Pre-spawn crappie hotspots

These Carolina lakes are winter hotspots for crappie

February heralds the beginning of the crappie pre-spawn activity in the Carolinas. And the initiation of the spawning process means anglers flood to the lakes in pursuit. Beginning in deep water and migrating toward the shallow-water spawning areas, crappies move ever-shallower, providing the most productive fishing of the year for roe-laden slabs.

We’ve detailed successful strategies used by professional fishing guides on four different lakes in the Carolinas for the 2023 pre-spawn crappie season.

Using these tactics can help you maximize your crappie-catching action this spring.

Jordan Lake

Crappie fishing guide Travis Bradshaw from Willow Springs, NC said this is his favorite time to catch lots of huge crappie at Jordan Lake.

“The big females are on the move and they usually start early in the month, especially the largest fish,” he said. “These fish typically range from 11/4 to 2 pounds.

“February is transition time from wintertime deep water hangouts to the spawning areas,” he said. “The cold-weather, vertical tightline winter pattern morphs to excellent pre-spawn movements within a few days. When the water temperature begins to rise from the winter low, crappie begin to migrate up the creeks and that’s where I target them throughout the pre-spawn and spawn.”

Bradshaw (919-669-6989) said good targets to begin the search are around bridges that serve as pinch points. The Farrington area, as well as the bridges in White Oak and Beaver creeks, provide good targets for pre-spawn action.

Bradshaw employs multiple tactics to catch these pre-spawn fish.

“The fish stage at the mouths of the creeks, but they’re still deep, often in 30 to 35 feet of water,” he said. “I’ll fish this deep water with either a one- or two-hook rig that consists of 2/0 Aberdeen hooks on an 8-inch leader with a 3/8- to ½-ounce weight.”

Bradshaw uses live minnows and he slowly works this rig around ledges, holes and channels as he searches for crappie.

“This rig is similar to a tightline rig but the bottom weight is smaller, and I slowly move as I search for crappie,” he said. “Speed will vary from 0.1 to 0.3 or more, depending on the daily preference of the crappie.

“I rely on my electronics to identify the depth the fish are located,” Bradshaw said. “They’re unpredictable and they may be hugging the bottom one day and suspended the next.”

When crappie move shallower while near their spawning areas, which can be as early as late February or early March, Bradshaw employs a slip cork rig to search the shallower water.

He rigs his floats to fish a minnow suspended off the bottom in this depth range and works various depth patterns until he finds the hotspot.

When the fish move into the shallows to spawn, he’ll again use a slip float rig, but will work the shoreline by casting.

Bradshaw’s advice for fishing the pre-spawn is to avoid getting stuck in the same routine. The fish are on the move and anglers must adapt daily.

Lake Norman

Lake Norman is a big body of water littered with creeks and coves, ideal for pre-spawn crappie fishing.

Chris Nichols is a crappie and catfish guide on Lake Norman. He said this lake is highly productive for pre-spawn crappie and begins in February by tightlining vertical rigs with minnows. As water temperatures warm, his primary tactic morphs into longline trolling.

“Early February, I’ll find crappie in deep water near the mouths of the creeks,” he said. “The 25- to 30-foot depth is a good starting point.

“I’ve learned that the biggest female crappies are usually in that first wave of fish moving into the creeks,” he said.

Nichols (704-860-7951) said at this point, the water temperature is around 50 degrees and he’ll tightline minnows vertically.

“I cover water, but slowly, often less than 0.5 miles per hour,” he said. “I fish along channel ledges, points and humps and rely on electronics to find fish. I use that as my guide for the specific location and depth to fish.”

Nichols said when the water temperature reaches 52-degrees, and stays at that temperature or higher for a couple of days, crappie make a more aggressive move toward the back of the creeks. And they’ll begin to suspend more often.

“This is my key to begin longline trolling,” he said. “By this time the fish have migrated to the middle of the larger creeks and will be working steadily toward the back. I typically find them at 12 to 18 feet deep in Lake Norman. But as they migrate toward spawning areas, they gradually get shallower.”

This process continues until the 60- to 62-degree temperature is reached. And that’s the magic temperature for fish to begin spawning he said.

Nichols said not all crappie spawn at the same time. So the longlining tactic remains effective for several weeks.

Clarks Hill

Multi-species fishing guide Chris Simpson targets crappie during the pre-spawn period on Clarks Hill Lake on the South Carolina and Georgia border. He fishes this spawning process from February until April.

“Clarks Hill is known for producing huge crappie and limit stringers. But adapting to the changing conditions is crucial here,” he said.

Simpson (864-922-2352) said he typically targets the upper half of the lake because the water depths are suitable to long-line trolling. Plus, multiple creeks are available so he can fish different areas searching for the best water conditions after rain events.

“Longline trolling is effective. But it’s an ever-changing process to keep up with crappie on the move,” he said. “Fish may be migrating up the creeks, getting shallower and becoming more active, and a cold front will knock them back to deeper water.”

Simpson’s system for pre-spawn crappie is to employ multiple rigs and vary the speed and jig sizes to cover more areas within the water column.

Simpson is a graph watcher. Fishing one day without clients in 2021, he began the day looking for catfish, but marked lots of fish in the15- to 18-foot depth that he felt were crappie. He deployed longline rigs and got on a strong bite pattern for them. The next day his clients wanted to crappie fish and they were on fish all day.

His trolling technique is about searching for concentrations of crappie, not singles or stragglers.

“If I catch a single crappie I keep moving. But if we hook two or more in one spot, I’ll spend time in that area with additional trolling passes,” he said.

Simpson trolls with 6-pound test yellow line that enables him to see his lines during tight turns when targeting a specific spot. Jig size varies, but 1/16 is a good mid-range and he’ll often add minnow trailers to his jigs.

Lake Murray

Lake Murray boasts an excellent crappie population and the key to early season success is location and technique.

David Kingsmore from Prosperity, SC, is a crappie (and catfish) tournament angler that’s worked out the springtime patterns for Lake Murray slabs.

“For pre-spawn crappies, and right through the spawn, I prefer the upper end of the lake,” Kingsmore said. “The junction of the rivers down to the Dreher Island State Park area represents my target area.”

Kingsmore said the depths, forage and bottom structure all favor excellent crappie fishing for this season.

“I rely heavily on electronics to help me determine where the fish are on a given trip,” he said. “This is true throughout the process from February all the way to the spawn, which generally occurs in March.”

Kingsmore said the process begins with crappie relating to ledges along the main river channel in the upper part of the lake. The areas around creek mouths are prime targets because as the process continues, the fish move into the creeks.

“The fish are typically found in water 18 to 30 feet deep. The daily depth of the fish is a primary, but ever-changing, key to success.”

Kingsmore tightlines a jig and minnow combination by pushing his rigs in front of the boat, commonly referred to as spider rigging.

Kingsmore employs eight rigs, each with a 1/16-ounce jig with a minnow trailer. He’ll vary colors and if he’s marking fish but action is slow, he’ll try smaller jigs. Good colors as starting points are ‘firetiger’ and a black/chartreuse combo with the minnow trailer.

“When fish migrate into the creeks, the pattern is still depth-related and suspended fish are common,” he said. “They can be suspended shallow, such as 2 feet deep over water 20 feet deep. As they move toward the shallows to spawn, I’ll still be spider-rigging but fishing water 3 to 4 feet deep in water only 5 feet deep.”

Employ the tactics of these experts to help you score big on early-season slabs.

Minnow or jig?

Under certain circumstances, it’s better to use artificial lures for almost any species of fish. And at other times, live bait is king. Travis Bradshaw said he always has artificial jigs and live minnows when he’s fishing for crappie.

“I might use just jigs all day. But on some days, the fish simply won’t bite anything but minnows. And a lot of times, we’ll catch them on a jig/minnow combo,” he said.

Jig/minnow combos are popular among crappie anglers. Having the two together presents a bulkier target for fish, and it also adds natural scent and movement to jigs.

When crappie are being especially finicky, anglers have more luck with smaller jigs, or with minnows fished alone on small, weightless hooks with a very light weight placed above it.

During the early season, crappie (and crappie anglers) deal with a lot of variables. Big temperature shifts, water level fluctuations, and even fishing pressure can alter how aggressive or passive the fish will bite. They may bite the same way three days in a row, then suddenly shut down. And they may bite jigs aggressively for 30 minutes, then stop biting all together.

That’s why anglers like Bradshaw feel much more prepared if they’ve got both live bait and artificials on every trip.

“I’ve had days where I went home with every single minnow I brought that day. But I’ve also had days when I couldn’t get a bite without a minnow. You just never know what each day will be like, so it’s always best to be prepared,” he said.