For today’s angler, the advances in technology have improved the chances to gain valuable intelligence about the water. Chart plotters and high-definition fish finders are necessary equipment and cannot be substituted for finding and catching crappie in deep water.
Post-spawn slabs congregate around structure or can be found patrolling creek channels or following some other underwater pathway. The high-definition depth sounders, such as the new Humminbird and Lowrance down-scanning technology, provides unmatched detail of the bottom, protruding structure and of course, revealing the presence of the quarry. Also, fish size is more recognizable with these units than ever before. With little effort, catfish and stripers can be identified over crappie and other panfish. Beyond the size of the digital signatures, the habits of these larger predator fish generally position themselves on the outer limits of the brush piles, while crappie and bream usually hold tight to brush.
The sub-meter accuracy of the new chart-plotter GPS units show amazing detail of bottom contours from pre-loaded cartography as well as pinpoint accuracy of marking new fishing spots and routing.
The depth sounder/GPS combo units are required equipment these days for targeting deep-water crappie. Always employ a good bottom sounder or fish finder along with an accurate GPS unit to cut down on search time and increase time reeling in the finned fare. Few fishermen will regret being technology advanced in this arena.
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