In the spring time, crappie will be in the shallow water in order to prepare for spawning. The male will locate the area to build the nest and build it. Then the male will lead the female to the nest so she will lay her eggs. When the water temperature reaches 62 to 68 degrees, then the female will lay her eggs. The male will then fertilize the eggs and stay to guard the entire nesting area until the eggs have hatched. During that period of time, the male will protect the nest aggressively. Anything that comes close to nest will get eaten or chased away. Using jigs and minnows are a great combination during this time.

In the summer, crappie will tend to suspend in 75 degree water. You can find them either near the bottom or suspended at a certain depth. If you are in 20 feet of water and its 80 degrees outside, take your temperature gauge and send it down to find the right temperature of 75 degrees. Then you will find out what depth they may suspended at. If you have a fish finder it would be easier locate them, but an inexpensive temperature gauge works well also. Lets say you found the 75 degree water at 5 feet. This is a perfect time to send down a minnow or a jig with hair on it. Maybe throw out a bobber and a minnow rig at a different depth just to make sure you are covering as many areas as possible until you locate the crappie. The minnow is the favorite food of the crappie so make sure you have plenty of fresh minnows.

If you still can't seem to get a bite, another crappie fishing technique is to rig your pole with a bobber or float and a hook with any other live bait you have, such as small worms, shrimp, nymphs or grubs. I sometimes will use worms with great success. If there is a small chop on the water and you have a jig and a bobber that can be a great way to locate the school while drifting. The bobber and the waves will create some good action to the jig so it can be irresistible to crappie.

Make sure you look for other structure such as drop offs, fallen trees, and weed beds. Crappies really like to be around weed beds and sandy bottoms, so cover those areas as well.

Other crappie fishing techniques can be the use of small spinner baits, tube baits and anything else that may resemble their natural food that is in the lake you are fishing. Always talk to the local bait shop near the lake you are going to fish and ask what they are biting on today. .
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Crappie Fishing Secrets and Techniques