Finding more than one, I mean, this time of year they like company don't they?

Hello all, I've crappie fished very little in my past, mostly fished for bass and big bluegill or shellcrackers, catfish or heck, just anything that would bite. What I meant was, I've never specifically targeted crappie. Then for the next 25-30 years I spent most of my time on cold trout streams with a flyrod, all over western NC and the country.

So now for some reason, I have this burning desire to learn to catch crappie. I only have a fishing kayak and as yet, no depth/fish finder. So I'm hitting a local lake and I'll ease up to a fallen tree top and drop a jig with a modified flyrod & spinning reel. I'm catching a few but realistically, very few. Seems I can get one out of a tree here and there, never more than one out of any one tree. I go and manage to catch maybe half dozen or less... just can't figure it out.
They have not spawned yet.
I'm catching them as shallow as about 4 feet to the deepest I've caught them is in about 10-12 ft. I've had no luck with trees in really deeper water.

So my question is, should it be reasonable to expect if you catch ONE here, there should be more around in close proximity? And if so, is catching one spooking the others? I have moved on then gone back to where I caught one a little while ago and caught another but that hasn't happened very often. I just expect them to be a little more concentrated and I'm wondering if I'm getting too close or the multiple hangups in the brush, or the anchor or something is causing this, or if this is just normal and they're scattered.
Appreciate any advice.

Right now with the spawn "supposedly" being in full swing, they wouldn't necessarily be grouped up ... males would be close to the bank and females would be out a ways from the bank and making periodic moves to the banks to drop a few eggs. Now with the colder than normal weather, rising/falling water levels, and such .... that's kinda been thrown a curve. That seems to have made the fish a lot more finicky than normal. I've even heard reports that Crappie, that should be setting up to spawn, have in fact moved out into deep water and just "hanging out". I guess they're trying to make up their mind about whether or not the conditions are gonna get favorable enough to have a viable spawn. :dono
To answer some of your questions ... yes, getting too close, anchoring, or hanging up and disturbing the brush "can" spook the fish. Sometimes even just catching one can turn off the rest of the fish on the same piece of cover ... and they may move deeper into the cover, or simply just swim away.

On a fallen tree (laydown/deadfall) the last thing you want to do is get over top of it. It's usually best to get out from the top and cast towards it, working the water column from shallow to deep on successive casts. Using a weedless jighead will allow you to bump the jig over any branches it comes across.
When the spawn is over and the fish have had a chance to recoup and school back up again, standing & fallen trees can be a magnet to these fish ... especially on banks that have shade out over the water they're in for the first part of the day. The bigger the tree and the more big branches it has, the more likelihood that some fish will be hanging around it. The farther out and down into the depths the better, also, as that gives them shade in several forms (shade from the live trees along the bank, shade from the big trunk & branches, and shade from depth).

That's just some of my experiences, so hopefully others will chime in with their own ideas !!

And :welcome to Crappie.com !!

okay thank you @CrappiePappy. All of that makes sense, AND is very helpful.

The weather has been all over the place, warm one day, cooler the next. Some nights in low 40's° and wind, lots of wind. Lake level has fluctuated up and down by a foot or two, and last weeks rain really muddied it up, surprisingly so.
All that multiple times in each week for the past month or more. I have kept a few and the occasional female still had eggs so they have not spawned out yet.

I do think I've gotten too close occasionally, at the low angle in a kayak it's difficult to judge how far underwater the brush extends. That plus catching one, and the invariable hang-ups has made me wonder if I'm spooking them out of the area.
And about that...

I was going to ask if anyone uses weedless jig heads and 1. Are they really effective in avoiding hang-ups? and, 2. Do they reduce hook set percentage? You've answered the first question though like everything else, I'd suspect there are varying opinions. I'm going to guess that a mono weed guard is better than a springy steel one?

Another question: Old deadfall trees that have little left other than large limbs and the trunk vs. newer deadfalls with lots of thick, tiny interlocking branches.... seems I'm catching more in the really thick stuff and I assume that would be because there is likely more small minnows hiding in that stuff. Does that make sense or do the crappie just like it better in the really thick stuff?

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Originally Posted by Bigtrout

okay thank you @CrappiePappy. All of that makes sense, AND is very helpful.

The weather has been all over the place, warm one day, cooler the next. Some nights in low 40's° and wind, lots of wind. Lake level has fluctuated up and down by a foot or two, and last weeks rain really muddied it up, surprisingly so.
All that multiple times in each week for the past month or more. I have kept a few and the occasional female still had eggs so they have not spawned out yet.

I do think I've gotten too close occasionally, at the low angle in a kayak it's difficult to judge how far underwater the brush extends. That plus catching one, and the invariable hang-ups has made me wonder if I'm spooking them out of the area.
And about that...

I was going to ask if anyone uses weedless jig heads and 1. Are they really effective in avoiding hang-ups? and, 2. Do they reduce hook set percentage? You've answered the first question though like everything else, I'd suspect there are varying opinions. I'm going to guess that a mono weed guard is better than a springy steel one?

Another question: Old deadfall trees that have little left other than large limbs and the trunk vs. newer deadfalls with lots of thick, tiny interlocking branches.... seems I'm catching more in the really thick stuff and I assume that would be because there is likely more small minnows hiding in that stuff. Does that make sense or do the crappie just like it better in the really thick stuff?

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Yes ... we have also been suffering under the prevailing weather and water conditions ... and our fish have yet to get off a major percentage spawning.

As far as the weedless jig questions : yes, they are much better at avoiding hangups, but are still subject to them. No, I have not seen any indication that the weedguard has in any way decreased my hookup percentage. Most of the time my hook is buried in the roof of their mouths, but on occasion the hook is simply around the outer lip and a sizable hole has been ripped open in the membrane of the mouth ... and that's when (I believe) the weedguard helps keep the fish from throwing the hook when it thrashes around.

I use a custom made weedless jig that has a Y shaped plastic guard in the head, leaving a V shape guard covering the hook point. I've also used the mono "brush" type weedless jigs with similar success. I haven't used the "wire" guard type weedless jighead in a long time, but when I did it was a very thin wire loop ... effective but not very "long lasting", as the wire was so thin that removing it from a fish, or just the thrashing around of the fish would bend it all out of whack, plus they did tend to break fairly easily. Those with a little stiffer wire guard I can't speak to, as I've not used them.

As to the "bushy" trees vs the "skeleton" trees ... I've caught fish from both. I've just experienced fish on the "bushy" trees tend to congregate "around" them, while those on the "skeleton" trees tend to congregate "in/under" the bigger branches & trunk. Now that may well be because most of those trees I've fished have been the "skeleton" type (due in large part because of the age of the lakes I fish). I do a lot of casting to those types of trees, rather than vertical jigging them.

Thanks for the info @ CrappiePappy. Lots of helpful good stuff that I'm going to keep in mind. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out!

Just reading many posts from the live scope guys, sounds like a lot of fish spook very, very easily some within the 20’ range.
Me personally, if I think there are more fish in a tree after I catch, I’ll beat if for another 15 minutes or so. Usually switch colors or profile completely until I catch more or move on.


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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Originally Posted by Blackjeepjk

Just reading many posts from the live scope guys, sounds like a lot of fish spook very, very easily some within the 20’ range.
Me personally, if I think there are more fish in a tree after I catch, I’ll beat if for another 15 minutes or so. Usually switch colors or profile completely until I catch more or move on.


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

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I've heard that as well. Even had a buddy that has a LS tell me that sometimes when he's catching fish off a submerged standing tree that the rest of the fish will move to the other side of the tree after one has been caught out of the school. And he's also observed the whole bunch of them just simply swimming off if his boat gets too close. And like you say, sometimes that happens when the boat is 20ft (or more) away from them. Without Livescope, most of us would have thought that there was only the one or two fish we caught that was on that cover :Doh: and we'd just move on to another target.

And like has been said many times before, just because you can see them on the screen doesn't mean you can catch them (or make them bite) ... that same buddy saw a school of nearly 100 fish and yet could only get 3 of them to bite, even after changing sizes, shapes, colors, and even having his partner drop a minner into them. :yikes

Well as an update, I have had a little better luck...at times. I've not been skunked yet but still haven't really "got into em". Staying back a ways helps. Weedless helps with hang ups. If I get one hung, I leave it there and go to another rod. Jerking or moving in to get unhung, or breaking off seems to sour the spot. I eased into one tree and caught 9 but all small. In fact, I have only rarely these last couple weeks I've not caught but very few of any size. And still mostly picking up a couple here and there but still better than I was doing. I really think this screwy weather has a lot to do with it. I catch a few off one tree and nothing off one 50 yards away. Three days later that's reversed. We've yet to have a spell of warm and steady weather. Heck, it's the second week of May and we've had freeze warnings. And the wind has blown for 3 weeks.
Anyway, the advice has helped and I keep pounding away and learning. Thanks a lot!

When a fish gets caught, it makes a commotion. The other fish get spooked because they see this one fish splashing around and then disappear. Think about three targets all in one line. Targets are at 10', 20', and 30' away from you (you are stationary through this). All three targets hold fish. If you cast to the 30' target, you're pulling the fish through the other two target areas and spooking those fish. The correct way to do this is to pull the fish off the 10' target first, then go to 20', pull the fish off it, and then hit the 30' target. Of course, there are times when you can run a motor through a mudpuddle and the fish won't even be fazed by it. :)

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Originally Posted by Schmoopie

When a fish gets caught, it makes a commotion. The other fish get spooked because they see this one fish splashing around and then disappear. Think about three targets all in one line. Targets are at 10', 20', and 30' away from you (you are stationary through this). All three targets hold fish. If you cast to the 30' target, you're pulling the fish through the other two target areas and spooking those fish. The correct way to do this is to pull the fish off the 10' target first, then go to 20', pull the fish off it, and then hit the 30' target. Of course, there are times when you can run a motor through a mudpuddle and the fish won't even be fazed by it. :)

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Yeah that makes sense and sort of reaffirms CrappiePappy's advice. I sort of hang back now working outside of where I think they should be, then work closer in incrementally. Makes sense and at least I'm occasionally picking up more than one in a spot before it goes dead.

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Originally Posted by Bigtrout

Yeah that makes sense and sort of reaffirms CrappiePappy's advice. I sort of hang back now working outside of where I think they should be, then work closer in incrementally. Makes sense and at least I'm occasionally picking up more than one in a spot before it goes dead.

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Yeah, and if you had a Livescope you'd quickly find out that there are a lot more fish hanging around that cover than you'd believe, and a whole bunch of them are coming up to your jig &/or following it along ... and then turning around and going right back to the cover. :Doh: AND ... they don't just do that on the first pass thru of your jig :yikes ... but may even do it every time the jig comes by them. :bash

Fishing with a buddy of mine that has Livescope on his boat has taught me (& him) many things about their behavior ... and how it can change from day to day (& sometimes from hour to hour).

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Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Yeah, and if you had a Livescope you'd quickly find out that there are a lot more fish hanging around that cover than you'd believe, and a whole bunch of them are coming up to your jig &/or following it along ... and then turning around and going right back to the cover. :Doh: AND ... they don't just do that on the first pass thru of your jig :yikes ... but may even do it every time the jig comes by them. :bash

Fishing with a buddy of mine that has Livescope on his boat has taught me (& him) many things about their behavior ... and how it can change from day to day (& sometimes from hour to hour).

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So what do you do when you see that (or suspect it if you don't have livescope)? Change jig color? Go to smaller or larger jig?

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Originally Posted by Bigtrout

So what do you do when you see that (or suspect it if you don't have livescope)? Change jig color? Go to smaller or larger jig?

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Yeah ... that's about all you can do :biggrin ... other than leaving it alone for awhile & coming back to it, where you might pick off a couple more fish if you're lucky.

That's what we did : changed colors - changed sizes of our plastics - left and returned later.

All depends on your waters . Here spawn is over .They tend to start moving to trees or open water some places . As far as staying back off trees depends on your waters . In super clear water staying back is a must but in some of the waters I fish are dingy and can sit right on them as little as 4' of water . White Crappie from my experience don't school up as much as Blacks here . Just keep trying and don't hurt to ask other crappie fishermen in your area what techniques , depths and such works for them and when .