Springtime is hardest time for me.

I've crappie fished 20 odd years out of my 36yrs of living. I have done really well in the hot summertime on the local small lakes with Pops on minnows and jigs. Done good during the cold winter months with my friend on his big boat on the big lakes tightlining minnow rigs deep. Springtime is a beast entirely of its own. I never caught them good, never found em shallow like on TV, nor get the same results as the people who went fishing the day before me. Wind is always a problem during the spring and a cold front always hits the day before I fish. Muddy water doesn't help but triumphantly= I caught them in muddy water, but it was during the summertime. People get excited when springtime comes around but me so-so.

I hear that from a lot of people. Personally I prefer to fish in the spring, especially the spawn.
I try hard to remember the days when I’m most successful and how that happened.
Where I fish timing is EVERYTHING for catching them in 1-3 feet of water.
I watch the weather like a hawk, If I can get a day with south wind , no moon overhead, and slowly rising water over 60 degrees. I’m on the hunt for the big males. They won’t be everywhere, so I fish fast till I see a pattern and it usually ends up a good day.


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I find them pretty easy in the spring. Look for 3-4ft water in cove with a hard bottom is the key. They can be in timber or on rocks. The clearer the water the deeper they will spawn. If your only catching males turn around and look for cover in 7-8ft of water. This is were those big females will be stagging waiting for the right time to move shallow. Once you find a spot you will find them their each year as long as the water level is stable. We have brand new lake in which I will explore this spawning season. We are only around 10 days away. I can't wait.

Spring time is all or very few for me. Just going to make a new post about it now. Very soon it will bust wide open and 100 miles of shoreline will have a crappie nearly every foot! today we scanned the water near my home launch and found crappie scattered in open water with no structure.

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Same here for Spring (like now) and Fall don't normally have a lot of success. Now Spawn, Summer and Winter normally no problem finding them. I think I need to look at new and more open water areas?

South facing coves with deeper water leading in will be the first to spawn, while north facing coves the spawn may have not even begun. This is where SI comes into play running the mouths of the coves looking for staging fish, move move move until you find fish before ever wetting line. I might spend 2-3 hours scanning with SI to find fish in uymbers enough to fish.

Returns to spawn spots of past repeatedly this time of year will cure ya ……
One week or another the herd will be in town to party …..
Just saying :highfive

Last night was one of those off the chain spring evenings! My phone went dead after nine photos; caught 27 after that! one huge male was as beautiful as any steelhead, thick, and strong enough to peel line from my reel and make me truly worried about breakoff. Epic rare experience. Attachment 501701

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