Shallow Summer Crappie

So this is the first year I've dedicated entirely to crappie fishing. I've been fishing Lake Sequoyah about twice a week since early May. My goal has been to master this lake and hone my crappie fishing skills and techniques.

I've fished this lake corner to corner top to bottom. I've developed a route that allows me to fish nearly every type of structure and depth this lake offers. I start at daylight and finish up around 1pm.

I have consistently caught the most and largest crappie in the same general area. They tend to be in only 6fow on brush piles. With the heat, they've moved to shaded brush piles, but I still catch several off of unshaded brush piles in the middle of the day. Even now when surface temperatures have reached 84, they are still in 6fow.

I can not for the life of me understand it. I would expect them to be suspended in the channel near the thermacline or hugging the bridge pylons in 20fow. I always check these spots, but rarely get bites. I do my best to try new spots - varying techniques and lures. But all of the new spots I find meet the criteria of the hot spots mentioned above.

Can anyone offer some insight as to what is going on? I'd love to understand why these fish are here.


Here is a video if my latest outing showcasing some of the aforementioned spots. This was a pretty poor day of fishing that I've chalked up to the pressure being so high.

https://youtu.be/b3XieXRbAgo

Thanks!
Ryan

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Depth depends on the water body . Some lakes set up a thermocline about 8' and water is so bad the Shad go extremely shallow . I have seen water temps hit 90 some years on Nimrod and Crappie go less than 3' of water to help breath and find Shad which also move up . We have caught lots of Crappie some years fishing 18 to 24'' deep in 100 + degree air temps

Interesting for sure, I know I fish below them a lot during summer.

Wow! I would've never guessed it. Now that you mention it, it's the only area I've seen shad jump. It's right where two creeks come together and the channel begins.

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Originally Posted by NIMROD

Depth depends on the water body . Some lakes set up a thermocline about 8' and water is so bad the Shad go extremely shallow . I have seen water temps hit 90 some years on Nimrod and Crappie go less than 3' of water to help breath and find Shad which also move up . We have caught lots of Crappie some years fishing 18 to 24'' deep in 100 + degree air temps

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Originally Posted by trypman1

Interesting for sure, I know I fish below them a lot during summer.

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These flood control lakes can be different after a high water year . All the vegetation in the water really mess it up. Trotliners loose Catfish ever summer on trotlines because of poor water/ low oxygen . During the draw down a few summers ago we caught more shallow Crappie than out in the channels even during the hottest days . Nimrod is a shallow lake and at times acts like old river oxbows , fish move shallow because of low oxygen sometimes in hot weather . This year it has not settled down , as we never saw it this high most of summer . Have not seen it settle into normal patterns yet as it just recently returned to normal levels .

A couple of weeks ago we got a lot of rain and then it got really hot. I was back in the same area and in about 4fow I saw what I thought was a giant alligator gar. It kept sticking its head out of the water and shaking it. About 5 times so I got some decent looks at it.

I didn't believe myself. I didn't even bother telling anyone as a good fish story. Well AGFC made a post on Instagram today about alligator gar and how they gulp air during low oxygen conditions. I looked up a video and sure enough it's the exact same movement I was seeing. This things head was absolutely massive. And it was in less than 5fow. The post said they are in the white river and this was the middle fork.

Does that sound possible? I'd really like to catch (and release) it if it is. I always see giant shad jumping in the same area it was hanging out.

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Originally Posted by Rtfishing

A couple of weeks ago we got a lot of rain and then it got really hot. I was back in the same area and in about 4fow I saw what I thought was a giant alligator gar. It kept sticking its head out of the water and shaking it. About 5 times so I got some decent looks at it.

I didn't believe myself. I didn't even bother telling anyone as a good fish story. Well AGFC made a post on Instagram today about alligator gar and how they gulp air during low oxygen conditions. I looked up a video and sure enough it's the exact same movement I was seeing. This things head was absolutely massive. And it was in less than 5fow. The post said they are in the white river and this was the middle fork.

Does that sound possible? I'd really like to catch (and release) it if it is. I always see giant shad jumping in the same area it was hanging out.

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I've also caught several crappie in the same area that have a had a bite taken out of them.Attachment 353244

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Originally Posted by Rtfishing

A couple of weeks ago we got a lot of rain and then it got really hot. I was back in the same area and in about 4fow I saw what I thought was a giant alligator gar. It kept sticking its head out of the water and shaking it. About 5 times so I got some decent looks at it.

I didn't believe myself. I didn't even bother telling anyone as a good fish story. Well AGFC made a post on Instagram today about alligator gar and how they gulp air during low oxygen conditions. I looked up a video and sure enough it's the exact same movement I was seeing. This things head was absolutely massive. And it was in less than 5fow. The post said they are in the white river and this was the middle fork.

Does that sound possible? I'd really like to catch (and release) it if it is. I always see giant shad jumping in the same area it was hanging out.

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Alligator Gar are in the lower White River. In the White River in NWA, you probably saw the head of a large Longnose or Spotted Gar. They don’t get nearly as big as Alligator Gar.


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Thanks for the info. I reported the first white perch in sequoyah, maybe I'll be lucky enough to report the first alligator gar. :)
Apparently they hadn't caught any white perch with trap nets there. I'll make it a mission to at least get a video of that fish breaching.


Whatever kind of gar it was, it was massive. Much larger than any other gar I've seen up close and I grew up fishing around the ozark dam and flood waters in the bottoms.

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Originally Posted by D10

Alligator Gar are in the lower White River. In the White River in NWA, you probably saw the head of a large Longnose or Spotted Gar. They don’t get nearly as big as Alligator Gar.


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My dad and our good friend caught an alligator gar on the lower white river in the 1970's that weighed 167 lb's. Do you think it was close to that big? Just messing with you.

As far as crappie being relatively shallow, it's been my experience that there are nearly always crappie in 10' or less of water year around.

That makes me not want to swim. [emoji23]

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Originally Posted by Mac Daddy

My dad and our good friend caught an alligator gar on the lower white river in the 1970's that weighed 167 lb's. Do you think it was close to that big? Just messing with you.

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Does anybody cast crank baits when Crappie are shallow this time of year? Seems like a good way to way to catch bigger fish in late spring, never though about it in the summer.

I'm a little worried about getting hung up in the spots I've been catching them, but I'll give it a shot this weekend. I've tried trolling in the channel, but not casting with a single rod in shallow water. I'll film my trip and follow up if I have any sucess.

Thanks for the suggestion!

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Originally Posted by Dirty mike

Does anybody cast crank baits when Crappie are shallow this time of year? Seems like a good way to way to catch bigger fish in late spring, never though about it in the summer.

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