Slab Crappie

With this slow start to the Minnesota ice fishing season I have been preparing and planning as much as I can to make sure that when the time comes, I know what I want to do and where I want to go. I have caught a lot of crappies over the years but for some reason it seems like 13″ is my cap. I have done some research and tried different areas and depths, used different baits, fished every time of the day trying to see if there will be a better trophy bite but no luck. The only obvious thing I can think of now is to just give it time, keep fishing and I will get a monster some day. I was just curious if anyone had some other tips for me, whether it is tactics, or specific lakes that have frequently produced +14″ crappies. Thanks and I hope to get on the ice soon!

Usually you need large fertile bodies of water to produce slab Crappies. My favorite time to get into the big ones is late ice, they are shallow and easy to release since you are not pulling them from deep water.

Crappie larger than 14″ are not all that common in Minnesota. I would star by looking at lakes that have size restrictions on them. I know there are a fair amount of lakes in Ottertail county with a 10″ size restriction on them. Lida lake is just one example. I have seen a fair amount of 14″+ fish come from these lakes each year. Not sure where you are located but if in the Minneapolis Metro Area I’d say one of you best bets is Whaletail lake. I’m not sure if it still does, but back 8-10 years ago when I lived out in that area there were a fair # of MONSTER crappies that came out of that lake each winter.

Many 14+ crappies pulled out of lakes up north but they aren’t hit very much because people don’t think big fish are in there. I fished Whaletail the past two years and haven’t pulled anything out over 10″. Pulled a lot bigger crappies out of Minnetonka then Whaletail.

realtreeap10 wrote:

Many 14+ crappies pulled out of lakes up north but they aren’t hit very much because people don’t think big fish are in there. I fished Whaletail the past two years and haven’t pulled anything out over 10″. Pulled a lot bigger crappies out of Minnetonka then Whaletail.

Whaletail must have had a winter kill, or got overfished. It use to put out a lot of big crappies. Never great #’s but great size

I want to say it did have a winterkill and then fish started coming back but the word got out and then it got hammered. First time I went out it was only 3 people total on the lake, last time I went there was like 50 people out there with more showing up.

Best advice I have is come to Maine.

bee wrote:

Best advice I have is come to Maine.

That is just sick what a beautiful Crappie.

Lots of good advise so far, I might have to go to Maine sometime too! Thanks for all of the input IDO community!

Another.

Biggest crappie I’ve seen in Minnesota have come from Rainy Lake. Saw Chris Granrud catch several in the 14″-15″ range one trip.

My suggestion would be to fish small untapped waters and stay away from the groups that may already be out there. Big fish like solitude. Otherwise search likely spots on big water and look shallow. They may be in unlikely places hiding from the crowds and feeding on the thick weeds.

We have a few lakes around me in Wisconsin that have 10 fish limits on the panfish. Those are the lakes I have found some of the most consistent 13″+ fish over the years. Otherwise there always are a few hidden small gems around but I have had better luck on bigger lakes or chains. What I have done on those lakes though is fish a little deeper and away from the crowds. If you are pulling fish from two deep though you are going to want to plan on keeping them.

There is plenty of lakes big and small that produce big fish. You need to do your research to find these lakes. The thought is you need to use big baits for big fish but not always the case. When I am searching for big fish I usually start with a jigging spoon with minnow head. I have also got 15 inchers on small jigs with waxies. They can be off humps, weed lines, and mud flats.

The biggest crappies I’ve caught or found have come from small shallow high fertile waters. Some of those waters are known to winter kill.this creates a lot of the time a boom or bust scenerio. A high fertility creates high foliage.winter kill will keep the stunt growth fish(over population of small fish)in check allowing the surviving fish to grow really big,really fast.also note I look for these type of waters that are either very remote or very hard to access. This eliminates fishing pressure. And the people that do go through that work to fish these type of waters usually don’t go there to fill buckets up with meat.the other thing I look for is type of crappies that habit the lake. If size is what your after white crappie or hybrids usually grow bigger than blacks. Something else to note is believe it or not some neighborhood ponds right under your nose hold some huge panfish.
Classic popular crappie factories that you see get hammered year after year but keep producing will provide the occasional hog. What I’ve learned is to find the areas that hold em but aren’t sheer numbers of them. Secondary structure away from the crowds etc. The areas less pressured. If there is some hogs swimming in with the masses they are not eating the typical presentation. Most of the biggest crappies I’ve caught were on the smallest presentations.they have amazing eyesight. Ever notice on an agressive bite in 30fow when you drop a tiny jig down the hole and the jig makes it 3 or 4 ft down the fish all start shooting up from the school racing to your presentation? That is amazing to me that they can detect something that small from that far away. What I’m getting at is to get the most finicky fish you have to be spot on in your presentation.ive also found that they usually are not the 1st one to the bait so you have to raise past the 1st bunch of feeders and drop below them to get to those biggons hanging off to the side watching.hope this helps

Had a buddy try to get me to go fishing with him when I was back in NC visiting family. Wasn’t able to go due to time constraints and family obligations. They ended up miscounting and being one fish short of a limit but they culled anything below 12″, and had fish to 16″. Made the itch to fish that much worse.

I remember the URL crappie boom.

One of my biggest. 3lb. 4oz. 17 in. taken on a very small jig.

Bryan Myers wrote:

What I have done on those lakes though is fish a little deeper and away from the crowds.

This is a pretty good pointer that Bryan brings up and will very often be the key to finding larger crappies. And it pertains to crappies in open water as well as under the ice.

Personally if I know of a bite on large crappies I will keep it to myself if the internet is the only source of communicating. I may mention a particular body of water while speaking to someone but I won’t give particulars.

And Bee…..those are some dandy fish there. Congrats!

There are still some Metro lakes that hold em but you tend to have to work for em. I have never really ice fished Southern MN but have seen some pics of some Slabs caught down there. I’m sure there’s much less pressure too unfortunately there’s probably no ice right now either.

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Too bad those big Kansas lakes don’t freeze better. Consistently pulling 14″+ from those lakes is not uncommon.

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Metro areas still have a few swimming around. My biggest was 16.5 inches just over 2.5 lbs. I have pulled a few 14 out in the metro since that.
Red Lake I still get them over 14 each year. March is a great time to fish Red.

Many others out there catch some huge slab crappies.Very tight lipped on those honey holes.Red is no secret but you can do very well up there if you put the time in. Only getting better over the last 5 years or so. I hoping to get on a few of those hot bites this winter.

Fished a lake in the Park Rapids area-we were over 50ft of water and marked stuff half way down. Sure we found tullies and we did we caught some. !st fish we caught though was a 15” crappie. Only crappie we caught from the spot. We have also caught big ones very shallow too. Big ones are wierd sometimes. Out at Vermilion people are very helpful when it comes to walleye locations and tight lipped about the crappies. Hard to find them that big in the metro but you can. Good Luck!

I love reading everyones “two cents” on here, tons of great advice and options for sure. I have a handful of lakes in MN that produce 13″ average crappies or larger. Last year I caught and released 14 crappies in a row that were between 13.25″ and 17″ on a northern mn lake that isn’t known for its slabs! I do a lot of research on the MN DNR website looking at the fish surveys for particular lakes.. 20 mins of your time will narrow down your search dramatically enabling you to target certain lakes and size of fish!