Early spring slabs

Crappie are caught in limit numbers on many days and culling can be part of the process. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

Lake Wylie is a hot destination for early spring crappie

Lake Wylie is an overlooked crappie fishing resource from late-winter throughout the pre-spawn and spawn. As water temperatures begin to warm in February, crappie transition into pre-spawn mode, as the slabs begin their annual spawning migration.

Capt. Rodger Taylor from Rock Hill, SC, is primarily known as a catfish guide, but during this crappie migration period, he puts his crappie fishing hat on and guides for either crappie or catfish.

“I love to crappie fish, especially during the spring. So it wasn’t a stretch to add it to my guide business,” Taylor said. “I begin my crappie fishing in February, and by targeting deep water, plenty of crappies are available in the winter.”

Taylor said the crappie spawn is an incremental process and a lengthy journey, and not all crappies are on an identical timetable. 

Longline trolling in the creeks is highly effective, but it’s not a random tactic. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

Long season

“At any given time in the pre-spawn process, while some fish are moving shallow in March or April to spawn, others are just initiating the migration process,” he said. “This pattern provides 10 to 12 weeks of potentially highly productive crappie fishing.”

Taylor (803-517-7828; CatfishON Guide Service) employs two primary tactics this time of year: vertical fishing (spider rigging) and longline trolling.

“I’ll use electronics throughout the pre-spawn to find where the fish are on a given day before starting to fish,” he said. “This short-time investment usually pays big dividends because I can focus on figuring out the daily speed, depth, and lure patterns.

“Crappies are predictable up to a point, but they can also be finicky, and the depth and speed controls of the lure or bait are crucial,” he said.

Taylor said Lake Wylie has many creeks of varying size that provide prime targets for pre-spawn fishing. The local water conditions dictate his daily choice of fishing locations.

Slabs are available throughout the spring but Taylor thinks early season may be the best for bigger crappie. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

“At Lake Wylie, I don’t hesitate to move around anytime the fishing is slow,” he said. “Generally, somewhere on Lake Wylie, I believe we can find crappies that we can catch.”

Taylor begins his early-season fishing by spider rigging with live minnows in deep water. He employs a double-hook rig with a hook 15 inches above a 3/4-ounce sinker and another hook to the terminal end about 15 inches below the sinker. The main line is a 10-pound test braided line with a 12-pound fluorocarbon leader. 

“I’ll place these rigs out in front of my boat and slowly maneuver along a target such as a channel ledge, hump, or deep hole,” he said. “Generally, it’s not a fast-action type of fishing, but it’s steady and consistent.”

Taylor said this early season fishing is often along the lake’s main river channel and around the mouths of the creeks.

He said muddy water is tough fishing, so he looks for dingy or clear water.

“I go where the water condition, or the weather factors such as wind, are most conducive to me being able to fish effectively,” he said. 

While crappie move into the creeks as the water warms, Taylor transitions his fishing from spider rigging to longline trolling.

Gradual transition

“It’s not like I quit spider rigging one day and begin longline trolling,” he said. “A transition period exists, but longlining gradually becomes the go-to tactic. When enough fish are working up the creeks, longlining is my primary tactic for the remainder of the pre-spawn.”

Taylor transitions from live minnows to jigs, but during the early period of longline trolling, which is usually underway at Lake Wylie by late February and early March, he’ll add minnow trailers to some of his jigs.

“I’ve learned that adding that live minnow to a jig enhances bites early in the longlining process,” he said. “The trend is toward not needing minnows as the pre-spawn continues. But I’ll usually have minnows in the boat just in case. Post-frontal conditions are a situation where they’re good to have.”

Taylor employs various jigs and plastic bodies. The Kalin Triple Threat grubs are a favorite.

Taylor trolls different sizes and colors of jigs to find the most productive combinations daily. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

“I like grub bodies with pronounced tails. They produce good vibration,” he said. “Slider jigs with their big tails are another favorite. I also use lures with some flash, such as Road Runner heads with various grub bodies and Beetle Spins. The thump of the spinner vibration helps crappie key in on these lures. I use an assortment to begin my day of trolling and will determine the ones producing best on a given day.”

The basic pattern is that as crappie progress up the creeks, Taylor performs his daily search to find where he feels the most fish are located. It’s not always a direct pattern to moving incrementally up the creeks.

“We get a lot of fronts pushing through the area, and fronts can move the fish back down the creek, to deeper water, or both,” he said. “Not all crappies are on the same spawning clock, and new groups of fish are entering the creeks. I may be halfway up the creek for a couple of days, then find more fish back near the mouth of the creek for a day or two. While the basic trend is toward shallow water, to be consistently productive, I’ve got to keep an open mind on where I’ll find crappie.”

Taylor said the entire water column is in play when longlining because the fish may be deep one day and shallow the next. Plus, not all shallow water is created equal for pre-spawn crappie.

Find the depth

“Crappie may be only two or three feet deep, but may suspend over 20 feet or deeper of water,” he said. “They may be in the middle of the channel or over the ledge or on a flat. The key to successful longline trolling is to keep all the options open. Use your electronics to find the fish, then target that area. The location can change from early morning to mid-day depending on light conditions.”

Taylor said the size of the jighead matters when longlining. He’ll often use 1/8-ounce jigheads during the early season, but as the season progresses, he’ll employ smaller jigheads. Speed is another fishing control that impacts the depth at which the lures run.

Guide Rodger Taylor said crappie fishermen can enjoy nearly three months of prime fishing at Lake Wylie every spring. (Photo by Terry Madewell)

“I vary the speed of my troll from 0.7-to-1.2 miles per hour,” he said. “I like it best at a speed around 0.9 miles per hour, and that’s usually a good starting point, then try slower and faster as needed.”

Taylor said changing the jighead sizes and speed are two basic ways of checking different depths in the water column when longlining at Lake Wylie. 

“Anyone can be productive with longline trolling if they’ll experiment with depth, speed, lure size and color,” Taylor said. “At Lake Wylie, different creeks often have different water color situations. For example, I may be fishing Big Allison Creek in the lower end but finding the bite slow. I’ll move my search up lake and may eventually find crappie perhaps biting great in a small creek in the North Carolina portion of the lake. 

“On Lake Wylie, the major creeks are typically productive. But don’t overlook the smaller creeks,” he said. “I’ve found localized, sensational crappie fishing in those areas.” 

Taylor said a typical day on Lake Wylie during the pre-spawn should produce plenty of crappie in the 10- to 12-inch sized class, with lots of smaller ones caught and released.

“A limit of 20 crappie is certainly a reasonable expectation. But it doesn’t always occur,” Taylor said. “But for those who like to eat fish, catching big white perch is a common by-product of longlining, and they’re excellent table fare.”

Overall, Taylor said Lake Wylie offers excellent fishing for anglers in both states, and pre-spawn fishing is productive from February until May. 

About Terry Madewell 834 Articles
Award-winning writer and photographer Terry Madewell of Ridgeway, S.C., has been an outdoors writer for more than 30 years. He has a degree in wildlife and fisheries management and has a long career as a professional wildlife biologist/natural resources manager.

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