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Seems like every fish is spawning or just getting over it here in east TX. Went out for a while of Lake of the Pines on Mon, ended up finding a mix of spawning and post-spawn fish – even some fry-guarders. Pretty cool seeing those males hanging around balls of fry on stumps.
After talking to Dan Langston for last week’s Target Crappie, I paid close attention to how those fish were acting – and sure enough, those post-spawners were going wild like white bass, just like he said!
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If you're around Lake of the Ozarks, MO, there is a good chance you've heard of this guy fishing a couple docks there! MO pro and guide Terry Blankenship, and the man knows the 92-mile-long LOZ like nobody's bidness! 😁
I was talking to Terry about spawn fishing in that clear water, and he said:
> "Our lakes have been down all winter long. We haven't had a whole lot of rain. The fish are set up [to spawn] in different areas because of water levels and clarity. That being said, you know, the dock shooting is a big weapon on this lake."
Hmm, sounds like a lot of folks are going through that right now. 🤔
Wasn't gonna stop the dock man from talkin' docks! So here's some spring dock fishing 🧃:
> "I’m actually fishing some docks near...a main channel wall, steep banks. Fish are actually spawning right in on some of those shells on those main channels right now, which is not something I normally target."
How do you pick out the high-percentage docks right now?
> "A big platform dock is always good during the spawn time. Back in creeks, if you can find little channel swings that run tight underneath docks, a lot of times those are good fish. They like the security of deep water.
> "Sometimes they get so shallow under some of these docks that you can’t even see them very easily. If I know it’s a good spawning area, I’ll test the docks a little bit and maybe work the outside as well."
When you’re shooting docks, do certain angles work better?
> "If [the dock is] in the main channel area and they’re running water, the current will set them up toward the face of the dock where the current is coming in.
> "If you get a combination of current and shade on the water, it can be extremely good because those fish will move out in front of the dock into open water where you can cast instead of shoot.
> "Back in coves, you want to favor the shaded side first because crappie are pretty light-sensitive. They’re not like bass that roam open water as much. Crappie want to hug shade more."
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What are your confidence baits and colors when you’re dock-shooting?
> "When Bobby Garland came out with the Baby Shad, I pretty much gave up on Road Runner [style baits] because that bait looked so real that I was catching as many or more fish without the spinner.
> "The Baby Shad Swimmer has a little vibration, and there are times when that helps trick fish.
> "I've got my own jighead called the [Apex Tackle] Blankenship Jighead with a spring coil lock, and that’s what I use mostly. Dock shooting puts a lot of pressure on the bait, and my jighead keeps it from coming off.
> "Color-wise, you can never go wrong with 'blue ice.' It works in clear and dirty water because it’s a solid body and easier for fish to see. The ‘monkey milk’ and ‘silver fish’ are probably my strongest colors right now.
> "I also like ‘bayou booger.’ It’s a darker, solid color, kind of a bug pattern, and fish will attack those harder when they’re on beds."
Here are those colors from L-R ('blue ice', ‘monkey milk’, ‘smoke silver, ‘bayou booger’ – looks like Baby Shad no longer comes in 'silver fish').
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More dock shooting 🧃 but this time we're talking shallow dirty water with Caleb Hensley of 903 Fishing.
If you don't already know 'bout 903, Caleb was one of the first "crappie YouTubers" with his 903 Fishing channel and has been tearing it up in east TX fishing with NO forward sonar! 😳 Didn't know you could still catch 'em like that!
Haha, just messin'! 😁 Anyways, Caleb's been doing a bunch of dock fishing this spring in some dirty TX water, so I got on the phone with him and picked his brain a bit on how he's picking 'em apart:
In the spawn in TX, which docks are holding the most crappie?
> "What I’ve noticed is those little coves and arms that have a creek channel in the back of them, on the points of those arms, and even throughout those areas. The bigger the dock, the more shade, the better.
> "Those crappie want to get back in those dark, deep places, and if you can shoot a jig back there 20-30', however far it is, it’s typically game over."
Do you think crappie are spawning or just staging under there?
> "For the longest time, I figured crappie needed sunlight to spawn. But after this spawn, I feel like crappie will spawn under docks.
> "[This year] we would catch a female with eggs, spraying eggs when flipping her in the boat, and then the next cast we’d catch a tuxedo male. It wasn’t a one-time thing, it was consistent. That made me think those fish were actively spawning under that dock.
> "Docks were absolutely crazy this year. In the past, I usually related docks to post-spawn fish, but this year, we caught hundreds of fish off docks in a 3-4 week period."
For baits, are there certain colors or sizes you like for dock fishing? Or is it just a reaction bite where anything works?
> "I’ve had a lot of questions about color under docks, and I personally don’t think it matters. I think it’s more of a reaction bite when that bait falls in front of them, or they feel that vibration from the jig skipping and falling.
> "I do have my own signature line of baits, the 903 Fishing Signature Series 2.4-inch Stinger made by Slab City. Most of the water I fish is dirty or muddy, so I do stick with darker colors – 'black monkey milk' and 'chartreuse monkey milk' are my favorites.
> "Some people shoot hair jigs under docks, but I prefer plastic because it skips better and has a slower fall rate.
> "I shoot a 1/16-oz plain lead head. I am not a fan of colored jigheads. I’ve never seen a pink or orange baitfish. To me, they’re hitting the bait, not the head.
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Now onto a little post-spawn action from 903. Caleb said when those docks do dry up, he ends up finding tons of fish out on shallow brushpiles.
Here’s where he’s finding them, and how he’s targeting 'em without live sonar:
On a day that you think they would be on the docks and they’re not, what’s your adjustment?
> "I’m going to shallow brushpiles.
> "Some lakes, your shallow brushpiles may be in 20'. I consider shallow brush 8-14'.
> "A lot of the time, those crappie will come from those shallows. The hotter the water gets, the deeper they’re moving.
> "Whatever structure you can find close to their spawning grounds, that structure is their staging pre-spawn zone. That zone is going to be the same as their post-spawn area because they’re going to travel through those same areas back out the same way they came in.
> "My approach – slip-corking minnows on top."
What's your process of setting up on brushpiles to slip-cork 'em?
> "I run Humminbird fishfinders – I feel like they have the best side imaging and down imaging. At the bow, I run a [Humminbird] Helix 7 MDI.
> "What I’ll do – find brush on the console graph, mark it, run over it, and throw a buoy marker, go to the bow, drop the trolling motor, and go back over where I threw the buoy marker using down imaging to really dial in where that brushpile is.
> "When you throw a buoy marker, wind and depth can move it. As that line unwinds, it can move 2-4' in one direction. I go over it multiple times and figure out exactly where that structure starts and ends.
> "Then I always start shallow on the brush pile. If I see fish on top, I want to take those fish off first because they’re more active. Crappie can be spooky, so I don’t want to pull fish through fish.
> "Once you get down to fishing 8-14', the way they hit that cork changes every day. Some days they crush it, some days it’s a very light bite. You have to figure out how they’re hitting each day."
Is there anything special you do with your setup to be more effective?
> "I use 10-lb braid on my mainline. I use those lime-green thread bobber stops. A lot of people have trouble with them slipping, but they don’t cinch well on monofilament. That’s usually the issue.
> "I used to run two splitshots and a non-weighted barrel swivel with a 12-lb mono leader. The problem was that the leader would wrap around the splitshots.
> "A guy suggested using weighted barrel swivels. I started using them, and the tangling went way down – it’s a much cleaner setup."
Caleb also rigs his minnows an interesting way at times – I'll let him explain how and why, but if you watch YouTube, you've probably seen his video on how he does it (check it out here):
> "I thread the minnow through the mouth and out the gill. It’s basically Texas rigging a minnow. This is how I thread minnows when bluegill won’t leave me alone.
> "Normally, you hook a minnow through the back or tail, and it’s dangling. In the summer, bluegill will destroy your bait. They’ll bite the head, tail, and run off, and you’ll go through $10-12 in minnows a trip.
> "Even though [his way is] less mobile, I cast past the brushpile and pop the cork [back to me] to give it action. The minnow still moves and still has scent.
> "I don’t know what it is about that presentation, but I catch more crappie doing it. A lot of people have reached out saying their catch rate went up and they caught bigger fish."
Caleb's slip-cork setup
> 2/0 Eagle Claw Aberdeen Hook (gold), 12-lb mono leader, weighted swivel, 1.5" Comal Tackle Pear Slip Stick Float, 10-lb ACC Crappie Stix SmoothX Braid, Piscifun Viper X Spinning Reel (1000), 7' ACC Crappie Stix Spinnin Stix or 8' 2-piece ACC Crappie Stix Super Grip Spinning Rod.
On the rods, Caleb said that the 7' has a softer tip and the 8' a little heavier. He switches depending on how heavy the bite is.
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Dock-shooting cheat code?
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I got out on the water this past Sat looking for some slabs on docks and sure found some! Experimented with a few bait/head combos and ended up landing on a 'bad shad' Z-Man Micro Graph Shadz with a 1/16-oz 'black' Z-Man Micro Shad Headz.
Couple reasons I got there:
1. Z-Man plastics are made from that ultra-durable ElaZtech. So when you pair it with the Micro Shad HeadZ, it locks onto the keeper and doesn’t slide. Meaning you’re not constantly fixing your bait after skips or fish, which saves time when you’re trying to get way up under docks.
2. That Z-Man ElaZtech plastic floats, so I was able to get away with a little bit heavier head.
The fish were shallow in 3-6' and sitting in the middle of docks. I had to get way up under there but still keep the bait above their heads. Normally, I’d throw a 1/32-oz, but that floating plastic lets me shoot a 1/16-oz and still keep it up where it needs to be.
Bonus: That rubbery ElaZtech skips really well. It kind of "bounces" on those first skips and helps get the bait deeper under the dock. Just a little something extra that helps me get way up under there.
Check out the Micro Graph Shadz on Tackle Warehouse and here's a little IG video of me slinging that bait up under the docks.
My dock-shooting setup
> 'Z-Man Micro Graph Shadz (bad shad), 1/16-oz 'black' Z-Man Micro Shad Headz, 12-lb Seaguar InvizX Fluoro to 14-lb Japanese ultra-thin braid (the 14-lb is the diameter of about 8-6-lb braid), Kistler Chromium Spinning Reel (2500), 7' ML 'Whitetail' Kistler Big Game Crappie Pole.
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Btw, on the braid – don't think it's sold in the US but the brand is called Adusta. Met those guys at ICAST a couple years back. That braid is some sweet stuff – will see if I can find it and will let y'all know next week!
And yes I need to hop on the high-vis mono game! 😁
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Fish crappie "super highways"
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Some intel for ya whether your crappie are headed to the love shack or just leavin'. 😅
Came across an ACC Crappie Stix post with LA crappie guide Keith Acker talkin' how crappie use contours like highways, and combined it with a little bit from a Northland Tackle post with MN multi-species hammer Brian "Bro" Brosdahl.
Here's ACC with Keith:
> We drive interstate systems and...identify the best exits that offer food, comfort and safety. Crappie are no different.
> They first travel main channels and then branch off on the best exits that provide shallow-water access eventually.
> In terms of topography, think channels, ditches and contours that diverge from the main creek channel and advance fish toward spawning areas. Some might have a lip or a ledge where the fish stop and rest. Structure makes such a location even more appealing.
> If food is available, the crappie may hold in and around secondary arteries for several days during the pre-spawn before moving on. These spots are especially ideal for targeting bigger females after the males have already moved shallow.
Keith talking:
> "The crappie will be using the creek channels as a highway to get back into the shallow water.
> "Typically I see...black crappie swim around in pairs or in small groups. I like to call it house-hunting. They swim from one piece of structure to another piece of structure, just checking out where they want to be.
> "The white crappie...are out roaming. They're not on structure. They are just roaming around about 3' below the surface of the water regardless of the depth....
> "I actually caught fish today anywhere from 1' below the surface down to about 8'. That’s your big females and big males. Once the water starts warming up (in Mar), those roaming fish will be predominantly females."
Bro's crappie intel:
> The first step when crappie fishing in the spring, is to identify likely spawning areas – shallow coves and back bays that are protected from the wind and warm up quickly.
> Brush, lily pads or bulrushes – or other reed-type plants, such as maidencane that grow on a firm bottom – provide optimal spawning cover.
> Spawning depths range depending on water clarity. The eggs need warming sunlight to mature, so nests will be shallower in murky water; deeper in clear water.
> In general, expect to find beds somewhere between 2' and 8', but don’t be surprised if they are shallower or deeper.
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> Until the shallows warm up enough for nest-building, crappies stage along the first dropoff from the spawning grounds, and make forays into the shallows to feed (see map above).
> Changing weather conditions, which are typical for the early spring, will often push them up shallow on mild days and force them back during cooling trends.
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Pretty cool deal to keep that jighead from hanging up above the weight!
Check out this BoneHead Tackle post with MO crappie pro Matthew Rogers talkin' how he rigs it and uses it!
Comes in 1/8, 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2-oz. Catch 'em here on Tackle Warehouse.
2. VA: Crappie consumption advisory on Chickahominy River
Advisory is from the VA Dept of Health based on fish tissue samples collected in 2023-2024, showing elevated PFOS levels in black crappie.
3. TN: KY/TN Crappie spawn heating up on Kentucky/Barkley
> Clearer water over the years has those fish setting up a little deeper than the "old school" 1-2' deal – more like 4-7' around wood, stumps and shoreline cover.
4. NC/SC: The crappie spring fling is on in the Carolinas
> Key deal this time of year is mobility: Fish show up in waves and can be anywhere from bottom to suspended depending on the day, so it’s all about finding the right depth and staying with ‘em.
5. AR: crappie bite going down on...
- Little Maumelle River: Fish are stacked up in 2-3' of water and eating jigs and minnows around grass and shallow cover – classic spring deal with warm, stable conditions.
- Lake Charles: Crappie are shallow and biting well along the banks on minnows and jigs, with steady action as water temps push into the low 60s.
- Cane Creek Lake, AR: Anglers reporting "big nice" crappie mixed in with solid numbers — one of the better bites in the state right now.
- Millwood Lake: Crappie bite has picked up big-time with fish moving shallow into 4-6' around cypress and still holding some in 10-12' brush – plus legit 2-2.5-lb fish being caught.
- Lake Ouachita: Crappie are in full spawn mode with fish shallow on brush and banks, plus others scattered and moving – typical mix of spawning phases with fish catchable a few different ways.
6. WI: Low oxygen killed Silver Lake crappie
> WI DNR says a recent fish kill at Silver Lake (Manitowoc County) was caused by very low oxygen levels, with dead bluegill and black crappie found across multiple areas.
Good news is biologists expect the fishery to recover within a couple years, with follow-up surveys already showing some crappie still present along with other species. More checks planned as water warms.
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Dont fish cross-wind
Just your friendly boat-positioning reminder coming from a Lindner’s Angling Edge post! Timely for windy spring days:
> "Fishing cross-wind swimming a crappie jig just doesn’t work. Wind catches the line, the bait ends up moving really fast, you have absolutely no depth control.
> "When you’re swimming [a crappie jig], either Spot Lock and fish into the wind, or just fish with the wind. You will have a lot better feel of the bait and feel the super-subtle bites."
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"I got to go and watch [the doctor] put that transducer thing on her belly...."
- Ex-Duck Dynasty star and now full-time crappie man John Godwin talkin' about an ultrasound on The Duck Call Room podcast! I mean, what else would a fisherman call that thing! 🤣
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Here's Bassmaster pro Luke Palmer showing off his creek slab skills with the Falcon Slab Series rods! Maybe if he catches enough of those big boys, he might leave the dark side and come to the crappie world! Just messin...kinda! 🤣
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