Early Season Crappies 
By Mike Frisch 

Spring is here and so are the first open-water fishing trips of the year. For some of us those first trips will involve the pursuit of panfish. Probably the most pursued spring panfish is the crappie. These scrappy fighters invade the shallows to feed and later to spawn and they can be aggressive biters during these times. The following is a look at tips for finding and catching spring crappies.

Early spring crappie movements often occur in shallow areas where the water warms first. Dark-bottomed bays, canals, and boat channels are places that can provide good early season action. While the fish will roam the open-water areas of these shallows, any available cover present will often congregate fish. Remnant or emerging weeds or submerged timber are examples of shallow cover that can hold spring crappies.

For example, on a fishing trip last spring, a friend and I caught crappies sporadically in a large, shallow bay. Late in the day, however, we located what was left of a reed bank from the previous summer that was loaded with crappies. While fishing the old reeds resulted in some lost jigs, it was well worth the effort as they held excellent numbers of fish and some of them were slabs in the one-pound size range.

While locating spring crappies can be difficult at times, there are a couple points to keep in mind that can make the search more efficient. First, it’s important to realize that locating fish can be a here-today, gone-tomorrow situation. Unstable weather will often drive the fish from the shallows back out to deeper water. Therefore, if you find a spot that looks good or you know has held fish in the past, it’s a good idea to check that area periodically throughout the spring and early summer. Another tip is to stay on the move when searching. Just because one shallow area doesn’t hold crappies on a particular day that doesn’t mean another shallow spot won’t have fish present.

Finding crappies in the spring is obviously important, but so is the use of the right lure presentation. Traditionally, a tiny jig in the 1/64-1/16 ounce size tipped with a crappie minnow fished below a small slip-bobber works good. I like to fish this presentation by casting it to shallow areas I suspect hold crappies. I use a fan-casting approach where I cast the rig to a spot, let it sit a bit, and then reel it in to try a new spot. This technique allows me to cover a shallow area fairly quickly.

It’s important when fishing this presentation to use a small bobber and to weight the rig so that the bobber just barely floats. This allows a crappie to easily pull the bobber under without being spooked from the increased resistance that a large bobber produces.

While the jig/minnow/slip-bobber rig is often productive, other techniques will work as well. For example, on a trip last year, a buddy and I found that a panfish jig tipped with a minnow and fished using a cast-and-retrieve approach was the most productive presentation . In addition to the jig/minnow combination, another approach that works well, especially when casting to aggressive crappies, is a panfish jig tipped with a small plastic body like a Power Grub. .

One refinement to the casting approach that can yield terrific results is the use of a spinner jig instead of the traditional round head jig. For example, the new Thumper Jig tipped with a minnow or plastic body has proven to be dynamite when casting to shallow crappies.

A final presentation tip for early season crappies is the importance of using light line. Four-pound test XL line works good for me, enabling me to effectively cast a small jig and, also allowing the bait to have a natural, fish-attracting action.

Attracting fish to baits is the goal of many who enjoy the outdoors. For lots of us, early season crappies provide some of the year’s first open-water fishing opportunities. Following some of the tips presented above can help anglers be more successful in their pursuit of crappies this season.