“l’ll do whatever I need to do to catch crappie in winter,” said guide Maynard Edwards, and if January turns off bitter cold, that might just mean chasing them all the way to the bottom of Badin Lake.
If water temperatures fall below the low 40’s, Badin’s crappie are most likely to release their stranglehold on suspended shad and retreat to deep and stable water.
“Badin Lake is surprising to some people,” said Edwards. “The crappie will go so deep that they can’t find them. I’ve personally caught them in 41 feet of water, on the very bottom.”
Under those circumstances, Edwards will switch gears from long-lining to tight-lining, also known as spider-rigging, and he’ll target drop-offs.
“It’s basically like tying a drop-shot rig,” he said. “I put a 1-ounce weight or casting sinker at the bottom.”
About a foot from the sinker, Edwards will tie a loop knot from the main line and thread it through a No. 2 hook. From there, he goes up one more foot and ties another loop with a hook.
“I’ll usually put a curlytail grub on one of the hooks,” he said. “Then, hook a minnow through the nose on the other. Drop it straight to the bottom and reel up a half to a whole round.”
Noting that crappie will be more sluggish under these conditions, Edwards slows things down.
“I just ease around with the trolling motor,” he said. “You don’t want to move very fast, about 0.5 mph or less.”
While this more-tedious approach combined with frigid conditions may turn away less hardy anglers, it does not mean that big days of a big crappie aren’t possible.
“I’ve caught 25 in cold water, and the smallest was 12 inches long,” he said. “but the bait has to be right in their face.”
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