I’ve always heard 30’ being the cutoff for most fish. Don’t believe the lake makes any difference.
I recently had a guide on Leech show me how to insert a needle into a walleye to release the pressure in the swim bladder and supposedly effectively release fish coming out of 40-50’. Not sure if I fully believe it works
It works
Fast-cranking the fish up from water that deep has more ill effects on them then just that air bladder and needling the bladder is a bad practice. Those fish with blown bladders are just as likely to die from poking holes in the bladder as they are not being poked…. there are other internal injuries that cannot be seen or dealt with. Bulged eyes are a great indicator that the fish is hurt and not fixable. If you have to take fish that deep, plan on counting them as part of your limit or learn to reel them up very slowly.
If you’re catching or marking crappies in very deep water, take some time to look for marks much higher up that are on the screen for 5-10 seconds then fade away. Those are likely very active hunting crappies. Target them up in the shallower water.
I don’t try to fish deeper then 20.
That’s what I was going to post too. Why not just avoid fishing that deep.
20-25′ for me. I fish deep basins all winter long, however (30+). The bigger fish are generally suspended.
20-25′ for me. I fish deep basins all winter long, however (30+). The bigger fish are generally suspended.
Bingo.
If you’re catching or marking <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappies in very deep water, take some time to look for marks much higher up that are on the screen for 5-10 seconds then fade away. Those are likely very active hunting crappies. Target them up in the shallower water.
Jimmy Jones for the win. While they are not always there. I almost always set my deadstick rod for the upper half of the column. Jig it depends but always look for the marks 5ft-10ft and fish those.
I shouldn’t do this but I will….
There are two kinds of crappies, and not meaning white and black. Forget the white variety as they’re closer to trash fish than being a good fish. I’m talking black crappies being one of two varieties: seriously large and the everyday ho-hum dinks to 10-11″ fish. After 11″, and put in with the seriously large crappies category, these fish live a whole different world. Since this is in an ice fishing thread, we’ll make all references to ice fishing.
Big crappies are big because they play by totally different rules. They tend not to congregate with lesser fish. They seem to be almost solitary, yet they hunt somewhat together. They tend to be selective about the food they chase and eat. When they do hunt, they tend to do so at specific depths. So, what can a guy do to catch some of these brutes?
First, fish waters you know holds very large crappies. Next, get away from crowds. Then forget about having your spot lock focused on the bottom, but rather on that portion of the water column showing the random marks I mentioned earlier. Use baits that seem almost too large.
Don’t get too focused on all the activity seen on the bottom. This consists mostly of neutral to negative and small fish with maybe a decent fish or two tossed in, but those larger fish, even if it’s a really large crappie, will mostly have very tight lips. The small junk might be teased into hitting a bug or whatever one uses to tease them. The biggest crappies are more like Garfield the Cat and have two life modes: sleeping/resting and eating. They do not dine on the bottom. So don’t set the bottom lock for there as you’ll miss out on the important information about where they are eating. These big fish use the middle portion of the water column to hunt and eat., so understand that they’re not there to pick bugs. They want food. Bugs are like nibbling just because it’s there, but that doesn’t fill these big suckers up. They have to eat significant food sizes to do that. That food doesn’t exist on the bottom. So why target that area? Instead look for random marks at mid-column that appear for a couple seconds then go away and chances are that you’ll be looking at larger crappies on the hunt.
These very large crappies are not necessarily solitary fish, but they don’t crowd each other either. They seem to have a mutual respect for each other and allow each his own room. Sometimes a bait mass will be encountered where numerous larger crappies will behave much like tuna or sharks and feed en-masse with each other, but this is not a common occurrence. What will be apparent is the use of a seemingly thin band of water, maybe inches yet maybe a couple of feet. Water temperature, prey, light penetration…. there can a myriad of reasons these large fish use such a narrow band to feed, but they do and do so only if there is real food there. If one wants to use spot lock, put the marks smack in the center of that box.
One of the surest ways to entertain these larger fish is to use significantly larger baits. Z-Vibers, Jigging Rapalas, regular ball-head jigs with plastics in the 1″ to 2″ range or even 2′ plus minnows if you need them are all legitimate bait sizes for these fish. If you are keeping a few of these big dudes to eat, check out the stomach contents and you may get an eye opener as to the size of what they’ve been eating. I, in the past, have regularly found these big crappies with 2″ sunfish up to 4″ perch in the guts…. in the dead of winter yet.
As always in the winter, things can change from day to day or even hour to hour. Most often it is a change surround the barometer and if anyone thinks that the fish are not closely in tune with the barometer, think again. The barometer in the winter is like a thermostat in your house. There’s a comfort level with the fish that is controlled by the barometer. Move that unseen dial up or down and see what the crappies do in answer to the move. Often times if the barometer is on the move the fish move with it so if you lose touch with the fish, change something, especially where you’re looking for fish in the water column and maybe start to down-size the baits or slow down the presentation. These big crappies can be quick to make adjustments which means you have to be able to notice these changes and follow suite.
I regularly fish in the dark and use two bobber stops on my line: one to keep the depth and the other about three feet above the jig so I can’t reel the float up and bang the tip top when I can’t see well. I leave it that way even in the light. I’ve had people around me see that when I reel up, then go back and set their floats at three feet thinking that’s my depth even though we were sitting over 30 some odd feet of water. What really amazes them is when the have one of these huge old crappies come along and almost pull their arm down the hole while fishing that shallow.
There are crappies and there are big crappies. And if you want the latter, best you forget all of the stuff you learned to catch the so-so crappies because the big ones are big for a reason and the small fish did not teach them.
Great information Jimmy!
Same type of transition happens to stream rainbow trout, brown trout and brookies. They can reach about 20” by only eating bugs. Reaching a larger size requires more calories (meat) which completely changes their holding patterns and behaviors. It can be a blast fly fishing top water mouse patterns at night in the right conditions!
Nice post JJ. Would be very interested in hearing some of your thoughts and insights on open water slabs. Doubt anyone here would complain that it’s not about ice fishing em. You’ve obviously spent a lot of time chasing them.
Would be very interested in hearing some of your thoughts and insights on open water slabs.
X2 its something I’ve tried to catch for years without success every spring after ice out.
JJ –
That is great info.
You got an open seat? 
JJ –
That is great info.
You got an open seat?
Yes, we need to fish with you sometime JJ! I vote P5/5A this winter.
There are 4 seasons. Just apply this to summer fishing. Crappies tend to mirror opposite seasons. Where you find them in winter you can almost be assured that they’ll spend a lot of time there in the summer. Same with spring and fall… they’ll be right back in the fall where you find them in the spring at immediate pre-spawn. And some of the largest of the crappies in any given body of water will be taken between ice out and the spawn and again in the late fall, like now, in the very same water as they were in the spring.
Crappies are absolute suckers for vertical wood in the water. Anything vertical actually. It makes no difference what season. The same principles apply. Crappies are also a real fan of shade so on any given day with high skies you’ll do better by targeting them where there is visible shade, the darker the better and especially on sunken wood.
Remember, larger black crappies are NOT fans of hanging with the pint-sized fish and their competition. If you’re fishing wood or weeds or dock pilings, whatever, and you’re getting smaller this than you think are in there, move or go deeper or shallower or up-size a small bait. And yes, occasionally someone will stick a real pig while in the midst of mostly so-so crappies but I would not bank on a repeat. Really big crappies do not like keeping company with lesser fish.
Also, black crappies in open water are creatures of comfort and will seek water maybe three to five degrees warmer of cooler, whatever they like. The only way to find out what the water temp is down where they are is to get a thermometer down to them, I carry a submersible trout stream thermometer tied on 12 feet of surveyor’s cord. When I get on a decent bite I drop this down under a large bobber and let it rest at the depth my bobber stop is at for five minutes then quickly bring it and read the water temp. More often than not there is a significant difference in the temp where the fish are at from the surface temp. You can move around the lake and use that water temp as a guide.
Seriously large black crappies have a whole different set of playing rules and it takes a lot of time to sort thru all the junk that comes with catching the smaller versions to figure out where on a lake they might be found. The high-end graphs and side imaging might be nice, but nothing will help on crappies like a flasher. If you unit offer a flasher mode, use it.
Also, the closest I get to live bait is a few Gulp baits. I fish primarily plastics. I’m very color particular but find that in my fishing 95% of what I catch has hit on a bait with a chartreuse tail. Purple/chartreuse, junebug/chartreuse and clear-fire opal glitter/chartreuse tail are my three most used baits. It doesn’t matter what the size of the plastic or the profile or the length or the action but one of the colors will be on the line I am using.
If you’re serious about catching that big crappie, stop settling for the smaller ones. Pay attention to what the water and the fish are telling you. Log this info if you’re prone to forgetting. Just remember that these big guys have a whole different play and rule book than the run-of-the-mill fish use.
JJ,
Thank you!!!
I’m out quite a bit in deep water and see those marks on my flasher, I reel up to them but have been unsuccessful in hooking one.
Seems I may need to change up a couple things.
Since there is no post like button, just wanted to say thanks JJ for the info. Found it very helpful.
I remember Tom S. about plastics saying any color as long as it has a chartreuse tail.
Great info JJ! 
Great post JJ, some had a slow ice fishing season last year, how did you do?
Great post JJ, some had a slow <em class=”ido-tag-em”>ice fishing season last year, how did you do?
Very slow. I don’t ice fish.
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