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Hey y’all – hope you’ve been whackin’ a bunch of slabs! Back with more Target Crappie for you!
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"When that thermocline sets up in the lake, the warmer the water gets, the shallower those fish can go."
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Say what? Well, if it came from Wally Marshall, I guess it's gotta be at least a little true! 😉
I got a hold of Wally the other day to talk crappie, and he started telling me about all these fish he's been catching out of lilypads right now.
That kinda blew my mind, so I asked him a few Qs to see where in the world you might be able to buy a bite right now if they're not firing out on your best brushpiles and deep timber and whatnot. Here's 5 with him.
1. What do you mean when you say crappie "go shallow" in the summertime?
> "When that thermocline sets up in the lake, the warmer the water gets, the shallower those fish can go. Especially if they’ve got structure like docks, lilypads, laydowns or anything like that.
> "Those fish can be anywhere from 10' all the way up to 2' deep. And when I say shallow water, I’m talking about 10' and [shallower]."
2. Is shade or bait the most important thing when you’re looking for those shallow fish?
> "Oxygen is the most important. Shade would probably be #2, and of course the baitfish are going to be there too. They can’t live below that thermocline either, so they’re going to be right up there with the crappie.
> "Several years ago at Bonham [Lake, TX] doing a TV show with Jimmy Houston, we were catching crappie in 2' of water shooting under docks. You could see the backs and the swirls of those slab daddies. It was unbelievable, and we caught a lot of fish doing it."
3. How does that same shallow-water deal work around lilypads?
> "The other day it was 103 degrees, I was fishing lilypads on a clear lake. Those pads were growing all the way out to about 10' of water, so from 10' in, you had this huge mat of lilypads providing shade for the gamefish.
> "I was throwing a Mr. Crappie Crappie Crusher up in there and swimming it back. With forward-facing sonar, you could see where the fish were clustered underneath those pads, so you could throw right into those areas.
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> "That bait will roll over the lilypad stems without getting hung up. I was using 6-lb test and a 7' rod, and just casting it up in there."
4. When you’re dock-shooting in the summer, what do you change with your bait or tackle?
> "I size down and try to get a slower fall – I like the Mr. Crappie Teen-Zee Tails [on a] 1/16-oz jig, or go down to a 1/32-oz if I want an even slower fall. I’m using 6-lb Mr. Crappie HiVis mono, sometimes 4-lb.
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> "You don’t need something moving fast. Some of those fish will hit it strong, but others barely want to grab it.
> "[He also goes with the same weights] around lilypads. There’s often hydrilla underneath them, so you’ve got to keep that bait above the hydrilla."
Follow-up Q: Do you like certain bait colors better during the summer?
> "I like more of a shad color – something that mimics the baitfish.
> "By this time of year, the bait is usually around 1-1.5 inches long, so I try to mimic something in that range."
5. How can you tell which docks are more likely to hold crappie right now?
> "I look for docks with big sun decks that sit low to the water because they provide a lot of shade.
> "I like to get way back underneath them into what I call the 'coffin corner,' where I can make that money shot. Sometimes that could even be underneath a pontoon boat.
> "There’s a lot of shade underneath a pontoon, and I like shooting between the motor and the pontoons and getting that bait as far underneath there as I can.
> "A lot of people also put structure inside their boat slips. If there’s a pontoon sitting in the slip, you might not be able to reach that structure [standing on the dock], but those fish can be sitting right underneath that pontoon."
Follow-up Q: Does access to deep water from docks matter right now?
> "Not necessarily. If the thermocline is set up at 12', deep water isn’t going to help you.
> "The shade a dock produces is more important. The more shade it has, the better your chances of catching fish.
> "If sunlight is cutting underneath a dock, there are usually going to be fewer fish there."
I also heard a rumor that if you can catch a limit of crappie in the heat right now under a dock, Wally will give you 100 Mr. Crappie Bucks! 🤣
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Look for a summer shad spawn?
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I talked with MO guide Terry Blankenship in a recent Target Crappie about his dock-shooting prowess, but something else he mentioned was a "summer shad hatch."
In my mind, shad spawn in a mid-to-late spring thing, so I picked his brain about what he means by that and how he's taking advantage of that opportunity. Here's more from that convo:
When you talk about targeting a "summer shad spawn," what do you mean by that?
> "I think they probably have a few different spawns, but this is a pattern I've dealt with for about 20 years.
> "It took me a while to really understand what was happening. I remember fishing bass tournaments where everybody wanted to fish deeper stuff, but we started throwing up in 2-3' of water and found out those shad were hugging the bank.
> "Once we figured that out, we started catching fish shallow when nobody else was doing it.
> "That same deal carries over to crappie. When those shad get shallow, the better crappie follow them. When I find out where the bait is stacked up – where it's basically a smorgasbord – those bigger [crappie] know it's there too.
> "When that starts going, I really try to match the hatch and downsize my bait to the size of those young shad.
> "For years, I noticed that in the middle of summer, crappie would come up and hit a bait without really taking it.
> "Once I started downsizing to a smaller bait – especially something like the Bobby Garland Itty Bit – they quit just bumping it and started eating it. A lot of people don't like going that small, but that's what the better fish are feeding on.
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> "Right now there are a lot of fresh shad fry out there, and a lot of times they'll get up shallow. Even with the heat, we caught a lot of fish today in 5-6' of water."
What signs are you looking for to know that shallow shad deal is happening?
> "A lot of it is history, but I'm also paying attention to where in the lake it's happening first. On Lake of the Ozarks [MO] that can happen in stages. The upper ends and creek arms usually get going first, then it filters down the lake as the water warms and conditions get right.
> "I'm looking for shallow water with a little bit of cover tight to the bank – logs, brush or any little piece of structure the shad can use. The shad will use that cover, and the crappie will hang around it.
> "The shad can be out deeper too, but up to this point, most of the deeper fish we've been catching have been smaller. It seems like the better-quality fish are up shallow feeding on that abundance of bait.
> "I've seen some pretty big schools of crappie hanging around little brush or logs, so for me it becomes a structure-oriented shallow-water game more than an open-water deal."
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I gotta give a shoutout to Amped Outdoors LLC lithium batteries. I've been running their batteries for about a year now, and I love 'em. The biggest differences have been graph clarity and trolling motor power...only the 2 biggest deals in crappie fishing!
Whenever folks ask me if I like having lithiums, I always give them the same answer: I never have to worry about my graphs going out or losing voltage and I'm never worried about my trolling motor wearing out when I'm on it all day.
I can put that Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST on 10 and go searching for fish for 2 or 3 days on one charge – awesome!
For my graphs – 2 Humminbird Helix 12’s, 1 XPLORE 12, 1 APEX 13 w/ MEGA Live 2, and a 10" Garmin ECHOMAP (yes, a lot, no, you don’t need that many) – I’m running an Amped Outdoors 130Ah 12.8V lithium, QUEST trolling motor on 2 Amped Outdoors 36V 50Ah batteries in parallel.
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Biggest deals: super-clear forward-facing sonar and, surprisingly, crystal-clear 2D, DI and SI. I love scanning, so I’m all for it, man!
I can fish sunrise to sunset at full power in the trolling motor and still have plenty left. I can check the battery percentage on the Amped Outdoors Bluetooth Monitoring app. The lowest I’ve seen is 63% after a 12-hour day.
Another important thing – I have the Amped 3 Bank 12V/36V Charger to make sure those batteries charge as they should. They're beasts!
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The Bait Finesse System [BFS] deal is slowly catching on in the crappie world. I've messed with it a little, and it's a blast.
At ICAST, we got to see the new KastKing Kestrel Ultimate BFS reel – a smaller-size baitcaster with a specific spool and parts that throw real light lures. Here's KastKing's Jose Cinco aka bait_n_boujee talking about it in this Target Crappie vid:
> "This is the KastKing Kestrel Ultimate. Now what the heck makes this ultimate?
> "This is full magnesium frame, magnesium side plates. You've heard of the [KastKing] AL-Ti, the MG-Ti with this titanium technology that's out.
> "Well, this takes a page out of those books and has a titanium main shaft. So now you have super [spool] strength with being able to go down to 1/64-oz or 1/32-oz [baits] all day on a baitcaster.
> "On top of that, it has the Axis Eye line guide. Once I hit that spool button, [the guide eye] opens up [wider]. That's going to give you zero resistance, better casting distance, better casting accuracy.
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> "When it closes, now you have 2 points of contact while you're spooling that line [for a tighter, more even spool, which results in] better casting distance [and] you're not going to have those problems of your line going back and forth, being loaded on one side."
The Kestrel is a little spendier – you can catch it here on Tackle Warehouse. Could be a deal if want to get in the BFS game! 👀
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Ever tried the Crappie Caller?
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If you're unfamiliar with Livingston Lures, they're pretty well-known in the bassin' world for building baits with EBS [Electronic Bait Fish Sounds] Technology – meaning the baits actually emit bait sounds (shad baits = shad sounds, crawfish baits = crawfish sounds, etc).
They've taken that same idea and built the Crappie Caller – basically an underwater fish-calling speaker you drop down around the depth you're fishing.
Could be an interesting play when you're sitting on a school, or ice fishing, or trying to pull roaming fish toward your setup instead of chasing them around. 👀
> This unit can be used for ice fishing in deep water, shallow water, rivers, lakes, oceans, etc.
> Livingston Lures is the first to use EBS [Electronic Bait Fish Sounds] Technology to attract Fish, Crab, Lobster, and Shrimp. Live baits emit a natural vibration that signals when they're in distress or feeding, to make easy prey for predators.
> Our EBS Technology electronically replicates the actual biological sounds made by these baitfish and food sources. With EBS Technology, natural sounds are detected outside the visual range and can be heard from very long distances underwater.
So now when you're out there fishing, you can pull up on the crappie just like this! 🤣
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Okay back to being serious – just make sure it's legal in your state!
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Deadstick your crappie jigs
From a recent Will "Fishing by the Numbers" YouTube video while he's fishing for some super-finicky crappie on Lake Somerville, TX:
> "What I figured out pretty quick was those fish didn’t want a bunch of action on the bait. I could see them down there, and they were interested, but they weren’t wanting to chase some jig that was always moving.
> "I started dead-sticking it – just dropping that bait down in front of them and letting it sit – and that’s when I started getting a much better response.
> "The deal was to drop that jig down toward the bottom of the pile, let it sit there for a second, and then barely give it a little action. Nothing aggressive at all. Just enough to let that fish know it was there. When I did that, those crappie would come up and get it. They didn’t want that bait dancing around – they wanted something that looked easy to eat."
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“Help!!!”
- That’s all Berkley bait designer Kyle Peterson has to say, considering it’s the caption going along with this pic – boat rigging ain't for the faint of heart lol.
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