Hit The Docks For Janurary Crappie Fishing

Going out and fishing for Crappie in the Winter can be difficult. Some anglers believe the most difficult part is actually locking in on the Crappie. The other hard aspect of Fall and Winter Crappie fishing can be the weather. One reliable area to find Winter Crappie are boating docks.

Dealing with the weather on an open lake in late Fall through early Spring can be trying. One minute the lake may be calm and the next minute it can be white capping. Fronts can blow in with little notice. This is one reason Winter Crappie fishing can be very challenging.

There is one place where Crappie fishermen can go to get out of the weather and have a reasonable chance at catching enough slabs for a fish fry. These places are boat docks. But not any ole boat dock will work. We're looking for boat docks that have Crappie beneath them! This is sometimes easier said than done. But with a little practice and a little research, you can learn how to find the best boat docks for Winter Crappie.

To find boat docks over deep water, look for Marina's that have slips for large power boats and sail boats. These boats draft much deep and thus require deep water slips. It's not uncommon to find them moored over old creek or river channels. Find slips like this at a Marina and prepare the hot oil because there is a fish fry right around the corner!

Once you've found a Marina near deep water, with docks near or over drop offs, the next step is to find out what the Crappie want to bite. I use small minnows to begin with to find where the Crappie are holding. Some days, they're suspended halfway between the brush and surface. Other days they'll be holding tight to the brush. On the rare warm days, I've even found them in less than two fee of water.

Once the Crappie are found by using Minnows, you can try and switch over to jigs. If the action is hot enough, you can fill your stringer quicker with jigs than with Minnows. I have no scientific study to prove this, but it seems I also catch the larger slabs in Winter on jigs rather than minnows. The Crappie will also hold in the same areas beneath different slips over deep water. If you catch them at 18 feet beneath one slip, you'll likely catch them beneath most slips at 18 feet. This is the beauty of Winter Crappie fishing.

One place many hardcore Crappie fishermen overlook in the Winter are heated fishing docks. The Marina operators sink brush below these heated areas to attract the fish. These can be great places to fill a stringer when Ole Man Winter is howling outside. It's also a great place to take your kids on a Winter day. There aren't many things sweeter in life than watching kids catch Crappie inside a heated dock while drinking hot chocolate!

Just because you don't have a boat or don't want to fight Ole Man Winter is no reason to miss out on Winter Crappie fishing. The action can be just as fast and furious right at the docks!