grossmans confidence..           Go Bears           Cmon Ice!!     take care   Jim

[Jigmup]

A friend and myself found crappies in open water last week in 8ft. of water suspended at 4ft. directly adjacent to a weed bed. Again, I think green weeds are key this time of year if you can find weeds that have not died off yet....You'll find fish!

[C.C.]

The best tool for finding crappies is a flasher but not everyone has one so this is what I would do. This method is not gold but it's close, start fishing for them 1/3rd of the way up the water column  ( 30' of water start at 20') I have found them at all depth's but they really seem to hold at the 2/3rd depth of the water. Depending on the lake my bait differs, some lakes I can hammer them on bigger stuff like jigging raps and on other lakes they only hit small stuff. You just need to keep trying different things till you find the way they want it
      Jim

[iceshack]

Grenade!  Now, keep in mind that's not conducive to keeping good ice....oh yeah, we don't have any yet!

[taxi1]

On some lakes you can draw crappies in at night with a lantern sitting on the ice. Sometimes it doesn't work at all and sometimes it absolutely incredible the crappies you can draw in with the light.

[jhc]

 
 
                      For crappies I have always did very good at night,both open water and ice fishing.
                      There is no doubt,they are night feeders and they LOVE minnows,and with a vex
                       its a deadly combination..........
 
                                                               jhc