how regular are your crappies

[AKRISONER]

Hello fellow crappie masters

 

with the end of february comes the dreaded "closed season" on Georgian Bay where the 2 major species accessible via ice are off the books.

 

In previous years this has pretty much meant a 90% shut down on fishing for me until May, however my buddy dave has a fever, and the only thing that will satisfy it is crapolas.

 

ive fished the PAB area for close to 13 years and never caught or have even seen a single crappie. That was until 2 weeks ago when ice fishing a spot that i have fished before but without the help of electronics...sure enough the streak was broken like the leafs cup drought...weve found the crappies and the spot has produced consistently every time we have gone back since. (and will hopefully continue to because we only catch and release)

 

the past two springs close to ice off we have done our damndest to try find the elusive buggers using floats and the standard crapola gear. The same gear that Dave has done very well in June pre-bass season in the kawarthas...so heres where the help comes in.

 

Ive read countless articles on these glorified sunfish, but what the heck am I doing wrong?

 

Heres how I have it laid out in my mind....crappies start in the winter in the deepest basins schooling up on bait, as the winter wears on they then begin their migration towards spawning grounds and will begin staging at basins at the mouth of inlets...where we are finding them right now.

 

I suspect these crappies will then move in with the current towards the river mouth to spawn in the shallows near said rivers...is this true? and if so what the heck is the timing of all of this happening. Ive heard people say on this forum "I know its spring when the crappies are so shallow their backs are sticking out of the water" when the heck does this happen? The crappies we are on right now are definitely not shallow, but are close to a river, and the area we are in has significant current.

 

Can anyone provide some insight on when I could expect these fish to start making their next move? I imagine we will know that they have had a change of heart when they vanish from our honey hole.

 

Anyone feel free to chime in, feel free to throw out the names of your favourite baits...and most importantly feel free to share your pictures of them slabs!

 

ill start it off with a small one but lets see your slabs!

 

[Squid]

3 times a day....

[SirCranksalot]

3 times a day....

Beat me to it!!

[OhioFisherman]

I have never seen any indication that crappie move towards a river to spawn, some of the best areas I have fished for them here were well sheltered marinas or coves, little or no wave action and no current.

 

Road Runners, 2 inch sassy shad on a 1/8th ounce jig head, a lot of different lures will work for them, but nothing beats an emerald shiner!

 

They also will bite real well at night.

[AKRISONER]

Beat me to it!!

 

glad you guys caught on ahaha

 

funny ohio, literally the complete opposite of what I have read.

 

areas with current are the first places to thaw in the spring and therefore the crappies go there to spawn. shallow mud flats at the end of areas with current?

Edited February 27, 2017 by AKRISONER

[dave524]

When I lived at Long Point years ago and caught them early spring from shore and wading,I looked for dark bottom like muck as it warmed there fastest, found that the best, same with big Gills at ice out.

[AKRISONER]

When I lived at Long Point years ago and caught them early spring from shore and wading,I looked for dark bottom like muck as it warmed there fastest, found that the best, same with big Gills at ice out.

do you have any idea what month that would have been? beginning of april?

[manitoubass2]

Mud bottom and 12-18 FOW near an inlet that goes to about 4-6FOW near spring.

 

Here at least, they head into shallows to spawn, lil narrow inflows and reeds.

 

I use a small buckshot rattle spoon tipped with frozen shiner heads. That's all I ever use. Even mid winter

 

I've noticed though, a specific technique that works well for me, and finding it was due to electronics.

 

The lure brings in fish, no doubt about it. You'll catch a few fishing it normally. But dropping the lure to bottom, rest, then rip it up 2 or 3 feet produces a frenzy of bites

 

That rip up is sometimes a true rip, sometimes it's a little slower

 

But almost all the bites come of the chase up

 

Photo of my PB using this technique

 

Edited February 27, 2017 by manitoubass2

[Terry]

Crappie spawn after bass

 

Crappie move into the shallows to feed right at ice out, some of my best crappie fishing has been in marinas as soon as there is a hole in the ice big enough to fish from docks Shorelines the warm first. Over hanging trees with open water. All

Hold crappie.

[AKRISONER]

great manitou, weve got them dialed right now in 25 FOW, easy fishing through the ice with a flasher once they are around. Ripping buckshots tipped with minnow heads we see them storm up from bottom. the trick is that I know for a fact these fish are going to move shallow, I am just trying to time when that happens right.

 

Terry, this is also great information...i always thought the crappies were coming in to do their business at ice out, just like the pike and eyes, turns out they are just there to feed...probably on the roe that the pike are dropping!

 

Timing wise, is their movement shallow totally related to the ice coming off? or is it a specific 2-3 week period that they move in during?

[OhioFisherman]

http://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/springtime-spawning.html

 

 

http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/fishing/2007/09/crappies-degrees

[Old Ironmaker]

3 times a day....

Braggart.

 

The guys fish the docks of Marinas as soon as the ice out here on Erie's north shore. Since there is no ice in sight I really wish I could help. But I can tell you I occasionally go to a upper NY State inland lake for the Pike opener 2nd weekend in May. There is a couple there that fish 100% for Crappie. They have been going there for the last 50 years, they are in their 70's. They bring in 2 full 5 gallon pails day in and day out by noon then clean fish all afternoon. They use micro spoon jigs below pencil floats right on shore where there are overhanging trees and broken limbs under the water, no bait. They slay them and it is in the middle of May. Sometimes the gentleman told me they will tip the mini spoon shaped jig with a tiny twister tail.

[Garnet]

Catch and release crappie fishing is degusting.

[dave524]

do you have any idea what month that would have been? beginning of april?

 

that sounds about right, maybe even late March the way things are going this year. Definitely b4 trout opener as I would have switched to them if they were open. Mostly fished the channels/canals to the cottages with a fly rod, sponge rubber spider for gills and a white maribou streamer for crappie.

[limeyangler]

The crappie in our lake stay relatively deep after ice out, still in the basins at 15-20FOW, they don't really move to the shallows until 2 or 3 weeks after ice out, then they can bee found very shallow in the mud bays and weeds, especially south facing ones. But that is just on our lake, other water bodies in other parts of the province would be different I guess.

[Brettiop]

I'de really focus on shallower areas that are close to where you are finding them now. Doesn't need to be 2-3' deep but 10' and under ide focus on.....gotta be some large shallow weedy bays around...

 

Right now our crappie in southern ontario are right tight to weeds...

[manitoubass2]

The crappie in our lake stay relatively deep after ice out, still in the basins at 15-20FOW, they don't really move to the shallows until 2 or 3 weeks after ice out, then they can bee found very shallow in the mud bays and weeds, especially south facing ones. But that is just on our lake, other water bodies in other parts of the province would be different I guess.

Yep. This is pretty bang on for NW ontario

[AKRISONER]

sounds like ice out and that time frame is key. I guess its a matter of hitting the window and making sure we are on the lake for it.

 

I wonder if GB would adhere more to the NWO rule rather than SO because its a shield lake, our water obviously stays much much colder as well.

[Terry]

for 12 years honey harbour GB was my ice out crappie spot

then somehow lake simcoe got crappie and i found them there in the same type of locations

[Korber]

Nice some solid tips here.

[Brettiop]

Above all else, fish marinas...if you try for crappie a few times over the spring, try the marina everytime, even if they didn't produce last time....boathouses can be a real goldmine on a sunny day as well.

[AKRISONER]

Above all else, fish marinas...if you try for crappie a few times over the spring, try the marina everytime, even if they didn't produce last time....boathouses can be a real goldmine on a sunny day as well.

 

cant go wrong with timber...and on GB that always means man made timber structure. Old piles, cribs and docks always hold fish.

 

this place always delivers when i throw out questions. Good stuff.

 

and No im not delusional for catching and releasing, i just dont enjoy eating fish that much. The odd deeply hooked one hits the fire pit, but aside from that my fishies swim to eat another day.

[BillM]

GBay and crappies can be a tough gig.

[AKRISONER]

GBay and crappies can be a tough gig.

you are telling me Bill...it only took me 13 years to find them lol!

 

Once they decide to make a move it might be until next february before I find them again lol

Edited February 28, 2017 by AKRISONER

[Mister G]

........................................................opps

Edited February 28, 2017 by Mister G