Having trouble with hot weather crappie.

I need a little guidance here in southern Indiana. In the last couple years I have started targeting crappie with good results. I have always been a hardcore bluegill and catfish guy, but have really grown to love catching crappie. In the spring my two boys and I can limit out on nice keeper slabs in no time, and are back on the gills by lunchtime.
problem is, hot weather. I can catch Gills in any condition, so I end up getting frustrated trying to catch the deeper crappie, and guess what? I end up bluegill fishing.
I can find all the places where fish are, (and even mark them on my finder), I can find cover, humps, channels, etc. but I cannot consistently catch them in this heat.
what am I doing wrong?

I'm experiencing the same problem. Last season we did a lot better than this season so far. Weather last year was more moderate with a lot more rainfall. Not sure what the problem is, but this sustained heat, with temps in the 90's, is not helping. I'm sure the folks down south will laugh at me though. They're use to this kind of heat!

You might try picking a day that is breezy, say 10 - 15 mph predicted winds. And drift 1/16 & 1/8 oz. jigs with your favorite plastics. The wind seems to pick up their appetites and a drifting presentation is quite effective, in my opinion. Other presentations will work, as some of the southern folks, who are more experienced, can help you with. Good Luck!

If you have any grass beds in the waters you fish try them.They do not have to be that deep. In fact the most productive ones seem to be the ones around 6 to 15 ft deep.With 6 to 8 being the most common . They will bury in it for the shade,oxygen and for ambush cover.The grass collects plankton and plankton also seem to gather over it.The baitfish will move in over it to feed occasionally and the fish pop up out of that grass to nab them.

A friend and I took off last week from work on Monday and fished a Lake in Southern Illinois. It was a rare cool front with high pressure.I think the high that day was 80 or so...but this has been one of the hottest and most humid summers on record around here to this point.

We swam Strike King shadpole CT jigs on 1/16 oz lead heads over the tops of some grass beds on main lake points.This bait resembles the shad size,contour,and tail action of the ones they like to target. The brown with black specs and chartreuse tail was best...but some days the white and chartreuse tail or monkeyshine color or good. Truth is I catch em all year on this jig.

We caught about a hundred and they bit pretty good all day.

DO NOT tip them with chartreuse chromaglow crappie nibbles....them things don't work ain't you heard?

And that's all I got to say about that.

This has been the toughest summer crankbait bite I've seen in a dozen years of pulling cranks specifically for crappie. 90 degree water temps and very little current have killed us.

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Originally Posted by NubJack

I need a little guidance here in southern Indiana. In the last couple years I have started targeting crappie with good results. I have always been a hardcore bluegill and catfish guy, but have really grown to love catching crappie. In the spring my two boys and I can limit out on nice keeper slabs in no time, and are back on the gills by lunchtime.
problem is, hot weather. I can catch Gills in any condition, so I end up getting frustrated trying to catch the deeper crappie, and guess what? I end up bluegill fishing.
I can find all the places where fish are, (and even mark them on my finder), I can find cover, humps, channels, etc. but I cannot consistently catch them in this heat.
what am I doing wrong?

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Well if your marking fish and your positive there crappie and you cant get them to bite change
technique up. I have done well this summer slow slow trolling minnows. Been working well in central ind

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate hearing what is working for you. The more I can learn, the crappier I'll be.

Now the trouble will be trying to concentrate on work today...

Similar experience this year. The lake I tarket a ton for crappies just seems to have been different. I'd mark a ton of fish and not get anything going (usuaing the tried and true techniques we normally use on this body of water). I switched a few things up (as Fishbrain mentioned) and that changed stuff for us.

Normally, casting lillies over 8 feet of water has done good for us in extreme heat on this lake. Unfortunately, this year not so much. The normal presentation is a 1/16oz jig tipped with a plastic shad minnow or twister tail of some sort. We started SLOW trolling over 16 feet of water outside of the lillies. Originally we tested jigs tipped with live minnows however we noticed something. It seemed the fish would pick it up and drop it once it felt the weight. Changed over to a size 6 aberdean hook and a split shot about 10 inches above it. Low and behold, the fish have been comming up, putting that minnow in their mouth, feeling no resistance and tacking off with a mouth full of hook. One night I caught 18 on this rig next to a jig and minnow that only caught 1. Funny how changing it up pays rewards. The fun is in the search, finding what they want, and then capitolizing on it. Keep throwing stuff at them until you get the right combo.

.3 and .4 has been a great speed for us this year. I use the TM when there is no wind and let the wind do the work (when there is any). Old habits die hard as I am still fishing the pads and picking up a few. Just love the feel when they hit it! Soon the water will turn over and the fish will be more active. Only a matter of time. Least you know you are not alone!

Thanks for the advice.

I've had to work alot harder to catch them this summer as well,it's also been hard to stay out very long in the boat with this heat and humidity we seem to constantly been having.I'm ready for some nice Fall weather up here for sure.

It's been the same here hard to be outside all day.

Fish live bait at night.

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This has been my best summer. I have caught at least a few every trip so far. I will say that advice from a member here is what made the difference.

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Originally Posted by slackline

This has been my best summer. I have caught at least a few every trip so far. I will say that advice from a member here is what made the difference.

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8-9 inchers, or real crappie, hehehe

I have caught plenty of short fish and I have enjoyed every one of them, for sure. :biggrinBut, have only kept fish over 10 inches. I had a couple trips during the spring that I got skunked on Lake Hamilton. But have also had the 100 plus fish in a day in the heat of July. Learning to properly fish a 11 foot jigging rod was the turning point.

Hopefully this weekend will prove more productive. The weather is supposed to be much cooler and less humidity. I can't wait!

our water temperatures dropped almost 15 degrees here and messed them up bad about a week or so ago .going from the mid 90 degree range to the low 80 range in 5 days and water levels coming up really messed them up . I will post up later where we went yesterday and after the water temperatures rose back to what would be more normal at almost 90 the fish were beyond imagination .
I have not noticed anything real unusual about this year and the hot water ,but then again we always have hot water in the summer down here.I do know when it gets super warm here the fish have a tendency to bite very lightly and I think many folks get bit and never know it .
I have seen them even give the minnow folks a difficult time in this mode as well .I only use jigs basically and sometimes one group just wont bite . then the next group we find will . you may just need to keep after them until you find fish that want to feed . and for sure if you can find baitfish or other forage they want, they wont be far away and will likely take some sort of presentation .
maybe tandem jig them with light jigs and light line if the cover isn't terribly thick ....
or possibly something with a lot of flash ?
and many times scent plays a major role in the equation as well .
that's my 2 cents without hitting your lake myself brother .:ThumbsUp

Thanks for the input Mr. Whales. I will definitely down size and add some scent. I have some gulp minners I may add for scent too. I don't fish live bait for crappie either. Mostly jigs.

The exact address where I fish is...wait a minute!

Took some plastic baits to a local bait shop.Pulled the boat decided to try the local lake for some crappie,/Was ready for anything.The bait shop owner said to hot fish not biting.Attachment 247277Attachment 247278Attachment 247279Attachment 247280Attachment 247281put the boat in around 9:30 fished till 2:30 caught these on Black/chart.Orange/chart hand poured crappie tubes.Using 2 lb nano-fil line.Rarely use anything over 4 lb test.Use 10 ft,11,ft and 12 ft Basspro crappie max rod's.they wanted the 12 ft today .Father from the post's They were hiding behind..The fishermen at the ramp taking out said they had fished all morning not a bite.These fish were on and old fence row in 4 ft of water could not believe how shallow they were."in August" 85 deg water."thats were the bait fish were"Not big but better than a poke in the eye.Try shallow,try deep,different colors different.These fish wanted the bait moving fast.Reaction Bite.Never give up.Its not called catching its called fishing.Have fun enjoy keep it simple.

Awesome. The bait store owner is probably a fisherman, you can't believe a word...never mind.

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Originally Posted by NubJack

Awesome. The bait store owner is probably a fisherman, you can't believe a word...never mind.

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He ask what did ya catch em on minnow's?I said the plastic's in the boxes.He bought both boxes and made another order.Suppose to be a hobby.LOL

Hobbies have a tendency to get out of hand! I used to pour plastics myself for my own use, then I got too busy pouring for others to fish, and I wasn't even trying to sell any. I haven't poured any in almost 5 yrs. My boys pour some now and then mainly for bass. Luckily, I got cured from bass fishing.

I have every kind of jig made but in the summer a minnow will out fish a jig 10 to one.I don't now why but I don't like using minnows but they work in the summer.