A Beginners Guide For Locating Crappie

Locating crappie is the most important part of catching crappie. All the technique in the world, the very best equipment, the most wonderful secret bait in the world--none of that is going to put a crappie on your line if you can not find them. Learning how to spot crappie is the most important thing you can do as a crappie angler.

Now, If you don't have the sophisticated equipment that makes finding crappie a snap, just know that they really like cover. If you see brush piles, and it is summer or even winter, you are going to do ok. Just fish those areas, but if you have a depth finder, you are going to have an easier time locating the schooling crappie.

Most depth finders have the little fish symbols, and if they work for you, that is all good. Just know that, you can turn those off. It sometimes helps you get a better idea of what it is that is under your boat, not having those symbols clouding up the picture. Look for structure that just appears out of nowhere. If you are tooling along and spot a big brush pile or a log jam, or even submerged stumps and trees...you have a likely crappie hot spot. Just idle over it until you can see if it holds crappie, then, for best results, drop a couple of bouys to mark the spot. To start out, throw a few tube jigs to them. Use that as long as it works for you, but whenever it starts to slow down on you, switch to some swim baits such as curly tail grubs, and you can usually pull a few more fish out that way. Fish the edges of the brush rather than dropping right down into the middle of it for best results.

Another tip for using your electronic fish finder from a boat is the simple art of knowing what the schools of crappie are when they show up on your fish finder. Most often, these big schools look like a big, upside downward pointing Christmas tree. When you see this on your screen, you are about to hit the mother load. Just remember not to get over zealous and try to fish the middle of the school. The action of the bait entering the water and the fish being pulled out of the water will spook the fish, and you will lose them.

Fish the outer edges of the school, and you will catch your limit. When the bite runs out, just understand that schools are constantly on the move. Pull your bouys, and move on to the next structure you happen on.

Whenever you find a school, you have to determine at what depth they are holding. The easiest way to do this is to start with your line at the bottom.

Reel it in very slowly, and then when you get to a depth where you get a bite, mark your line with a magic marker. This will allow you to return to that depth easily.