Shallow crappie

So, on a lake close to me, there is a big basin were it is about 7 ft. I’ve seen several houses on that basin this year. Any tips for shallow crappie? Thanks

Jig aggressively to get them to come over if you do not mark them consistently. Fish roam areas like that so you will need to draw them in, its not like deep water where they see the jig falling 10 feet and come over. Biggest tip in an area like that would be to find structure. Like I said, the fish will be roaming, but if you have some structure they will hold around it for a little while.

Otherwise just drill 20-50 holes and hop around until you mark a fish, catch it, and move on.

When drilling more holes hole, how far would be a general rule of drilling them from one another?

Drill every 20 yards max and do a zigzag pattern out and back. Not sure if you are in MN or WI. WI allows more lines and we will drill a bunch of holes and set two Tip Downs each spread out and then start hole hopping.

If you have a flasher/Camera and are seeing fish but no takers, switch up baits/colors until you find what they want.

In shallow water it does not matter. 5-10 paces or as little as 2 feet. I’ve moved 2 feet before and caught a fish I did not see in the hole 2 feet behind it. Granted, that was in 3′ of water not 7′.. but you get the picture.

Are 1/8 buckshot and slender spoons with a minnow head good too?

I’ve caught some decent crappies in shallow water with the 1/16 slender spoon tipped with two spikes on one of the hooks. Never tried them with a minnow head. 1/8 is pretty heavy for crappie IMO, they like to suck in their food (open their mouth and pull water through the gills to pull the food in) and they might have trouble getting a 1/8 in their mouth in the winter. But I’m sure a big crappie could probably do it.

For me when I am fishing shallow water crappies I still like to have plenty of gas for the auger so I can cut lots of holes. Usually I cut holes 5 to 10 paces apart at the most, and often do to the shallow water and the fact that its easier to spook fish I will cut a long string of holes then loop back around to where I started cutting, but don’t cut to close to the first holes. Then I walk back to the first holes and start fishing. The other thing I do different in shallower water I will drop a jig in every hole or everyother hole even if I don’t see anything on my Marcum. The reason for that is because in shallow water you won’t see very much of the bottom and crappies are often right under the ice in shallower water, so often times you won’t see fish on your electronics till there at you jig.

I find spoons can be great search baits for crappies but I use smaller spoons especially under 10 feet of water. I like using 1/16oz Tingler spoon or often just a 1/32 or 1/16oz jig tipped with plastic. I have caught some big crappies on 1/8oz spoons but they are usually in deep basins.
Good Luck let us know how you do!!

Id look at the 1/16oz rattle spoon and the 1/16 tingler for flash and noise to draw in roaming crappies. Alot of my sodak crappies are on the roam constantly and moving alot. I would drill a pile of holes if there isnt much pressure thne give yourself a few hours to really comb them holes over. This is how I like to fish basin crappies. If spoons arnt working 1/32 oz jig with some plastic on is a good finess option. – QB