Winter Crappie Tips and Tactics - Q & A Session with the Outdoorsmen

January 18, 2008 by: Zach

Crappies are one of the most frequently-chased winter fish. So it’s no surprise that the subject of crappies comes up constantly when sportsmen gather to talk about fishing stategies. We put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) when it comes to crappie fishing, followed by solid answers from the outdoorsmen themselves.
These top-notch tips should help you ice more crappies this season.

Q: I have a hard time locating crappies under the ice. Are there any simple rules about their winter location?

A: So much depends on exactly how a lake lays out–in other words, what it has for water depth, how clear the water is, and what kind of weed growth. Especially at early and late ice, crappies can be found in relatively shallow water, in the weeds, if there is decent weed growth.

But in midwinter, crappie are probably more over the basin of the lake.
Here’s a question, like so many fishing related questions, that’s difficult to answer in a few words. The question of whether ‘big fish hang out with small fish’ is asked a lot.
In some cases they do; in others they don’t.

It seems pretty common for larger crappies to be either above or below the school of smaller ones. The main school is made up of crappies of smaller size, and the bigger ones are generally not with them.

If you start catching small crappies, try jigging at different depths, both below and above the small fish. And any time you’re after crappies and you see fish come through your hole at a depth other than where you’re fishing, adjust quickly. Make sure you fish those fish. See if you can get them bite, and find out what they are.

And here’s a fact we all have to face: Some lakes just don’t have big fish in them. You might be fishing in lakes that have decent numbers of stunted crappies and very few bigger ones. In those waters, no matter how good a fisherman you are, you aren’t likely to catch big crappies. So sometimes it’s a matter of moving to another lake that you know has a population of at least decent-size crappies.

A lot of novice anglers think it’s going to take some kind of magic act to find out where the nice crappies are, but it doesn’t. State natural resources agencies use test nets and other means of sampling the fish populations in many lakes. That data, which show how big the fish are, are available for the asking. Your local fisheries biologists–whose phone numbers are available in the phone book–can tell you which lakes in your area have decent crappies.

Realize, too, that the dynamics of a lake and its fish populations change over time. Just because a certain lake used to kick out nice crappies when you were a kid–or even just a few years ago–that doesn’t mean it does right now. Lakes and regions go through high and low water cycles, and fish populations peak and bust. When a certain lake is going good, we humans are not famous for our self-restraint. It’s common for a lot of nice fish to go home in our buckets, if we don’t practice catch-and-release.

We need to learn that fish populations are not like an apple tree loaded up with a crop that’s going to spoil if it’s not picked right away. Fish can be caught and released, and caught again. If we keep just enough for one meal at a time, there will be decent fishing on most lakes for years and years, barring natural forces.

Q: When fishing for crappies and using minnows for bait, what size hook should I use and also how should I hook the minnow?

A: “I haven’t seen you jigging,” Josh begins, “but I’m guessing you’re pumping the bait, which a lot of people do. You need to make that lure dance. I’ve always called the motion a ‘kicking’ motion, but I’m learning that a lot of people come up with a lot of different images in their mind when I say that. So from now on, I’m going to call it a ‘dancing’ motion.

“You want that lure to not move far up or down, or side to side, but you want the jig to ‘dance’ in place, almost vibrating, as rapidly as you can make it happen. We talk about our wrists moving, quickly, but almost in place. It should look like you’re ‘nervous’ while you’re jigging. The head of the ice jig stays almost in place, and the hook part, that has the bait on it, kicks up and down, like a bucking bronco. There I go again, calling it a kicking motion. Kicking, dancing, whatever you want to call it, that’s the motion you’re trying to achieve.

“Once you learn to achieve that dancing jig, then you have to make it move slowly upward and downward as you keep it kicking. Picture this in your mind: the jig is kicking, or dancing, in place. Almost vibrating. Now, slowly lower the bait as you keep the thing dancing. When you get it to as low as you want it to be, now raise it back up. Up, up, up you go, all the while keeping the jig dancing. By fishing ‘up and down,’ in this manner, you’re checking different depth levels. Also, the up and down movement is often needed to get daytime crappies to chase the bait. If you just sit there and pump that thing, at one depth level, don’t be surprised if you catch nothing.

“Get those daytime crappies to chase that dancing jig up or down, and that’s the key to triggering bites. Sometimes, you get them to chase it so far, then you have to hold it still before they’ll bite it. But it’s usually that dancing motion that pulls them into your hole.”

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