Crappie fishing in the summer

I know it can be done… but unfortunately I just can’t seem to figure it out. Hit Diascund on July 28th, which was one of the less hot (still hot though) days recently. Fished jigs along the shoreline and also deeper near the bridges. Lots of little yellow perch - especially smacking white marabou Road Runners. But no Crappie. Managed a Catfish (Ned Rig) that came home for dinner, and a nice Alabama Bass (D Shad), but that was about it.

Any (technique / bait) recommendations for summer / hot weather Crappie fishing? I’ve seen people write about trolling crankbaits, but I didn’t have much luck with that. But all my smaller crankbaits don’t run very deep.

All the best,
Glenn

Cranks work for us. We find Shad and the Crappie aren’t far behind. You’ll do best cranking medium to deep divers in the summer.

My crankbaits are usually designed for Bass, so my deeper divers are pretty large bodied for a Crappie (I think - I could be wrong). Are there specific Crappie Crankbaits that dive deeper? The crankbaits I’ve caught Crappie on before were stuff like a Yozuri Snap Bean. Small, but shallow diving.

I’ve heard you can add a weight a foot or so up the line to get those baits deeper.

I read an article about trolling Jointed Shad Raps - Size 4 and 5. Bought a few yesterday and I'm going to try them out next trip.
All the best,
Glenn

I tried both sizes today, in 4 different colors. Trolled at a few speeds all around Diascund Reservoir - .7 to 1.5mph. Changed up the depth with different sizes / types of line, letting them out closer and further. I kept the depth no shallower than 6’, and trolled at various depths from there to 18’. Was out there for 8 hours today, and only managed two small white bass on the crankbaits. I’ll try again another day.

All the best,
Glenn