Catching crappie during spring

Old-fashioned tactics for spring crappie

When March flips over to April, crappie anglers across the Carolinas know it’s time to head for the backs of creeks and coves or other shallow water locations where crappie are known to spawn.

Since both black crappie and white crappie are present in both states, panfish anglers typically begin catching black crappie, which spawn 2 to 3 weeks earlier than white crappie, from the first week of April until the end of the month. 

For lakes that have both species, white crappie pick up about the time black crappie move off the beds. This can extend the season well into the month of May. 

Several tactics work well for catching crappie in the shallows. Three favorites of Carolina anglers are detailed below.

Dock shooting

Randy Pope of Hickory, North Carolina is a master dock shooter. He can consistently hit an opening in a dock or gap between the motor and float of a pontoon boat that measures no more than 6 inches high and a foot across, skipping the light jig 15 – 20 feet back into the opening.

Shooting docks is a single-pole tactic for skipping a crappie jig into the furthest recesses of a boat dock which crappie frequently use as structure to hide, ambush prey, or just hang out. Shooting the jig is achieved by gripping the jig on small diameter line in one hand and bending the rod over into a bow. The bail on the spinning reel is open in the other hand with the line held tight using the trigger finger. When the jig is released, the rod snaps forward, shooting the jig away from the rod tip. With critical timing, the trigger finger releases the line, allowing the jig to fly off on a flat trajectory. 

“The key is timing the release of the line and the jig,” he said. “Using 4 pound test allows me to get more distance because the line comes off the reel easier. I’ve also put a lot of time in on the water shooting docks.”

Pope said that most crappie anglers who try dock shooting are not successful because they don’t allow themselves enough time to learn how, where, and when to use the tactic. For him, dock shooting is nearly a year-round venture. He admits however, that it’s most effective during the spring spawn and post spawn.

Long line trolling

Ronnie McKee of Piedmont, SC is a self-professed long line trolling aficionado when it comes to crappie fishing. He prefers trolling when crappie move shallow so he can pick them off in mid-migration, moving either into the shallows or backing out of the shallow water spawning grounds.

Once he has identified a stretch of water containing migrating crappie, McKee will line up over the top of them, drop his trolling motor, and cast 6 to 8 lines out behind the boat. It’s trolling in the traditional sense. But at some point, some crappie anglers decided to call it long line trolling to distinguish the tactic from the spider rig, slow, vertical trolling that’s also popular with perch jerkers.

McKee said anglers must use several integral pieces of gear to be successful at long line trolling. Those items, in no certain order, include variable speed trolling motor, rod holders, GPS/depth finder, long rods, durable reels, and a handful of good crappie jigs.

“If somebody is just starting out, I would tell them to get a quality reel that’s going to hold up to the pressure, a decent line in the 6- to 8-pound range, and some quality jigs,” he said.  “You’re going to need a basic set-up of rod holders off either the back or the front of your boat. If you start off putting your jigs out at 30 feet from the boat, you’ve got to know your speed.

Using GPS, start trolling at 0.7 to 0.8 mph with a 1/16-ounce jig. That’s basically going to get you 6 to 8 feet down in the water column and you’ll start to catch fish on that.”

From there, adjusting the jigs’ running depth is a balance of jig weight, boat speed, and the amount of line out.

Jig and cork

Many panfish anglers grew up learning to fish for crappie using a single rod and fishing with a bobber. Every one of those anglers has had the experience of reeling the cork back in only to have it sink out of sight from the weight of a hefty slab.

Today, that instance has a name and is highly regarded as a productive tactic when crappie are spawning or at least holding around shallow structure.

“That’s about all I do during the spring and early summer,” said Eddie Lyles from Dillon, SC. “It’ll work anywhere you have standing timber, stumps or vertical structure like boat docks and piers, the places where crappie like to bed during the spawn.”

His set up is pretty simple. He takes a slip cork and attaches it above the jig, usually a marabou jig or plastic tube body, with the bobber stop set at around 18 inches to 2 feet. Then he’ll ease around the shoreline and pitch or flip the jig around and between the structure. 

The cork will put the jig at the right depth to be just above the fish. He alternates the retrieve between holding it still or slowly pulling the cork, which makes the jig beneath move in an enticing manner. 

“You can use a pegged cork like you buy in any bait shop. But it’s harder to cast and sometimes getting the rig in a tight spot or underneath an overhang makes a difference in the number of fish caught,” he said.

What, no LiveScope?

For crappie anglers who have made the change to forward facing sonar for crappie fishing, the spring spawn is often the least effective time to use the new technology. However, that doesn’t mean LiveScopers have to sit the month of April out.

One of the drawbacks of the popular new sonar systems is that shallow waters of 8 feet or less are somewhat of an Achilles heel to forward facing systems, particularly when using the sonar in a standard forward view. 

Keep these tips in mind when running LiveScope for crappie fishing during the spawn:

Don’t Fish The Beds – Not all crappie spawn at the same time, so while some are on the bank, you can use forward facing sonar as usual for those fish still holding deeper.

Use Perspective View – This setting will give you a better read of what’s around the boat but not as specific a depth reading as forward view. Most crappie will be suspended about midway to 1/3 from the bottom and more than willing to rise to an intruding bait.

Look For Deeper Spawn Sites and Structure – In lakes and reservoirs with an abundance of crappie, some have learned to spawn in waters as deep as 15 – 20 feet. This is particularly true in clear water lakes where visibility from the surface causes fish to be spooky. Fish in this depth range are much easier to pick up on sonar than those in 4 – 5 feet of water.