That’s the stuff I need to get better at seeing. Thanks for the reply. J
Great post Mr Skunky- and thanks for all the followup users!
Make a date.
Lots of folks may be pretty tight lipped on the forum (and some of us are learning to be more so - at times. damned lurkers!!![:p])
But I could almost guarantee anglers will spill more beans in person. Maybe a cold-bubbly bribe, or share a jig or two.
How many times have I heard of someone like TD lending a tip, pointer, or leadhead and turning some angry dad and wishful kid into successful anglers! Think of the Kayak kid and his dog getting into the Whitties!
One thing I like about ice fishing - is there seems more options to stop and chat with other anglers. Ask a few questions, see what’s working.
OR - ask a friendly ranger! They’re usually happy to help anyone get onto fish.
So - who can tell me where and how to find Crappie?!? [:/]
“So - who can tell me where and how to find Crappie?!?”
Look under “C” in yer Funk and Wagnalls. Or fire up yer search engine.
Interesting name for a fish…a serendipitous joining of the two words crap and pie.
To be serious…first look for a water known to harbor that species. Second, look for a source of food…invertebrates, minnows, etc. Then look for the fishies in the general area.
Sounds like an oversimplification…and it is. It’s when you start trying to overthink it that you get your head bent. More than most species these silly fishes epitomize the saying that “You can’t catch them where they ain’t”…and right after that the saying that “90% of the fish are in 10% of the water”.
It really helps to know the specific lake and how the species behaves throughout the course of the year…with variations of depth, temperatures, spawning and feeding cycles. And to complicate matters almost all Utah waters that hold crappies are vastly different in those factors. Maybe half vast.
There are some common characteristics of crappies that you can generally rely upon. First is that they usually travel in schools…and travel is a key word. With the exception of the brief period during the spring spawn…when crappies hold around shallow brush and structure…they are constantly cruising around the lake…looking for food or more ideal temperature conditions.
**A second trait that makes them more difficult for most anglers is their tendency to suspend at some point above the bottom. In water shallower than 10 feet they can be anywhere between the bottom and a couple of feet below the surface. In deeper lakes…like Pineview…they may be in 50 feet of water but can be anywhere from right near the bottom to only 15 to 20 feet deep. **
Suspended and cruising crappies are probably the most difficult to entice into biting. They are generally not actively feeding. But that can change at any time during the day or night. They operate n their own schedule.
I usually catch more crappies in Pineview when they are within a few feet of the bottom…even in water over 50 feet deep. Those fish are likely down there feeding…either on perch fry or on zooplankton or other invertebrates that periodically come up out of the mud.
Another common trait among slabkind is their propensity to feed more actively in low light conditions. You will generally get more fish…and bigger fish…either early in the morning or right at dusk. Of course if you got the “necessaries” and the knowledge you can often do very well after dark too. Crappies have excellent night vision and very sensitive motion sensory abilities…and good sniffers.
The slabs have been generally more difficult to find and catch this year on Pineview. Water levels are much higher than they have been the last couple of years. That has thrown off both the fish and the fishermen. Last year’s GPS spots are likely not going to be as good this year.
But, if you really wanna catch a buncha nice crappies, go to Powell. By next month it will be gettin’ semi rediculous. Leave the auger at home.
Yup Yote I agree and I don’t know what to say about the crappie. I tried out where CV and the Twins got into them last summer and never got a hit or seen a thing on the graph. But the ice was way scary on the deep spots in fact they are open water again so I guess I ought to take the long pole and try a few casts but haven’t found time to do it yet. Maybe I’ll get lost while feeding the chickens one of these nights. Let ya know if I find something. Later J
As always, good advice.
Gotta kick about your citing F & W. I bet half the folks on here don’t know what that is.
ya, I’m getting old.
TD nice crappie 101 for us. How do you identify good grocery stores on lakes like Willard or Cutler that is a soft muddy bottom and very shallow most everywhere. I usually try the deeper spots but that is hit and miss. Any tips on bait areas where they might be feeding? Thanks J
Crappie Link
I do have *some *crappie resources, some book learning - even met some in person. Lava’s never caught one - so it’s my ice-fishing mission to get him into some! But I’ll catch the bigger ones [:p]
Crap Pies - sounds like MudPies, only worse! Good thing they don’t live up to their name! But I have found them a challenge to track down, and locate their depth. Plus they can either be way aggressive, or terribly finicky!
Sure won’t keep me from trying!
How do you think the night bite is affected by a full glowing moon above the snow/ice? I know some night fishers use lights to bring in the bitty food, followed by the biters.
The key to finding a good crappie hole . . . never tell anyone else about it once you have found it. Because as soon as a bunch of people pile onto you great crappie hole, well forgive the pun but it soon turns CRAPPY. [;)]
I have a couple spots I go to. Look for where the topography under the water will have a series of shelves and/or channel ways. Then you will have to drill a lot of holes to find them.
Even in my “secret” spots I will go there and immediately drill 10 - 15 holes in a couple of lines. It is best to have a couple of friends with flashers, then you start at each end and see who finds them first.
GOOD LUCK !!
TD nice crappie 101 for us. How do you identify good grocery stores on lakes like Willard or Cutler that is a soft muddy bottom and very shallow most everywhere. I usually try the deeper spots but that is hit and miss. Any tips on bait areas where they might be feeding? Thanks J
Much easier in a boat or float tube. You can use sonar to find schools of baby perch…or clouds of “bitty bites”…zooplankton. That’s what to look for if you are not seeing larger “targets”. They will be in the area. If you see both the bait and the bigger marks together it is a good sign that there is some feeding going on. Otherwise, you may have to move around to find the crappies…or keep coming back to the areas you found bait until the bigger fish start feeding.
As has been suggested, when ice fishing you sometimes need to swiss cheese the ice and play musical holes with the sonar…and rods…until you find the ZONE. But once you are on them you can score well…sometimes.
Finding a productive mud bottom is a matter of both luck and deduction. There are spots on the bottom of Pineview that look like a desert on your sonar…until just before dark. There there will be a little cloud along the bottom line reading…and that can develop into a solid line just above the bottom, with a gap between it and bottom. That is a dense cloud of zooplankton rising off the bottom. And the bigger crappies find it and begin filter feeding like whale sharks…cruising through with open mouths. But they will pause for a nip at a flavorful jig too.
The zooplankton blooms sometimes attract small perchlets and crappiettes too…and they in turn bring in the carnivores. You never really know what might be in the food chain but if you find an active feeding frenzy you got it made. Get your GPS numbers for next time but be prepared to have to look for a similar spot elsewhere. They don’t always show up in the exact same spots.
On shallower waters, almost any protected bay with a muddy bottom will be an aquatic nursery for a variety of insect larvae and zooplankton. Even better if it has weed growth. Again, if it is a common feeding area the larger fish will show up at times. You just have to time it right and fish the right stuff the right way.
No guarantees but some things to look for.
“How do you think the night bite is affected by a full glowing moon above the snow/ice? I know some night fishers use lights to bring in the bitty food, followed by the biters.”
Always a matter of opinion. I suspect that on bright moonlit nights the zooplankton are more likely to scatter and not form the dense clouds. But on darker nights…with artificial light sources…they can be attracted in denser groups.
Otherwise, I keep hearing all of the theories of yeah or nay about moon fishing and I keep going fishing whenever I get a chance. I catch fish on some trips and fewer on others…and the moon does not seem to be a quantifiable factor.
The way I find spots on new lakes is just look around until you see someone catch a fish and then go fish next to them. We used this technique the other day at the Berry, we moved in on these guys and it work out good.
TD it’s sure fun to listen to your experience. Will regular graphs pick up the plankton blooms. I’ve never noticed this on mine before but I guess I haven’t known what to look for. I have a Lowrance X71 graph and it was a good one in it’s day but now they are a lot better resolution so you can see a lot more detail. So in the winter can warmer water joining a lake be a good spot for fish? Thanks for the advice. J
I have seen it mainly with decent quality LCD sonars. I suspect that it will show up as some kind of clutter on flashers but have not had an opportunity to check it side by side. And if you don’t know what you are seeing you might clean it up with sensitivity adjustments.
Warm water inflows are generally fish magnets. A good example is Utah Lake. Several spots where thermal springs flow into the lake and they almost always draw in the fishies. Most species have preferred temperature ranges and when the water gets down below 50 even a couple of degrees warmer will have a lot of appeal to the fish.
I fish mostly from a float tube and my Humminbird sonar has a pretty accurate temp guage. During the times of the year when water temps are rising and falling I pay close attention to the fluctuations in temperature. Of course the readings are surface temps and you don’t know what they are in deeper water. But again, in shallower lakes if you notice a marked rise or fall in temps in a small area you will also usually notice a difference in the fish population and the fish activity levels.
Any lake that has warm spring flows or tributaries coming into the cooler main lake will almost always have better fishing in the spring or inlet. But the flip side of that coin is that it can cause some problems with ice thickness. SPLASH.
I guess that works as long as they don’t care. Sometimes people don’t like to be crowded but it does give you a good idea for another trip. Thanks for your comments. J
His comments were not meant to be constructive. He does not contribute useful posts. Just snarky comments on the posts of others. Check his user name.
I’ll have to watch my graph now I know what to look for I might be able to see it. Thanks for teaching me to look for that. I know a couple places where field drains dump ground water into local waters I’m going to try those areas and see if there are any big fish around. I have seen big schools of minnows congregate around there but haven’t seen the target fish. Maybe they keep out of sight on the fringes. But like you say the ice is thin and scary in that area. Thanks for the insight. J
That is not a very polite way to go about things and I hope that is not seriously advice given to people. If you know someone it is one thing to go fish next to them. If you are moving in on a complete stranger and crowding the space that they claimed first that is not right. A better suggestion is to maybe go and ask those individuals for some tips and follow their suggestions. They may even offer for you to fish with them and learn something. Just moving in on your own is rude, I’ve had people do this to me to the point where I turned and looked at them actually fishing in my hole not 5 feet from me. I’m more than willing to help people that ask, but have little tolerance for people that think it’s okay to just take over a spot that I have been to first. If someone beats me to a spot that I want to fish, the spot is theirs and I will find another one.
he knows all that and just trying to stir the pot to get a response..
Yeah I realized that after I read TD’s response. I won’t indulge the nonsense any more. Sad part is that people actually do that in real life and don’t see any problem with it.
wow…knowbody better come up to my fishing spot just cause they see me catch one. Never poach a fishermans hole, he was there first and the early bird gets the worm.
tightlines