Thread: February/March shallow water crappie: warmer water or longer daylight?

In early march year before last,i was catching them in gaston so shallow that i had to raise my trolling motor and drift with wind as i cast to bank less than a foot with a light jig,last year cancer keep me off the lake much of the time

Lots of good info here. Don't forget about wind direction as well. Fish those shallow water bays where the winds are blowing into them, late in the day can be special. Fish when you find them are there to eat but they move in and out allot until those temps get up to around 60.

Originally Posted by JordanLimit

I'm interested in some input and observations. Over the past few years, I've seen folks catch a number of nice crappie in February and March in shallow water. I was talking to one fisherman and he said it is all about daylight getting longer and not water temperatures. I've talked to other people and they say it is all about temperatures. What do you guys think?

For several years if you get a good grip on the weather and find a three or four day warm up, you can find 'em coming in shallow for feed and chasin shad. Many guys believe that is the start of the spawn but it is very typical and you can really do well in very shallow water. I have done very well tightlining in the back of Buffalo and Bluestone up at Buggs in Feb.

Good information shared on this thread. I have experienced the warm afternoon shallow bite many times. Fishing brush piles I catch fish early in the day 12' deep or so and in the warm afternoon those same fish move up to 3' deep. Caught them off the bank in 1-2 fow late afternoon in early March and when the sun dipped below the tree tops the went back to deeper water almost immediately. Bait , moon and water temp all play a role but I think the warming water and cooling water moves them up and down quicker than other variables.

Crappies don't have a calendar. They react to their enviroment. they do react to the photoperiod, but a lot of cloudy days can back that up. they react to water tempature, more as to how fast it warms than how warm it gets. I've seen it warm from 40 to 46 on a 3 day warmin trend and make a great catch. Also seen it warm up to 48 slowly an ya couldn't hardly catch a fish. I've been fishin 4-6 days a wk for many yrs. I go a lot on bad days and try to learn something. The full moon has been good to me as far as catchin bigger fish. I usually catch more bigguns around the full moon than any other time. I've caught 40-60 females up in shallow water, after it warmed 4-5 degrees in Jan. but this is rare. I do best in Feb an March by titelinin 5 ft or less in 5-20fow. Side imagin has helped locate these shallow fish where as we used to have to fish to find them. don't wait til ya here they bitin, be the one to tell others they bitin!!!

Breeding, eating and surviving, that's all these crappie know. They'll give up comfort to eat, they'll give up eating to escape danger.

Don't have near the experience that fishdoc has but IMO truer words have never been spoken. Fish don't have calendars.

Thanks Fishdoc. No better way to learn than spending time on the water and gaining the knowledge you have.