Winter Crappie

     Cold weather brings Trophy Crappie       

      Winter crappie fishing in deep water is serious business, usually all of the elements of winter are working against you depending on what part of the country you live, and this will show your dedication to this sport. You will have to be prepared for wind, rain, sleet or snow, or a nice sunny or partly cloudy day. So before you set out to locate these winter crappie, be sure that you have all of the right insulated clothing to keep your body, hands & feet warm, and you will have a great crappie fishing trip. I have been out in January weather, 19 degrees and snowing running across the lake in my ski suit and goggles at 60 mph to reach my destination to catch my limit of winter crappie slabs 2 plus pounds each. I will have to say that with the exception of a few other boats on the water I had the run of the lake and I would do it again!

Winter crappie go to deep water humps, dams and off large deep lake points that drop off 30 to 50 feet. Crappie may be in 50 foot of water but may be suspended 15 to 45 feet down depending on what type of structure is down there. A lot of reservoirs and lakes have artificial tire reefs anchored in certain areas of the lake, usually deep. On Lake Fork they have three major tire reefs that are located in 25 to 45 foot of water and one of them is in the middle of two creek junctions, let me tell you that if you are looking for trophy crappie then this is going to be one of the best winter crappie spots you can find. 
 

There are a lot of different types of structure that fishermen have added like willow trees, oak trees and Christmas trees that are in 5 gallon buckets of concrete or a couple of concrete blocks with heavy rope to secure the structure to keep it in place for many years. Having a good depth finder with the sensitivity, color level and ping speed set at 95% will give you a brand new world to look at on the bottom of the lake. Winter crappie will find these areas very appealing and will make excellent cover for crappie to hide in deep water.

Once you locate these deep structures, pay close attention to what depth these winter crappie are suspended. On cloudy days they may be off to the sides of the brush pile or suspended 5 to 10 feet above the brush. For sunny days when the light penetrates into the deep water they will be holding tight to the cover for protection from other bigger predators such as a largemouth bass or catfish looking for a tasty meal.
 
These winter crappie are staying around brush piles in the deep right along with the baitfish, baitfish go deep in the winter because they would die in extremely cold shallow water. The baitfish will dictate where the winter crappie will be, baitfish migrate from deep water to shallow and all bigger fish will follow the food depending on the time of year, it’s just part of the food chain. You can fish live minnows and crappie jigs, find the right color jig and you will catch your limit of winter crappie.