Summertime Crappie

One of many crappie caught last summer

Crappie are among the most popular fish pursued in the U.S. and are fairly easy to catch in the spring when spawning is under way.  Let the weather heat up however, and you're looking at a whole new scenario.  As the water temperature heats up crappie can become more difficult to locate preferring deeper waters that offer plenty of cover areas in which they can hide.

In the summer fish for crappie ten to fifteen feet deep near submerged trees and other debris that offers protection.  A great method for catching crappie during the hot summer months is to fish a live minnow below a slip bobber which will allow you to get your bait down to where the fish are active.  Adjust your depth until you find the fish.  Be sure you are not fishing below the crappie as they will swim up a ways to eat but they will have a difficult time locating the bait if it is lower than they are.  The more active the crappie are, the farther they are willing to swim for their food.  However, when they  are less active you will need to land your bait closer to them to convince them to eat.

Fishing lures provide an effective, sometimes challenging alternative method for taking crappie.  Make sure you have an ample supply of multiple colors and styles to choose from.  This will allow you to present many different color combinations to the fish and give you a better chance of finding the ones they are biting on at any given time.  Match the lure color you use to the water.   I tend to fish with darker lures in murky waters and lighter colors in clearer water.  Try bumping your lures off of the cover structure to entice the crappie to bite.  Start by choosing the first color you want to try.  Cast your line and retrieve it multiple times so that you have covered the whole area you are fishing.  If you don't have any luck with the first color, move on to the next and repeat this process until you find the color that catches their attention and causes the fish to strike.

Try fishing around storms.  Sometimes the best fishing you can imagine will take place while a rain shower is passing through.  Don't worry.... it is well worth getting wet in exchange for taking home a stringer full of crappie.



- Any day in the outdoors is a good day