crappie question

ok i'm having a hard time with the crappie, i can find them but all fish i mark are up high in the water column. no takers but if i fish tight to the bottom i will get one or 2 nice ones. are they feeding tight to the bottom, then moving up to roam?

I'm surprised 57 lookers and no help

Ok i will try to give some suggestions

From my fall fishing crappie experiences some lakes tend to turn off until hardwater, for example i do well on Gun Lake until fall and i struggle so i go to different lakes that have a better late season bite

as far as fish high in the water column this sounds like you marking fish later in the afternoon when the water has warmed up and the crappie and bluegills tend to come up in warmer water. i've seen this many times even at times there sticking there top fins out of the water

Your going to have to move around until you find em, that's fishing

I had a old guy till me this year while fishing that "The fish are in here and there's land all around us so the cant go no were"


Good luck

thanks ready2fish. thats what i'm thinking to, i just keep moving around and pick off 4 or 5 a day. then thursday afternoon i was fishing my spot and caught these 2 things. now maybe that will helpp the bite alittle lolAttachment 219282

I didn't throw this out as it may be a bit early depending on the lake, but "turn over" of the water may be a factor right now too. Assuming this "lull" you are experiencing is just a recent phenomenon.

The lake we were catching Crappie in on every trip there? Went dead as soon as the water cooled down. One thing that helps us in the fall? You have to slow your presentation down. When you were trolling 1.8 to 2.0 you now need to get to 1.0 to 1.5 The fish slow down in the fall. Hope this helps.

Good point Don.

My fall speed for long lining is .4 to .8, just like Larry said.

Also, if you read Steve's post, he switched over to a hook and sinker and slip rig. Had to wait a little bit before the bite. Shows me that the fish were in the mood to feed (or snack) but not really eat!

Yep slow it down, I generally always troll .5 to .6 all year long but then it depends on whats on the end of your line

we have been marking all these fish in one hole that's about 15 ft deep. under a bridge. we tie the boat off and tight line them. that's what has me stumped one rod 1 ft off the bottom and 1 about 2 ft down. and always get the fish on the bottom.

slow down even more, drop shot!

Try using a clear bobber with a 1/64 oz or 1/80 oz jig and soft plastic only about 4 - 12 inches below the clear bobber, with 2 or 4 pound test. The Fall surface bite is by far my favorite time of year. Those fish way up high in the water column, at or very near the surface, are often gorging themselves on zooplankton during the Autumn months when the tiny creatures make their way toward the waters surface and are easy prey for the specks and gills. You can see the plankton and a bit of the Fall surface feed in this video of mine.
https://youtu.be/0J_TWuuaxKY

great video slabsrus. i don't have any clear bobbers yet but going to get some soon. we where actually using 12' rods with no bobber and letting the minnow swim freely. going to give your way a try this fall for sure thanks for the pointer

Frank actually brings up a really good point. One that I forgot about until now. I learned this from a biologist many years ago and it might apply in this situation as well.

In relation to Ice fishing. People often wonder why the fish (crappies and blue gills) tend to feed "down" in the morning and "up" in the evening. The reason that was explained is because: as the sun comes up, the plankton and zoo plankton will go down in the water column due to the fact that they do not need to seek out the light as it exists throughout the column. In the evening, as the light begins to fade, the plankton and zoo plankton must rise in the column in order to chase the light. As a result, the fish will also rise with it. This might explain why fish react differently on cloudy days. This also explains why crappies (at times) will hit during the middle of the day in the middle of the water column. This is because there is less plankton in that area and the bait you present might be the only thing to eat at that time of day. This also explains why fishing with a submerged light or a lantern on the ice works so well. It will concentrate the plankton towards the light for that "after dark" bite.

Often times, especially when ice fishing, many people miss where the crappies are at because their fish finder is submerged too deep. In March, it is not uncommon to catch the fish within an inch or two of the bottom of the ice. A clear float puts your bait in the zone without spooking the fish. It also keeps you away from the area and allows you to cast towards them. I love the clear floats because they add weight and allow you to cast a smaller bait (or jig) much further than with nothing at all. Many times, I utilize a gold Aberdeen hook without any weight. I allow the minnow to free swim. A casting weight of some kind is essential to get that bait into the zone.

Frank's post and video sure brought back fond memories. I don't want to divert the topic to bluegills but obviously crappies and bluegills feed a lot on the same things.
So Labor Day 2015 our family had the last big picnic of the summer at "the lake." After the gang went home my wife and I stayed at our cottage to clean up. Towards evening, when the "water jockeys" were on shore and the lake calmed down I decided to troll for a while. As I approached the far side of the lake I noticed a bunch of seagulls on the water, picking like a flock of chickens. They were obviously feeding on "something." As I got closer they all took off. As the water smoothed out from their departure I noticed a lot of "boils," obviously from feeding fish. I shut down the motor and grabbed my ultralight. I pulled a #6 aberdeen, a small bobber(not clear), and a bottle of Gulp worms from my vest. I cast that rig towards the circles on the water and the bobber kept going....down. The first fish was a "keeper" bluegill. In about a half hour I had my limit of bluegills.
The next morning I was on the deck with binoculars watching the flat surface of the lake for disturbances, and there were plenty. It didn't take long to catch 25 keepers. Long story short, my wife kept count and I was out there 27 of 31 days in October, and 5 of those were morning and evening trips. I've fished that lake for almost 50 years and that was the fastest bluegill fishing I have EVER had. I never did SEE what those bluegills were feeding on but I assume it was zooplankton that would require magnification to identify. I never did catch any crappies. The good Lord willing I'll get to experience that again in the fall of 2016. Here are a few photos of an October I'll remember forever.

Deck view. You can see the disturbances out where the trees reflect on the calm water.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...psi0p5hptd.jpg

Feeding bluegills spooked by the boat.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...psxcfomx7u.jpg

You can see how close the bobber is to the hook.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...psbi0qi2e7.jpg

If fish is indeed "brain food" I ought to be a genius.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...psq93dvq9w.jpg

Good info guys.