Crappie Fishing Tips – Water Temperature
Most anglers who know what they’re doing feel that water temperature is the most important factor when it comes to crappie fishing patterns. These fish behave differently and spend time in different places, depending on how warm or cold the ambient temperature is. To the inexperienced angler, this can look like irrational or unpredictable behavior. However, once you know what you’re looking at, you’ll be able to find crappie all year long.
A method of measuring water temperature is important (a simple pool thermometer will work) if you want to find fish fast. One of the most important crappie fishing tips is to find a depth finder that is also capable of reading the temperature at the water’s surface. Once you know this, you’ll be able to determine the temperature lower down (usually a few degrees cooler). Remember that protected bays and shallower creeks are sometimes warmer or cooler than larger bodies of water with more motion.
Crappie generally begin to move out of their deeper water locations when the temperature begins to warm up to forty-five to fifty degrees Fahrenheit. They start congregating around creek channel entrances at fifty to fifty-five degrees, and then begin migrating toward shallower creeks and bays. Crappie fishing patterns for this time include using a curl tail or a tassel tail grub cast to isolated pockets, brush and stumps. Trolling minnows can also be a good idea.
When the water warms up a little more – fifty-five to sixty degrees – males will begin to look for spawning beds in shallow water. Females will be close by in deeper waters. The closer you get to spawning time, the more aggressive crappie feeding becomes. Fish for males using a minnow under a cork near the spawning beds, and try casting with a slow retrieve for females. Crappie will be spawning in the shallower areas when the surface temperature reaches sixty-two to sixty-five degrees or so. Females will be moving in and around brushy areas of cover at this time.
Remember that cold fronts and bad weather can slow things down, so the progress of the spawning season might not be what you expect. Once the water warms up to seventy to seventy-five degrees or so, the females will leave their nests and go back to the deeper structures they occupied before spawning occurred, while the males remain to guard their nests. Once again, a slow cast and retrieve is the best idea here. When the water warms up further, the males will join the females, and the migration will occur in reverse as they move back out to the cooler deep areas for the duration of the summer.
When cooling begins in the fall, crappie will move back out through the creek channels for heavy feeding before the winter months. Expect to see them halfway up the tributaries, close to the locations they preferred before spawning. Once water temperatures fall back into the mid forties, the fish will move back to deep water for the winter.
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