How to Locate Crappies

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When fishing a new body of water for crappie, it always helps to know where to begin.  As the old saying goes, 90% of the fish are located in 10% of the lake.  The trick, of course, is to know which 10% of the lake to focus on.  In this article, we will look at two factors that are important to crappie and how to use these to help you find slabs no matter which body of water you fish.

Crappie Prefer Low-Light Conditions

Many of the lakes in the Great Lakes region were formed by glaciers at the end of the last ice age.  The lack of running water into many of theme along with spring-like ground water results in very clear water many of its lakes. Because crappie prefer low-light conditions, light penetration in clear water usually pushes them deeper. This is very different from lakes in the lower Midwest and the southern states where most of the lakes are man-made impoundments, full of the muddy water fed to them by the massive volumes of up-stream farmland. There, crappie are often found much shallower due to the lower light conditions in the water.

This doesn’t mean that you will never find crappie shallow in northern waters because there are many factors that determine which depth fish will be found. But generally, crappie stay deeper in these lakes.  If the lake is very clear with little structural cover, the crappie may hold in the weeds during the day and not emerge until night to begin feeding.

Crappie Like Vertical Structure

Crappie are almost synonymous with the word structure. If you don’t believe it, just go to your local Cabela’s or Bass-Pro Shops aquarium and take note of where you find the crappie.  That said, here some of the common types of structure that crappie can be found in.

1:Non-Floating Docks or Platforms

Docks with posts offer both vertical structure and shaded (darker) water.  Depth matters, though, and if the water is very clear, it won’t matter how much shade the dock offers, the fish will go looking for deeper water.

2. Floating Docks,

Floating docks can offer the dark water that crappie are looking (depth-dependent, as above) but lacks the vertical structure that dock supports offer.  If the dock is near other structure, like rip-rap or submerged tree limbs, it can be just as good as the a non-floating dock.

3. Submerged Trees and Stumps

In impoundments, submerged trees and stumps can often be found in deeper (darker) water, making them great places to find hiding slabs.

4. Downed Shoreline Trees

If the shoreline is relatively deep and holds dark-water, down trees can be a perfect place to find fish.  This natural habitat is ideal.

5. Weed Beds

Although this is last on the list, it is certainly not least.  As discussed, in natural, clear-water lakes, weeds often offer the only vertical structure in the lake.  They can be difficult to extract though, especially on bright, sunny days.   Hitting them at first or last light on these lakes is key.

Putting These Factors Together

To locate crappie, first determine where there is structural cover for the fish using the list above.  Once you have noted these locations, start with the deepest cover first and work your way back shallow.  As with all fishing, traditional sonars can really help locate fish in the deeper water, while side-scan and/or livescope can help with locating the fish in shallower water.Following this formula should help you put more crappies in the cooler.