Fall is just around the corner. While most people are thinking about the upcoming hunting season, fall is a excellent time to think about Crappie fishing. These crappie fishing tips will help you locate the Crappie and put some fillets in your freezer for the Winter!

As the water cools off in the Fall, hungry Crappie move from their deep water Summer hangouts to the cooler water of the shallows as they follow baitfish toward the shore. It’s not uncommon to find Fall Crappie as shallow as 1 or 2 feet deep along a bank in the Fall. Once the first few cold fronts of the year move in, start looking for Fall Crappie near the first drop off away from the bank.

Fall Crappie can be very aggressive. You may have to experiment, but I like to find Crappie using jigs using either the Spider rigs or floating with corks. As I drift along the drop off, I’ll put the corks at different depths until I find the Crappie.

Any seasoned Fall fisherman knows that the best time to be out on the Lake is just prior to a major cold front hitting your area. This is the time you’ll be happy to be out on the lake chasing Crappie. These are the times that Crappie fishing can be better than the Spring spawning season. Whatever you do, try and not miss a chance to chase Crappie just before a Major front hits your home lake.

After Fall cold fronts pass, look for the Crappie back in their deep water hangouts. Sometimes even as far back as an old river channel in the Lake. Post cold front Crappie will likely be less aggressive. Use smaller jigs and minnows to entice them to bite.

Slow drifting small jigs and minnows can be just the ticket to get post cold front Crappie to hit your bait. Don’t forget that post cold front Fall Crappie become less active and will not chase a bait very far. Even more so, many times you’ll have to have the bait right in front of their mouths.

Typically the cold temps after a Fall front doesn’t last long. As the days warm up, you’ll find the Crappie moving back shallow again. If the water is still a little cool, then start your search on a South facing bank and work your way out.

When the South winds start pushing baitfish against South shorelines, you can find Crappie by using a float and jig setup. You can fish faster with jigs than minnows plus you don’t have to worry about a Crappie knocking your minnow off a hook. If you find the Crappie spread out, you should switch to a Spider Rig to snatch up the Crappie.

Source: Fishing

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 9:58 pm and is filed under crappie fishing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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