How do you find crappie in a river?

Vertical cover that extends from the river bottom to above the surface provides good holding places for crappie in rivers with heavy current. The heavier the current the wider the cover must be to hold them. In rivers with slower current, trees, brush and stumps become more important as crappie holding areas.

Where do crappie usually hang out?

Anglers often find more fish near the shoreline cypress trees, stickups, weed beds, blowdowns, or cover-button willows. The big crappie tends to be in shallow water near channel edges next to shallow flats or main lake humps. It's usually the cold fronts that drive crappie into deeper water from the shallows.

What attracts crappie fish?

Minnows, worms, insects—just about anything can catch a crappie's attention. You don't have to worry about the color of the bait, and you're only throwing them what they would be eating anyway. Minnows are hands-down the favorite used by most, and some even tip a jig with a live minnow for a double-whammy.

What time of day are crappie most active?

The best time to fish for crappie is at early dawn and dusk. But during the colder months it can be at the warmest time of day in the afternoon. Crappie generally feed most actively in low light, so this leaves the night as another great time to catch them as well if you have the opportunity.

Where do crappie live in the water?

Adult crappie are found in freshwater lakes, reservoirs, ponds, sloughs, backwaters pools, and streams. Crappie prefer cover, such as such as vegetation, fallen trees or boulders. They often form in large groups, called schools, in clear water among vegetation over mud or sand.

River Crappie Fishing - How to Find Structure

How deep do you fish for crappie?

Finding deep water crappie requires good electronics. You can cover 70-80 feet on each side of the boat, find a depth range of 18-25 feet and set your boat right on top of that spot, and check the imaging for fish. To find these locations, look for creek channels and drops and where they may intersect.

Do crappie like shallow or deep water?

The best areas usually are shallow, dark-bottom bays on the windward side of a lake.

What color lure is best for crappie?

In deeper water, blue-white and purple-white are excellent. In stained water (coffee color or with tannic acid) with bright-light conditions, my four predominate crappie catching colors are: green, chartreuse, lime and orange. Lures that contrast two of these colors, or matching them with brown or white are great.

Are crappie hard to catch?

One of the reasons crappie are so popular is because they're easy to catch. The hardest part is finding them, and even that is easier during the spring when they head to shallow water to spawn. The best spring crappie fishing usually occurs when the water temperature is in the high 50s to low 70s.

What time of year is best to catch crappie?

There is no one best month for catching crappie. but the spring season provides the best opportunity to catch lots of them. This is because the fish are starting to spawn, and you'll never have more fish in one area than in the spring. Knowing where the crappie are 75% of the battle when fishing in the spring months.

What's the best live bait for crappie?

Do crappie live in rivers?

Vertical cover that extends from the river bottom to above the surface provides good holding places for crappie in rivers with heavy current. The heavier the current the wider the cover must be to hold them. In rivers with slower current, trees, brush and stumps become more important as crappie holding areas.

Where do crappie like to hide?

In general, crappies hate current, so expect them to be in small eddy areas or behind cover, and the slack-water areas are the best places.

What kind of bottom do crappie spawn in?

Any shallow cover over a hard bottom is an excellent place to look for spawning crappie.

Does light attract crappie?

Lights are an important part of nighttime crappie fishing. They work by attracting plankton, which attract baitfish such as shad and minnows, which in turn attract predator fish such as crappie. Crappie gather near or in the circle of light to feed.

What colors do crappie see?

Suffice to say that in clear, shallow water, crappies probably can discriminate chartreuse from yellow or white, orange from red shad, or pink from nuclear chicken. In murky rivers, stained impoundments, or fertile ponds, color vision is lost at depths around 10 to 15 feet, depending on clarity and light levels.

What month do crappie run?

Spring crappie action usually gets underway in March. You'll find crappie suspended at depths of 30 to 60 feet toward the deep end of coves in late winter, and they'll gradually make their way closer to the bank as spring progresses. By April, the crappie action is often nonstop.

What smell attracts crappie?

Crappie baits are injected with old-school anise oil. Toledo Bend Guide Jerry Thompson's a big fan of accenting his live minnow rigs with Berkley Powerbait Crappie Nibbles — a tactic he calls “adding cheese to the burger.” Chartreuse is his favorite, but pink gets bit, too.

What are the best crappie attractors?

We've discovered that Bamboo or "Giant Cane" is an excellent material for building fish habitat, also referred to as "Fish Attractors". We call them "Crappie Condos" because they make excellent cover for young crappie and other species to feed around and hide in while they grow up.

What is the best way to catch crappies?

Small live minnows are popular crappie baits. Although crappie are infrequently caught on various plugs (occasionally on a surface lure or a crankbait), the one artificial that pays off regularly is a small leadhead jig with a soft-plastic body resembling a minnow. The trick is to fish this very slow.

How do you find and catch crappie?

Find deeper water with trees hanging over the water. In deep water, jigging lures or live bait works very well. Night fishing under a floating light can fill a cooler in a hurry. The light attracts minnows, which is a buffet for crappie.

What is crappie favorite food?

Crappie dine heavily on small baitfish like minnows, shiners, and small bluegills, along with aquatic invertebrates such as insect larvae, crayfish, and freshwater shrimp. To a lesser extent, crappie feed on terrestrial insects as well such as grasshoppers, worms, and moths.

What temp do crappie stop biting?

50-60 degrees

Check your water temperatures often. Any shallow coves or bays can warm quickly and become a hotspot. Seven-time crappie classic champ, Ronnie Capps from Tennessee, says, “My fishing seems to be great until the water temperature hits 59 degrees.

What color jig heads do crappie like?

Even live bait anglers commonly find the crappie to strongly prefer a minnow on a pink head over a minnow on a chartreuse head (or vice versa). Color theories vary. Some anglers favor warm colors for bright days and cool colors for cloudy days or certain colors for specific water colors.