Where Did They Go??

Went fishing and caught a limit of crappie in a 5 acre flat off of the Tombigbee River in Alabama. Water temp was 57-61 degrees. The water depth was 1-5 ft deep and the fish were caught 10 yards off the bank in the 2 ft range using a blk/chart jig with float set at 1-1/2ft depth. Water color was slightly muddy. I went back the next day and only caught 1 fish doing the same thing!!! Water temp was 60-61. Where did the fish go??? I need you guys to help. Thank you in advance!


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I would think near same area but moved out a little deeper. Your water is 10 degrees warmer than ours.

Did you look right on the banks ? Could be on the bottom too .

Thank you SuperDave, this flat is separated by a silted in creek that is about 300 yards to the next body of water deeper than 8-10 feet. I didnt see any fish using a LiveScope or Side-view at this next possible staging area.

Thank you Nimrod, I went around the entire bank around the flat thinking that the fish were getting ready to spawn,…..nothing there.

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Originally Posted by Dr Rob

Went fishing and caught a limit of crappie in a 5 acre flat off of the Tombigbee River in Alabama. Water temp was 57-61 degrees. The water depth was 1-5 ft deep and the fish were caught 10 yards off the bank in the 2 ft range using a blk/chart jig with float set at 1-1/2ft depth. Water color was slightly muddy. I went back the next day and only caught 1 fish doing the same thing!!! Water temp was 60-61. Where did the fish go??? I need you guys to help. Thank you in advance!


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Did you try further away from the bank but not necessarily any deeper? Sometimes when they are not as actively feeding they just move out over deeper water but don’t really go any deeper.


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Originally Posted by slabbandit

Did you try further away from the bank but not necessarily any deeper? Sometimes when they are not as actively feeding they just move out over deeper water but don’t really go any deeper.


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Thank you Slabbandit, yes sir and it seemed like the fish had disappeared. I wondered if the fish moved over 300 yards across a silted creek channel over night…??

My next thought would be like Nimrod and right on the bottom. They are hard to see when on the bottom.

I have a saying I try to teach every Crappie angler I'm helping catch fish and that is "Never return to the scene of the Crime". If you clean out a area like it sounds like you did look elsewhere for fish. Here it may be as much as a week for a area to recruit more fish. Also in our rivers right now schools of Crappie are moving upstream, key is they are moving, I know to wait a week before going to check them again. I personally don't like keeping smaller than my standard fish but when it comes to frying Crappie or not the 10 inchers go in the box.

Fronts and pressure put our shallow fish on the bottom around here give em a day or 2 and they will poke their heads back up.

do not know that river but do know a bit about river crappie , they really move a lot in some cases , several hundred yards or more in day or less , water temp. didnt move enough to make them leave is my guess , something else is driving them , probably a spawn area somewhere is my guess ....:dono

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Originally Posted by Rojo

I have a saying I try to teach every Crappie angler I'm helping catch fish and that is "Never return to the scene of the Crime". If you clean out a area like it sounds like you did look elsewhere for fish. Here it may be as much as a week for a area to recruit more fish. Also in our rivers right now schools of Crappie are moving upstream, key is they are moving, I know to wait a week before going to check them again. I personally don't like keeping smaller than my standard fish but when it comes to frying Crappie or not the 10 inchers go in the box.

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Thank you Rojo! Good advice!


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Originally Posted by bugman

Fronts and pressure put our shallow fish on the bottom around here give em a day or 2 and they will poke their heads back up.

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Thank you bugman! I was wondering if those fish were just laying on the bottom. The barometer was beginning to drop that afternoon.


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Black or white crappie?
Black crappie May be trying to spawn and moved to spawning cover
Whites are more likely feeding for the spawn coming soon.
Keep looking, sometimes it’s more like hunting than fishing until you hit another pocket of hungry fish.


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Originally Posted by GreenLine

Black or white crappie?
Black crappie May be trying to spawn and moved to spawning cover
Whites are more likely feeding for the spawn coming soon.
Keep looking, sometimes it’s more like hunting than fishing until you hit another pocket of hungry fish.


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Thank you Greenline! Most of these crappie were Black Crappie. That’s great information!


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Originally Posted by Ketchn

do not know that river but do know a bit about river crappie , they really move a lot in some cases , several hundred yards or more in day or less , water temp. didnt move enough to make them leave is my guess , something else is driving them , probably a spawn area somewhere is my guess ....:dono

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Thank you Ketchn, the crappie that we caught the day before were full of eggs.


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Originally Posted by Dr Rob

Thank you Ketchn, the crappie that we caught the day before were full of eggs.


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Mostly girls ? If so they will be looking for their counterparts somewhere nearby in like stated brushy cover or a real rocky spot is my guess .
The black crappie here are in full spawn mode this last week .

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

Mostly girls ? If so they will be looking for their counterparts somewhere nearby in like stated brushy cover or a real rocky spot is my guess .
The black crappie here are in full spawn mode this last week .

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Yes, mostly females. I will check out those places. Thank you again!


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What time of the day was they very active and what time of the day was you back there trying to catch some more? Sounds like the fish have settled on the bottom until they were ready to feed again. Strange they all did that though. Hmm........

Obviously you caught them all! :biggrin

Listened to one Mississippi DNR seminar about Crappie tagging studies and they found it was not unusual for Crappie to cover 20 miles in a day. Just saying.

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Originally Posted by gabowman

What time of the day was they very active and what time of the day was you back there trying to catch some more? Sounds like the fish have settled on the bottom until they were ready to feed again. Strange they all did that though. Hmm........

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Thank you gabowman! It was a little afternoon time which was the same time the following day. I agree that they may have been laying on the bottom. I should have paid more attention to that.


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Originally Posted by Bricks

Listened to one Mississippi DNR seminar about Crappie tagging studies and they found it was not unusual for Crappie to cover 20 miles in a day. Just saying.

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Wow! That’s amazing! Thank you Bricks!


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Originally Posted by keeferfish

Obviously you caught them all! :biggrin

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Thank you keeferfish! Maybe so! LOL!!!


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Originally Posted by Bricks

Listened to one Mississippi DNR seminar about Crappie tagging studies and they found it was not unusual for Crappie to cover 20 miles in a day. Just saying.

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saw a similar one here about a lake crappie that went 5 miles in one night , river fish are straight line fish and for sure cruise up and down the river in these parts , what was is was as they say ....

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Originally Posted by Ketchn

saw a similar one here about a lake crappie that went 5 miles in one night , river fish are straight line fish and for sure cruise up and down the river in these parts , what was is was as they say ....

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Thank you guys for the cool info about crappie migration patterns.


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Originally Posted by Dr Rob

Wow! That’s amazing! Thank you Bricks!


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As the DNR agent said what else do they have to do all day but swim.:yikes :Rofl

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Originally Posted by Bricks

As the DNR agent said what else do they have to do all day but swim.:yikes :Rofl

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?[emoji23] You are so right!!


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