I've caught them long lining in as low as 2 1/2 feet. Actually a few years ago a friend came down from Memphis and it was really windy so we found a area that was holding crappie that was between 2 and 3 feet and out of the wind and we took home 60 crappie all from that area. Used 1/32 jig and went about 1.2 to 1.4 mph and only cast back about 20 feet.