finding crappie

I’m trying to figure out where to start search for the bigger slab crappies on my home lake. I live in NW IL and fish on Lake Carroll. It’s a private community with a 640a man made lake. It was a farm valley before they flooded it. Most of the residents water ski and do not fish. I do very well crappie fishing spring to fall. I don’t do very well on the hard water. I’ve downloaded a video from this web site about locating crappies in the basin areas. Could someone tell me what defines a basin. Most of the bays in the lake are 10′ along the edges with a gentle slope to about 20′. Most of the lake is 25-35′ deep with some isolated 40′ pockets and 50′ over by the dam. I had one guy tell that there is not enough oxygen below 35′ so the crappie would not be there. There is a lot water to cover if I just go out and start drilling holes. I will definitly need a power auger if that’s the case. I attached a picture of a spring trip. My persnoal best from the lake is a 17″ monster that I did release back. I already have 16″ 2lb crappie from Kentucky Lake on the wall. Any help would be great. I would also be willing to take someone with me since this is the only way a non-resident land owner would be able to go. The walleye bite is about to kick in. Last year we had several 3lb and 1 5lb fish come up thru the ice. I also included a picture of my last fishin buddy. We wasn’t a lot of help but it shows I’m not picky about who I fish with.

The main basin would be the 25-35′ area. Couple questions. Do you have a locator? And are there any cribs or structre that would hold fish close to the main basin? If you have a locater it would be a good idea to just go out with a power auger and start punching holes around known structre on the edge of the transition from the shallow area to the main basin area and start looking there. Usually crappies will be in the deep basin this time of year and any kind of structre will hold them in that area, if you have none they will tend to wander in this whole basin area….this should be a start for you…one more thing, try fishing prime time. First light and last light, also crappies feed at night so this might be another option to try.

Deeper water near shallow bays. May need to put in some time looking for them. Big crappies would be worth the hunt.

I would start by figuring out the spawning grounds. It sounds like you might know that are if you do well in the spring. Next I would look for the closest deep water, 25′ or more. Next I would make swiss cheese of the ice drilling 30 holes at a mininmum. Then its just a matter of going from hole to hole looking for fish. A couple lakes I do this on the fish will suspend 15-30 down over 50-80′. The fish will raom in schools in these areas until ice out and they make that first run shallow to feed.

Like the guys said I wouldn’t rule out the deeper water, the fish could be suspended over those areas too.

Thanks guys. I have over 50 brush piles loaded on my handheld GPS and a buddy with a power auger. I will definitly start with the prime areas you described and keep searching from there. I watched the video again from the IDO tv show and the guy said they drilled over 200 holes that day before they found crappie. The hunt is on.