Crappie help, Post trip update

With this weekend approaching I’ve been thinking about when I want to set up camp, I figured I’d see if any experts had some advice for me… a couple of you fellas seem to really know your stuff when it comes to crappy fishing. The lake we’re fishing is long and narrow maybe 200 yards across? We seem to constantly get a depth of 15 feet and the shore drops off really quick, 15 yards from shore we camped on top of 13 fow between an island and a shoreline. Can’t really find much structure (from where I’ve looked, I know I need to do legwork) The bite was pretty good at night but not great all day. Day time catches were small perch and 1 or 2 small rock bass. As far as species in the lake there’s crappie, perch, rock bass, bass, walleye and pike, that I know of. The camp spot itself is very ideal weather wise so I’m thinking I could maybe slide a little deeper or shallow to be o. Top of more crappies at night and go exploring during the day. Anyone have any tips on how to find the crappie motherload? Was I fishing too deep or shallow? I know the pattern changes as the winter goes on as well, if it helps this lake has been frozen over since end of December. Im willing to put a lot of time in on this lake but I think some advice could help point me in the right direction. Also question.. you guys that use the floats, is it to see your line travelling across the hole? I found that was our key to success last weekend. Thanks!

I have fish lakes for crappy that fit your description or are similar.

In the winter, I find them in the bottom of deep basins, or circling the edges of those deep basins. A couple of the lakes I fish for crappy, have no structure in the main lake. They are mud bottoms. What I think I figured out is that those crappie are feeding on insect life from the mud. That being said, I never fish more than halfway down in the water column. I find that the larger crappies feed up in these lakes that I am fishing. Hopefully that is a similar scenario to what you find.

Hope that helps.

Is the entire lake around 15 feet deep. Do you have a chart of the lake? How far is the island from shore?

Is this a similar island and shoreline to where you are going to be fishing.

Thank you Disco I appreciate the input this helps a lot man. Also the insect theory really holds water from my limited experience, they seem to like a small white micro plastic type jig the same as a pinhead minnow.

Crappeeman I thought I may hear from you on this one haha, I can’t speak on the entire lake but the section we are fishing is what I’d call the bigger basin area. A buddy fishes down the other end and made it sound similar only a creek runs in there and it’s quite the walk down there. I’d prefer to figure out the end that I have access. I’d say island to shore is about 40-50 yards, we checked the shore side as we were closer to the island and it dropped off just as quick I’d say. And yes that photo actually represents it quite well I think but the rock elevation is much higher hence the steep drop offs. Now I will add I think the backside of the island is much more shallow and weedy. Also they seemed to like it when we hit the bottom then come up a couple of feet, but again, a non expert talking…

Also I wish I had a chart of the lake, I’ve searched high and low. I’m thinking my boat may have it in the fishfinder if I can even get it in there for a spin this summer.

That weedy shallow area around the island would be perfect after a late, late dinner in your boat this summer. This weekend after the snow on Thursday you will have some sun and clouds and wind from the NW looks like so far. Not much of a moon to light up the ice at night. Sleep in so you can fish longer, the later the better. If the ice is safe I would definitely be fishing the steep drop off in front of that island, and back to the drop off from the shore. If 15 feet is the max so be it, but maybe it drops to 20 feet 3/4 of the way out to the island. If you can find some three inch minnows, that would be perfect for some 12 inch or bigger crappie. By the calendar date, this is the 2nd half of ice fishing season for that area. If you end up fishing in 15 feet of water, the crappie will be suspended around 10 feet from the surface about 5pm and into the night. If you get lucky and it drops to 20 feet on your way to the island, the crappie will still be around that same 10 foot depth but there will be bigger crappie there. I hope the ice is thick and safe for you guys and good luck with your adventure. Stay safe.

Ok great so sounds like deeper water can be better then, all I seem to find is 15 feet but I figure maybe I’ll try to set up right where it starts coming up and will definitely be using your tips to go after the bigger ones! thanks very much for your time and knowledge, both of you. I’ll let you guys know how we make out! It’ll just be my wife and I and a possible visit from my youngest daughter who’ll be staying with my folks close by. Hopefully my wife out fishes me again like usual so we get to have a fish fry haha. And no problem safety wise, just had a report a couple of days ago there’s 16” of ice.

When you’re getting set up pick an area and cut a bunch of holes all around you. Keep moving and fishing until you find them. I often find crappy will move slightly in an area in the winter. If you pre cut your holes you won’t spook them when cutting new holes later in the day.

Will do, I had a few cut last time but I think I’ll turn it up a notch. Thanks for the tip! Do you guys catch them often during the day?

A chart of that lake would be so helpful to you. During the day you will find them in a long trench/channel in the lake. Where there is a bit of water current, there will be minnows for them to eat. Crappie would rather swim up and down a channel during the day in winter, rather than search the entire lake for food. All fish need to conserve energy in the winter. Crappie do feed all day, in all seasons. But in the winter they won't be too far from where you will catch them after dinner. Without a chart you won't see the trenches, but that is where they will be. I am confident that the crappie will be where I said earlier. Maybe you will get lucky and there might be a thin channel between the shore and the island. When you do find the crappie, that will be a good spot to start fishing every time you return to that lake. I fish the same areas of both Balsam and Sturgeon for crappie for years and years now. It's not a matter of are the crappie there. It's a matter of when they show up at that particular spot. Summer is the opposite, they cruise the deep side of the weed lines all day and come back to their night feeding areas around sunset. Feeding along the shoreline up and down until sunrise, and then back out to the deeper water again along the weed lines for another day. Good luck, stay safe and don't forget the camera. One more thing as it gets later in the day don't fish too deep. Keep your bait above the marks on your fish finder. The crappie are searching for easy prey above them.

Awesome advice, I really appreciate it, thank you so much! I’ll let you guys know how we do….

Back from another weekend of camping and fishing crappies! So we ended up finding the walk a bit tougher with some snow and decided to set up on the closer side of our island spot from last time. To my delight I was able to manage a nice shoal so we set up right at the end in the deeper water. We caught some perch and a crappie in the afternoon then the bite totally turned off, couldn’t explain it… well Mother Nature did that for us. Saturday night and Sunday morning we got absolutely hammered with 17” of snow. We weathered the storm and then things turned around on Sunday. The crappie bite turned on around 3:30 and went into the evening. Your guys advice certainly helped! They were crushing 3” minnows! We lost count but caught lots around 10-12”, and even kept 4 for an awesome fish fry dinner. It was a great time as my wife and I dont get to do these trips together often enough! This morning we realized quickly how brutal the trip out was going to be and pulled our backup rescue chute and had a buddy come with his snowmobile to get us out of there. We’ll see if we can make it out again or not this year but things are starting to get busy around here. All In all a great weekend and I’m really happy with my progression so far on being able to find crappies. Thanks again for the advice guys!

Sunday dinner…. Crappie, taters and beans