Summer Fishing Techniques

Hello,

I fish a reservoir in Kansas and historically have only targeted Crappie during the spawn. I would like to start fishing for crappie year round and am looking for some advice on summer fishing techniques.

This is the navionics of the lake: Navionics ChartViewer. The lake has a lot of flooded timber and I have been able to mark some brush piles on my graph. The lake is typically pretty windy and I have never fished brush piles before, and I am not sure how to fish a brush pile and stay on it. I have a graph at the main console but not on the bow. When I see a brush pile I mark it on the graph but I'm thinking I need a bow transducer and graph to effectively fish brush piles. Any tips would be appreciated for summer techniques, fishing brush, flooded timber, trolling, etc.

Thanks!

Find your brush pile and toss a marker buoy to mark. Fish with your trolling motor with jigs or minnows vertical or cast and count down to fish the piles.

X2 on the buoy.
I sent you a PM that might help you on clinton

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not only the BP's but hit that flooded timber and use your FF to find out the depth they are holding or just fish up and down the column till you find them. this time of year you have to hunt till you find the pattern.

Thanks! I’ll update with how I do this weekend.


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I have been told to watch your graph to find the thermocline. Then look for the bait fish. You will find crappie,I'm told near the level of the thermocline, around the bait fish. The thermocline should be the same depth throughout the whole lake. By concentrating on this depth you can eliminate a lot of water with no fish...
I hope I explained well enough...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lnitch90

Thanks! I’ll update with how I do this weekend.


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Went out today and it was windy as heck. Managed to get on one good brush pile and pull in 15 or so crappie. All short. Went to another brush pile and broke off a few times. Looks like I’ll be switching to braid. $$$


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lnitch90

Went out today and it was windy as heck. Managed to get on one good brush pile and pull in 15 or so crappie. All short. Went to another brush pile and broke off a few times. Looks like I’ll be switching to braid. $$$


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Fished about 6 different brush piles between Saturday and Sunday. Managed to catch at least two crappie off of each brush pile. It was a slow bite and a lot of short fish but fun to learn.


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Tried fishing standing timber for the first time today. Fished 2 hours and only caught 2 crappie that way. Went to a brush pile for about 2 hours and left with 8 keepers.


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I've always found fallen timber to be better than standing timber, as it seems to give the fish more hiding spots, different depth levels to suspend in, more shaded areas, and more ambush potential. Even trees leaning at an angle, with or without tops/branches or totally submerged or not, seem to hold bigger schools than even a group of standing timber trunks. It's a little more equal, though, when there's a root wad or multiple branches in the group of standing trunks.
Kinda works the same way at bridge pillars, sometimes. A pillar that's basically "clean" all the way to the bottom will still hold fish, but when there's some waterlogged debris that has collected on the down current side of the pillar ... there's a better chance of fish holding on it, current or not.