The best time to go fishing for crappies is during the spawning season. Sometimes, the rainfall during or after the spring season can be quite heavy, and this will disrupt the normal pattern of the crappies. These changes in crappie pattern can affect all your plans to land more crappies during the spawning season, but there are some tips to get around this issue. In this post, we will be discussing the effects of heavy rainfall on crappie behavior and how you can prevent heavy rains from disrupting your plans to land crappies.
Crappie Fishing After a Heavy Rainfall
What happens after a heavy rainfall?
There are certain changes that happen after a rainfall which can influence crappie fishing. They are as follows:
A rise in the level of water
The heavy rains will cause the level of rivers or lakes to rise considerably higher than normal. When this happens, you will need to make some quick changes while fishing for crappies after the rain.
A drop in temperature
The temperature of the water will significantly drop, and it can remain quite low unless there is some sunshine after the rains.
The water turns murky
The rains can stir up strong currents that can make the water turn murky, and the visibility of the crappies will be reduced.
Destruction of covers
The covers such as brush piles and fallen trees where you usually catch many crappies can be destroyed due to the heavy rain and strong current. You may need to rebuild brush piles or start searching for where the crappie schools have migrated.
It sounds quite bad but no worries, next we will be discussing some tips that can help you get around these issues while fishing for crappies.
Crappies are very sensitive to changes in the water, so you have to adjust your fishing methods accordingly.
Tips for crappie fishing after heavy rains
Set up more lines
Now that the chances of finding crappies are lower you have to set up more rods to increase your catch. If the water level is significantly higher due to the rain, you should try fishing for crappies close to the river banks. Anglers have noticed crappies mover closer to the banks when the water level rises. So more lines and rigs will increase your chances of landing crappies.
Try different lures
The preferred lures that can attract crappies at this time cannot be predicted, so you will need to try different lures to find out what works. It is best to try the favorites such as minnows, and other live baits crappies enjoy eating. Crappies are also sight feeders so you should use bright colored baits, especially when fishing in murky waters after the rain. The crappies will be attracted to the bright colors and encouraged to take bites.
Use a crappie fish finder
You can detect schools of crappies by using this device. Crappies would have gone to lower depths so you have to set your baits at the depths where crappies can see and bite the bait.
Slow trolling
After the rain, the water level drops and crappies are less active (they are more active in warm water). So you should use slow trolling methods to attract crappies at this time.
In conclusion, after the rains, you should expect some slow days when you may not catch so many crappies. Try these tips, and when you find what works, you can land more crappies even after heavy rainfall.
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