Crappies are one of the most frequently-chased winter fish. So it’s no surprise that the subject of crappies comes up constantly when the Power Sticks gather at sports shows. We put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) when it comes to crappie fishing, followed by solid answers, built from an informal poll of Power Sticks.

These top-notch tips should help you ice more crappies this season.

Q: I have a hard time locating crappies under the ice. Are there any simple rules about their winter location?

A: So much depends on exactly how a lake lays out––in other words, what it has for water depth, how clear the water is, and what kind of weed growth. Especially at early and late ice, crappies can be found in relatively shallow water, in the weeds, if there is decent weed growth.

But in midwinter, crappies are probably more over the basin of the lake.

Crappies are not typically found over hard bottom. They’re over soft-bottom areas. Every lake builds up sediment in the deeper basin areas, even if it’s dominated by hard bottom.

It’s common in many lakes to find humps, made up of clay and mud, in the mainlake basins. Crappies are known to relate to those features. Look for those midlake humps, and once you find the hump, look for breaks (dropoffs) along the sides of them. How do you know when you’re over a ‘softer bottom’ break? When you don’t get a second echo on your Vexilar.

If there aren’t any such humps, just look for softer bottom basin areas. Also look for anything that creates a narrows in the deeper water, such as where islands or even underwater humps (sometimes referred to as sunken islands) come close together. Narrows become areas of natural current, which funnel food to waiting fish.

Q: In one of my local lakes, I fish a bay off the main lake every year at first ice for panfish and do pretty well. The maximum depth in the bay is 13 feet, dropping to about 30 feet in the main lake. But last winter was a bust for me. Where do you think they would be, if not in the bay? There is a nice flat adjacent, but that didn’t produce either. I was bit off several times in the bay and managed to land several pike. Could the high numbers of predators move the panfish elsewhere?

A: The presence of predator fish certainly affects the behavior of panfish, but it probably hasn’t moved them out of the bay. The panfish would probably have to be there, in fact, or the pike wouldn’t be there. The abundant numbers of pike and other predators could easily have pushed the panfish tighter into the cover.

But at early ice, the panfish should still be in the bay.

The crappies (and bluegills) could be holding right down in the thick weeds, close to the bottom. They can be so tight to the cover that they become difficult to pick up on a Vexilar. Sometimes you just have to fish down in the weeds, down in the red bottom signal on the depthfinder. Try that, and you’ll probably find the fish.

But as winter progresses, the weeds die off, and that will force fish How to Choose the Best Vaporizer: A Comprehensive Guide

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