QUestion for the pro's

I'm rather new to this crappie fishing,,,I've only been at it now for around 3-4 seasons and am wondering,,,Is crappie fishing based more on Behavior or Science?
Just not the same as salt water fishing behavior ..fishing as a young salt water fisherman was always based on tides and yearly fishing times mostly where these pesky crAppie fishing mainly the lakes which have dAms are bAsed seemingly on water temps,water levels and time of year and spawn.... Am I missing something here???? I really would like to up my game and fish more like someone who knows crappie fishing as if I grew up here rather then a guy just lost on the water.... Thanks for any help

Just really wondering what do the pros use for their plan of attack when heading to their waters...Do you use science or behavior more in your attack?

Come on guys,,,,where's all the seasoned fisherman?

Ain't no "pro" by any stretch of the imagination .... but, what I do is use accumulated info from my experiences, reports from other reputable sources, what I know about the habits of the fish (under the prevailing conditions), and experiment along the way to find new/different ways to fool them into biting my offerings.

The way I see it, "Science" just tells me the why of their "behavior" ... in general. They are the same fish, regardless of what body of water they reside in .... BUT, they can act/react quite differently (at times) in different bodies of water & sometimes even in different parts of the same body of water. And like any sport, you "study & practice" in order to get better productivity from your efforts when you put those efforts to the test.

It's nice to catch a limit, or catch a huge fish (or both) ... but, for me it's not the reason I go ... and if I don't catch anything (or anything worth bringing home), I still had fun & probably learned a little something along the way. And I also honored my Grandparents (my Crappie fishing mentors), my Mother and step-father (avid Crappie anglers), and my late fishing buddy ... by carrying on the tradition.

Both freshwater and saltwater fish relate to bottom structure. Years ago, the late, great Buck Perry had a successful saltwater trip. When he got back to the dock, he was asked how he did it. He answered, "I caught these fish while fishing for largemouth bass." What he meant was he used the same tactics in saltwater as he did in fresh: he looked for good bottom structure and fished there.

Go and do likewise.

Time on the water will trump any information you can gather from other sources. Information gathered from other fishermen,
media, etc should be looked at to see if it works for you. Like I've said many times before. If you roll a wheelbarrow around a
shed long enough, you will get good at it.

Your question is kind of hard to answer. I think it takes a combination of the 2. The biggest thing to me is ( like Stormcloud said) it takes experience= time on the water. You need to take information you can glean from here pick a tecneque that seems to be working for others at the time. Set up for that and fish it until you are pretty proficient at it. Time on the water will eventually lead you to patterns at different times of year, different conditions and things like that. Like right now we are faced with higher than usual water levels for this time of year, higher air/water temps than normal for this time of year plus more current being drawn than normal for this time of year. So then you have to ask yourself where would they normally be this time of year and in that area you have to ask your self where would they go with the extended range they now have. Then what would be best way to attack them. Experience, Experiance.

I am not a pro but I always fish structure of some sort . They usually favor a certain depth on each water body and season. At times they hold tight and other times they will just be around it . Water clarity , sunlight , barometric pressure and water temps can greatly effect how they position on structure .:twocents

The best three pieces of advice that I could pass along are 1) time on the water, period. One must put themselves in almost any situation of varying degree including time of year, and environment. These experiences are what leads to this... 2) keep a log of every trip on the water. Log weather changes and events, lake levels and stages, environmental events and changes like rivers flooding, or bad droughts, or unseasonable conditions outside of the norm. Once you gather a few years worth you will really begin to see patterns, everything from habits to seasonal techniques or colors, and it gets even more detailed!
Put in your log for a trip what the weather did, low/high water and air temps, water clarity, best baits, locations or certain GPS numbers, we're they relating to stakebeds or brush better, or were they suspended high or low in the water column. Notate the barometric pressure and moon phase, how others were doing, of course what the wind did, directions, and anything else.
And number 3) always listen to the fish! Regardless of what they "should be doing", always always listen to the fish!
So, time on the water gives you experience, then you log the experiences which in turn gives you knowledge, if you use it correctly.
And if you learn to listen to the fish you should become a better fisherman.

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Yet another vote for time on the water and experience. No better teacher. I will say that listening and learning from others, in person or magazine or you tube, and gathering what works for you and forming your own style of fishing that works for you on the waters you fish. Living in FL and reading about fishing in Minnesota may seem totally useless. To expect the same results the guys writing the article in a state that's hundreds of miles away may not be realistic, but I'll bet that there's parts of his technique that will apply to where you do fish. Canepole posted a chart a couple of years back that gave a general idea to where the fish would be in the water column at a given water temp. He doesn't live far from you. Lots of ways to chase these fish and some may not appeal to you at all. Finding what you like and NOT getting in a hurry or impatient will halp you enjoy the learning curve. I will also say that I learn more when I fish alone without distraction and other peoples input. Thought processes are somewhat clearer and you may remember a few things that you wanted to try instead of talking fooball or whatever (not mis spelled) . Find what you like, figure out where it seems to work best, and expand on it a little at a time. Take someone along and maybe get some input you can apply from them, and maybe later go with others and see what they do and ask why. That will help shorten the learning curve and go a long way towards building one of the most important thing that I enjoy.....new friends. Enjoy and keep us posted, we all learn from one another......Skeet

Thanks y'all,,, I will definately use some of these tips next time n the water for sure,,...mI pretty much so far have learned, longlinging, jigging and spider rigging and by far my favorite when fish are biting is spider rigging,,, I guess I just like the Kaos of multiple poles being hit at the same time and loosing more then I catch in a day,,lol ... the thing that really messes with my mind is when water gets drawn from lakes during rainy seasons and he fish react to those days,,I'm trying to figure out hat happens during this time, but it's no cakewalk for sure,,,,

patience grasshopper patience .......best advice I can give ya . these fish are tricky devils and its a big bag of tricks that gets them in the hand . there are so many ways to ketch them its not funny and in some spots you have to use methods you may not be familiar with.
I am no pro but I get bored easily and this particular fish never seems to bore me and I have chased a lot of fish .
find a lake you like and hit it often and ask tons of questions on that lake , then rinse repeat and filter . this will get you off to a good start for sure .
good luck to you and be patient for sure , sometimes slow gets it done .

Takeum,this time of year with the hot heat and all the joy riders I do lot of night fishing. It is so relaxing out there at night and seeing very few boats. If you haven't try the night fishing thing should give it a try.
LittleJohn