General Crappie Info

I’m new to this board and new to ice fishing in general. Over the last two years I made an investment in a vexilar and an auger and have been getting out to local SE metro lakes catching sunfish on wax worms and euro larvae. I’m loving fishing through the ice, and catching little sunfish is fun, but I’d like to get into crappies and something a bit bigger than 5-6 inch sunnies.

My question is in general, when fishing a new lake, where do you all look for crappies? I’ve read that in early and late ice, shallow vegetation is the place to look and mid-winter the crappies will go deeper into the basin.

So my question to all of you more experienced ice anglers – if you’re fishing an unknown lake for the first time in search of crappies, what is your game plan when you hit the ice? Is early January still considered early ice or are we into mid-winter now? How deep is “shallow vegetation” or does that vary by lake?

I know lakes and spots are held close to the vest so I’m not looking for any specifics, just a general gameplan so I can get better at ice fishing and hopefully run into some crappies that I could potentially get a meal out of. Any tips or thoughts would be appreciated.

You can find them in both weeds and basins all year long. Hell I find em over the basins in the fall before the ice up. I have noticed the last couple years though I’ve gotten more size in the weeds, however don’t seem to catch the numbers that you do over basins. Really just depends on how you want to fish or where you find them that particular day.

I’d suggest studdying the lake map a lot before going. I like the Navionics Webapp (free). Then basically any time I’m crappie fishing in the winter, I am looking for basin crappies (fish suspended over a hole). If you are fishing a relatively shallow lake, look for the deepest hole. If you are fishing a lake that has very deep spots (40+ feet) and other more isolated holes of 20-30 feet, I would look to the isolated holes. Otherwise you are just fishing in the void, hoping to find a random school. Attached is a picture from the Navionics Webapp. I would concentrate on the hole on the top of the image, right in the middle of the hole, and probably ignore the really deep stuff at the bottom. Finally, as controvestial as it will sound, if you are brand new and looking for any help, community holes are there because the produce. It might not be as exciting as finiding your own school, but it would be a place to start and then try to match the contour situations in other parts of the lake to find less fished spots.

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Crappies in the winter to me is a game of drilling lots of Holes and covering lots of ground. Especially in the large basins. These fish seem to move around a ton. Ideally it works best to work in teams. One guy drilling and another following along and checking holes for fish. If you don’t mark fish on the flasher – Don’t even bother dropping a line. Just keep moving till you mark fish. Fish that are active in big basins tend to suspend well off the bottom and are easy to spot on a flasher or graph. I hate to say this, but when you are new and starting, start by fishing around other people. They are usually there because its a location that has fish. By around I mean in the general location, Not right next to them. Look at where they are on a lake map. If its a large flat and they are just off the edge, Pick another area of the flat and fish just off the edge. if they are just on a breakline, notice what Depth they are in and move up or down the same breakline and fish the same Depth area. When you catch fish. Note on a lake map where you caught them. Look for other area’s that are similar and start checking them.
Looks like Dan’s post beat me to it

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info. I try to stay away from other groups as I wouldn’t want people crowding in on me, but you make a good point that there’s a reason they are fishing there. I’ll still give plenty of space.

I’ve been pouring through some of the LakeFinder survey info and digging into the Navionics webapp and think I’ve got an idea on a lake or two for this weekend. I do prefer fishing the deeper basin holes just because I like looking at the Vexilar in ~24 feet of water versus 8 feet of water. Think I’ll drill a half dozen or so holes and see if I can spot them. Will report back!

I’m far from an expert, but what I do is drill from some structure to out over the basin in the afternoon. And then keep hopping those holes chasing them around as it gets dark. If I’m hunkering down in a shack it’s where I was getting bit or anticipate it over the basin.

I would try both shallow and deep. People really like deep spots so a lot of shallow areas get over looked.

Youbetcha wrote:

I would try both shallow and deep. People really like deep spots so a lot of shallow areas get over looked.

Plenty of Crappies to be caught in Shallow water as well. To me the main difference is that in Shallow water it seems to be a fish or so from one hole and then having to move to another hole where as when finding them in the Basin, it tends to be larger schools of active fish and you can catch a lot larger amount of fish from one hole ( Once you locate them ) The other thing is that your electronics seem to become less useful in shallow weed fishing. I find often in shallow weeds you often need to drop you bait down into the weeds to get bit and often can not see your bait or the fish on the electronics. Not saying this is bad – Just different. I will say that I think the Bigger crappies tend to be more Solo and tend to be caught more often in shallow weeds.

Crappies tend to follow the same patterns year after year. I like to write down when I have a good fishing day on the ice (depth, ice thickness, date, etc). Over the years when I fish that lake again, I have a pretty good idea where to start. I tend to drill a lot of holes in the afternoon and jump around. Once I find the most productive holes, I’ll set my portable over them once it hits dusk and the sun goes down. I do not set up my house until I know fish are there.

I have found the crappies in-between shallow and the basin right now. With the snow on the lakes, my guess is they’ll move deep very soon, probably next 1-2 weeks.

Even if you’re marking fish lower in the water column, the most aggressive crappies and usually the biggest ones are higher up. I set a minnow with a bobber in my 2nd hole higher up and quite often the biggest fish of the day gets caught on that line.

I would Google and there are some really good videos out there.

In-Depth Outdoors does some great ones on finding and catching fish of all species.

Years ago growing up we (a few HSers) were on a Becker County lake. No locator (except a line and weight) and no rods and reels. Stick and string, albeit we did use mono leaders. Portable houses were canvas with plywood ends and door. We were fishing open air …

We were in about 25 feet of water. The guys around us would catch crappies about every 10 – 15 minutes. Finally, I walk over and ask a guy … he states the school cycles through here 4 – 5 times an hour and suspended at 17′

We raise our lines and each catch 4 or 5 13″ – 14″ crappies over the next 90 minutes or so … leave a little after dark pretty happy.

I still realize that heavily feeding schools of crappies indeed maybe cycling through an area as they pursue their prey …

I usually keep an eye on the Vex and if I start seeing suspended marks – I too raise my minnow and bobber line up to that depth.

I agree that crappies have predictable patterns over the seasons. Once you learn them … finding them on a specific lake gets easier … it does take plenty of time on the water and ice.

If you’re fishing with a Vexilar under 20 feet of water, I would use low power mode if your model has it. Fish can feel the sonar pulses if you blast them with normal power in a shallow area.

All good info, thanks.

Ryan Schwartz wrote:

If you’re fishing with a Vexilar under 20 feet of water, I would use low power mode if your model has it. Fish can feel the sonar pulses if you blast them with normal power in a shallow area.

Interesting. I have the FL18 that does have low power mode but I’ve always used normal with bottom lock on. I’m going to have to switch to low power mode for my local lake that tops out at about 8 feet deep…

Andy Fischer wrote:

Even if you’re marking fish lower in the water column, the most aggressive crappies and usually the biggest ones are higher up. I set a minnow with a bobber in my 2nd hole higher up and quite often the biggest fish of the day gets caught on that line.

This is the best advise a guy can give on crappie fishing under the ice.

ShutdownDB wrote:

All good info, thanks.

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ryan Schwartz wrote:</div>
If you’re fishing with a Vexilar under 20 feet of water, I would use low power mode if your model has it. Fish can feel the sonar pulses if you blast them with normal power in a shallow area.

Interesting. I have the FL18 that does have low power mode but I’ve always used normal with bottom lock on. I’m going to have to switch to low power mode for my local lake that tops out at about 8 feet deep…

Using the low power mode in Shallower water will give you much better detail as well. On my FL28 if I’m in less than 15 Ft of water I have to turn the Gain all the way to 0 or I simply get way to much screen clutter. Switching to the low power mode really helps clear this up.

Guys on the lake are a good resource. Tell them it’s your first time on the lake. They will give you depth, type of bait, color, etc. Don’t be afraid to ask. Then setup a polite distance away from them. Good luck and enjoy the experience.

i would think bays early in the year and basins later but you can find them all over. i have an easier time finding them under hardwater than soft for some reason? my biggest crappies almost always come on the biggest fathead in my bucket under a glow demon and float. color don’t matter just glow them up and position them halfway up the water column. use your other line to chase fish wherever they show up.
i been ice fishing hard for about a decade and this year i made it a priority to ditch the waxies/spikes for plastics and have not looked back. there are so many options unlike back in the day. don’t forget your jigging raps either, they will get the bigger more aggressive fish in a school to hit those. i like the glide baits during the afternoons on warmer days.
the only way to get better is repetition. keep fishing and improve your odds during low light hours and you will see what works when and where.

Youbetcha wrote:

I would try both shallow and deep. People really like deep spots so a lot of shallow areas get over looked.

Deep can be a great location but look for fish at mid-column and target those. Deep fish will be negative to neutral fish and much harder to get to hit and often a lot smaller Fish at mid-column will be hunting.

eyeguy mentions this too…. “i been ice fishing hard for about a decade and this year i made it a priority to ditch the waxies/spikes for plastics and have not looked back. there are so many options unlike back in the day. don’t forget your jigging raps either”.

The mid-column fish want food, not lacey, dainty little plastics or the live bugs. Don’t be afraid to drop a 1-1/4″ or 1-1/2″ minnow shaped plastic of a paddletail down there on a 1/32 ballhead. Way too many people use baits that don’t excite these fish looking for a real meal.