Where did my honey hole go?

Here in Minnesota this fall we had some very nice numbers of black crappies deep in the dock shadow well outside the weedline on the sheltered shore. The best for us were small plastics on 32nd and smaller jig heads fished on very light lines (2# and 4#) starting on the bottom. The best docks extended out to 15' or 20' of water. Blacks will often seek the bottom when fronts are strong, which windy conditions signal. Jig action was best when very subtle and much of the bite was very soft. Vertical presentations were most productive, often little more than slow lifts and settles with extended pauses between. Best tails were inch and a half tubes and rattail shads down to barely an inch long. Downsizing the head to size 10 shad darts worked best at times. I fished 2# line mostly and had to be on the sheltered side to keep the wind from messing up the line in the deep presentations. Most of our bite was detected by noodle tip and line watching. We took several nice eater sized walleyes as bonus fish in the process.

Blowdowns that reach out to that depth, permanent docks and marinas where young of the year and pin minnows are concentrating would also be possibilities. Look for the forage and a sheltered or shadowed bottom probably best in current breaks. Up the creek arms is a good suggestion but I would not expect them to go all the way up beyond where the anchor depths stop. Up here a lot of walleye fishermen like to fish the wind blown shore, but for crappies I prefer the sheltered shore.