I think that your observation is a valid one indeed JL. I believe that the reason for this is because crappie are members of the sunfish family; they will behave much like Large-mouth Bass, Bream, Bluegill and many others who in fact do tend to go into the woods during high water conditions. I don't think they do this to explore new territory or anything like that... but instead to pursue baitfish which I believe are busy pursuing and foraging on a vast plethora of microbes and insects that can be found on the newly flooded ground... and the larger sunfish (including crappie) and other fish species are simply keying in on the shifting high water food chain.

