Too early for crankbaits?

I often hear folks say you need to wait till the water temps are in the mid 70s before considering trolling crankbaits for Crappie. I beg to differ and find it funny that us KY boys have been pulling PICOs for well over a month with great results.
Here are pics from my last 3 client trips——all on various Pico INT cranks. Our surface temps are still below 70 and the crappie are mostly still full of eggs. Attachment 342746Attachment 342747Attachment 342748Attachment 342749


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I like it! What's the coolest water temps anyone recalls successfully pulling cranks? 50's too cool????


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I’ve started in the low 50s several years in the right situations.


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Originally Posted by M R Dux

I often hear folks say you need to wait till the water temps are in the mid 70s before considering trolling crankbaits for Crappie. I beg to differ and find it funny that us KY boys have been pulling PICOs for well over a month with great results.
Here are pics from my last 3 client trips——all on various Pico INT cranks. Our surface temps are still below 70 and the crappie are mostly still full of eggs. Attachment 342746Attachment 342747Attachment 342748Attachment 342749


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Doug,your the man,its to cool for me to pull,i do better spiderrigging at these temps.

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I often wondered while spider rigging in the upper 50-60* water with the fish a @9' if they could be caught on cranks.

Some nice fish for proof.

Those are some fine crappie indeed! Congrats!

My last two years in TN I also started cranking when everyone else was looking for places where the fish were going to bed.

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Originally Posted by M R Dux

I’ve started in the low 50s several years in the right situations.


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Can you elaborate more on the “right situation”?


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If the water temps start up then stall out in the mid to high 50s due to a cold snap, the Crappie will suspend in deeper areas. When I start seeing scattered fish suspended 12-18 feet deep in deeper water, I going to run cranks thru the area at 1.2-1.6. Those suspended fish aren’t always crappie but if they are, they may be some of the biggest fish we’ll catch all year. It’s almost always one here-one there but at the end of the day it adds up to a nice string. An added nicety is I never have any other boats doing the same thing close by.


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I have caught crappie on cranks in every month except January and February if I recall correctly here on kentucky lake. While I haven’t caught limits in these cold water temps I have picked up a few and they were usually hogs. In the early spring months while pulling jigs I will swap out to cranks and hit the main channel and creek channel in the bay searching for these large fish for an hour or so. I usually do this after Harlie and I have our bank lunch break. I have caught many many fish on cranks in November and December here on kentucky lake. Several people ask me what was the water temp and my reply is always the same, I don’t know I was just fishing. Go drop them in the water and troll buddy. Good luck.

Doug just gave away the keys to the castle! Just like with walleyes and many other fish out there, the key word here is "suspended". If you find them that way, one of the most effective ways to target the water column is by trolling cranks.

Let's troll!!

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Originally Posted by crp4570

I have caught crappie on cranks in every month except January and February if I recall correctly here on kentucky lake. While I haven’t caught limits in these cold water temps I have picked up a few and they were usually hogs. In the early spring months while pulling jigs I will swap out to cranks and hit the main channel and creek channel in the bay searching for these large fish for an hour or so. I usually do this after Harlie and I have our bank lunch break. I have caught many many fish on cranks in November and December here on kentucky lake. Several people ask me what was the water temp and my reply is always the same, I don’t know I was just fishing. Go drop them in the water and troll buddy. Good luck.

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Yall gonna haft to give me lessons[emoji23]i dont like pulling till the 80deg water temps[emoji4]I havent tryied it a whole lot at cooler temps,that may be the problem[emoji23]

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Originally Posted by blueball

Yall gonna haft to give me lessons[emoji23]i dont like pulling till the 80deg water temps[emoji4]I havent tryied it a whole lot at cooler temps,that may be the problem[emoji23]

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your welcome in my boat anytime. However, that means harlie has to stay home and she pouts when this happens. A box of dog treats helps her depression. :biggrin

I started catching crappies in 48 degree water this year trolling PICOs and you just have to go slow. 1.0 to 1.2 is my speed and in watching the depth finders locating bait balls and fish, and trolling around and them and thru the bait balls you will catch fish. You will be running them sometimes deeper than normal, but the fish will hit the cranks. Also, I find, if I long line jigs, catching fish, I can longline cranks most of the time as well. Speed is the key in cold water and slow is best. You may not catch the numbers of fish using cranks over jigs, but I catch my better crappie in extreme cold water and less small ones using cranks.

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Originally Posted by cevans

I started catching crappies in 48 degree water this year trolling PICOs and you just have to go slow. 1.0 to 1.2 is my speed ....

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I've caught them in January and February up to 2.6 mph (wind was pushing me, measured with a handheld gps). And I have caught them in all 12 months going 2.1 mph (as slow as my old boat would go). Even faster, if one considers outside turns. The colder the water, the tighter they suspend (generally).

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Originally Posted by bfish

I've caught them in January and February up to 2.6 mph (wind was pushing me, measured with a handheld gps). And I have caught them in all 12 months going 2.1 mph (as slow as my old boat would go). Even faster, if one considers outside turns. The colder the water, the tighter they suspend (generally).

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good to know, your going to make me try faster speeds! :ThumbsUp

I never used a crankbait for a crappie but I would think any water temp above about 60 should be fine as they are pretty active in my part of the world around that temp .
nice fish for sure and they do look full of eggs no doubt .
congrats

Doug, you say your crappie are still full of eggs. Are most of them that way or just a few. Late spawners? Do you think those fish spawn deep or go shallow? Thanks

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Originally Posted by Shad

Doug, you say your crappie are still full of eggs. Are most of them that way or just a few. Late spawners? Do you think those fish spawn deep or go shallow? Thanks

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Yesterday all our crappie had the remnants of egg sacs where they had spawned most of the eggs. Crappie will spawn shallow and deep. Attachment 343203Attachment 343204


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