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It seems like I have know problems locating and catching small crappie in my local lake but it seems that I cannot find the bigger fish. Don’t get me wrong I catch the occasional bigger fish but where should I look for the bigger fish on a more consistent basis?
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How large is this lake, what is it's aver. depth, what depth that you are fishing, what kinds of structure are you targeting and most important, what is the forage base? I think if we knew these things, we could probably offer some suggestions.
The lake is 731 acres with an average depth of 22 ft. I’m fishing 25 ft water and catching fish 9 to 12 feet deep. Fishing lay downs and standing and submerged timber. The primary food source is white suckers and gizzard shad.
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it might be the forage base that is the problem there , neither of the 2 species you mentioned stay small enough for long enough to be a real good food source for year round growth on a crappie .
Also golden shiners are present.
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How long have you been fishn this lake?
standing timber sounds like res. do they catch big(14+")crappie from that water? cant catch them where they don't live.
in general I find the bigger ones where you bass fish. isolated stumps on channel drops or deep in under the trunk of lay downs. really get in there vertical and in their face. use bigger baits too. if legal net shad and use them!. I use 2" plastics 90% of the time in warm water. 45* and up is warm. I have found 4" gill in 12" crappie. today I pulled a few 3" shad from my 11-12" keepers. big mouths eat big baits.