Super Shallow Crappie

For the last several years, an unusual tactic has had great success at a number of docks. Last night was an example. Fish were biting just above the brush in about 15'-18' of water, everybody catching fish. Then it got really slow, so I switched to a slow upward retrieve, with an occasional twitch. A good fish hit at a 3' depth. For the next 2 hours, they hit steadily at 1'-3', then dropped down to 6'-7'. They were hitting electric chicken, yellow/white, and a 1/64th green head/ white body w/ silver wrap/ white feather tail.
This tactic doesn't work every time, but it really pays off when the fish come up close to the surface. It works day or night. At Carl Blackwell a couple of years ago, the bite had slowed for everyone at the dock. I moved up and caught 83 fish at 2', as fast as I could get the tiny jig in the water.
Give it a try the next time they slow down at the "normal" depth. It could really pay off.

Here are a few jigs that have worked well.

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When dock fishing in my home lake here in Kansas go to bottom then crank up very slow is the a tried and true method. Really good using small hair jigs or ice jigs.

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Originally Posted by Blackdog40

When dock fishing in my home lake here in Kansas go to bottom then crank up very slow is the a tried and true method. Really good using small hair jigs or ice jigs.

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Are you the guy who showed everybody how to make ice spoons at Carl Blackwell? If so, you have a very large following now. Other guys are making them and selling them. One guy sold over $300 worth of spoons in one afternoon late last winter.

Those are really good looking jigs Sky. I can see why you are so freakishly successful!

Fished yesterday and had the same experience, everything caught was in 1 to 2 fw.

I fished a buddy's farm pond today and caught several crappie and three bass in water less than 3 ft. We spent a good hour fishing the deep end and nothing. Caught 'em on a chartreuse plastic jig.

Thanks for the tip van- I'm gonna give that a try in my shallow end!

the fish are rising to pick up the radiant heat from the sun. The night bite could have been due to the minnows rising to the slightly warmer water following the zoplankton up. This is a known pattern and happens in early Spring during the heat of the afternoon sun.

Throw to deep. Work way to shallow. Look like a baitfish trying to get back in safe area.

I expect that farm pond fishing will continue to pick up with the warm weather forecast in the near future.

I have 'accidentally ' caught crappie while bass fishing in shallow water, even in summer. I grew up assuming that they were fish of deep structure or cover. I guess generally they are, except during spawn. It is interesting and helpful to hear what the crappie experts have to allow. That's why I'm here... anybody else?

Crappie are part of the Sunfish family. They have no problems with warmer water. I've seen nice Crappie caught in 4-6' in the heat of the summer.