Crappie fishing in winter is challenging at best, but cheer up. Winter is nearly gone and super crappie fishing really doesn’t start til the ice is long gone.
Still, its wintertime and you’re hungry for that pristine white flesh.. what do you do?
When ice fishing is your own option and Crappie is the only fish you want.. you’re going to want to consider three things.. Bait, Ice and Place.
The fish swim a lot more slowly in winter and their patterns of hunting change a lot. No different really than people.. We love beef stew in wintertime and chocolate ice cream in summer. No matter what you’re fishing for bear in mind, its going to hunt and to eat differently when the weather changes.
The Black Crappie
The Black Crappie
When you’re fishing for nearly anything, the warmer the water, the faster the bait you want to use,use something slower when the weather cools down.
When the water gets cooler, or frozen, anything under the waters surface moves slower, so you want to choose a jig that will move slower too, and a bit lighter in weight so that it doesn’t sink before someone gets a good look at it. Some of the lighter weight plastics will move very smoothly through the water, and go at a pretty good clip.. While this is great stuff in spring and summer, it’s not the least bit helpful in wintertime or cold water fishing.
Smaller jigs are what you will want primarily in the cold water.
When the water gets below fifty degrees, crappie particularly are going to find any kind of shelter thay can find, so select a bait that can be found in the sheltered areas, and choose a smaller jig too when the water clears, as most water does when it gets colder.. A general rule is that the colder the water the clearer it becomes.
Another suggestion is that you use some lighter colors such as yellow or white. One of the ones that works best for me are small grubs.
Try to bear in mind that most bait fish, or bugs are trying to blend into the background so you want to pick one that stands out a bit more than they do. a god trick is to use a white grub with a red or green
