Thread: Kayak Trip Report, Ditto Landing

I returned to Ditto Sunday afternoon about 4:30PM and fished till 8PM spider rigging 1/16oz white marabou jigs. Only a couple until about 7PM, then fish turned on. I kept 12, returned 3 slabs and a dozen smaller 6 inch fish. Fun and fast hour. The fish were about 24 inches deep in 5 to 6 feet of water. The water was muddy with visibility of under 12 inches and 85 degrees.

Well I imagine this time of year they were almost cooked al dente' that shallow. I haven't even seen a fish that shallow, even during the spawn.
Good Job though. It's hot out there at 4:30 in the afternoon.

Mr S, There's always a few that stay shallow in sloughs, backwaters and rivers. If there is deep water near by then Crappie will head deep, but often that's a long swim. I've been pretty consistent catching Crappie in water 6 feet deep or less (often 2 - 3 feet) all summer. I've got a photo somewhere of my fishfinder showing water in the mid 90's and I'm pulling Crappie in 3 feet of water. Just a weird niche I've found in my kayak.

Yep DB is right always some up shallow and the seem to bite better that the deep fish in summer heat.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

lowe175, when they're shallow with deep water available (like Madison County Lake the last few weekends) there's only one reason, feeding on shallow water baitfish schools.

So to keep this topic going of shallow crappie in the summer heat when deeper water is nearby, is it just hit or miss when there are baitfish shallow as well or will there almost always be some crappie following them around regardless? There are a few spots shallow lately I've seen shad running but hadn't tried for crappie, was just curious. Sounds like it might be worth a shot.

This is an old photo with a cheap fishfinder, but surface temperature of 99 degrees with suspended Crappie at 3 feet. The gray area on the bottom are baitfish schools. If you consistently have baitfish in an area, then there's Crappie near by. Usually early or late in the day is better, also cloudy and especially windy days. I've caught Crappie for years, even during the summer and seldom fish deeper than 6 feet.