Winter Crappie Fishing: Useful Tips for Crappie Fishing In Winter

Winter Crappie Fishing
Winter Crappie Fishing

The crappie patterns during the winter make it a great time to catch a lot of fish. Over the years anglers have studied these patterns, and they have successfully found ways to enjoy a great winter crappie fishing experience.

It is not surprising to find only the most experienced anglers out in the rivers and lakes hunting for crappies because of the cold weather and the tactics and tricks required to land crappies in the cold season.

However the tips discussed in this post are quite easy for any angler who has been learning the crappie fishing methods, you can try them, practice, and in no time you will be one of those anglers who look forward to the winter crappie fishing season.

Crappie Fishing In Winter

The first thing you will observe about crappies in the winter season is the change in their behavior. The cold season makes crappies feed more, but you will hardly find them lurking in the shallow parts of the river or near shallow banks. This may rule out bank fishing for crappies in the winter. So get your gear, you are heading to the deeper waters.

I did mention that crappies feed more during the cold season; this means your chance of landing slab crappies is considerably higher. There are so many lucky anglers who land many slabs during the winter. It is even easier because of the changes in crappie patterns which make the slabs more available in the schools of crappies.

So this is what we found out. Crappie fishing in the winter is all about finding the schools of crappies, the cold weather drives them deeper and farther away from the banks, but it also makes them form larger schools. So if you can locate a large school of crappies, you have ‘hit a gold mine.’

The best locations to find schools of crappies in the winter are in the deeper parts of the river or lake around fallen trees, brush piles, beneath rocks and other objects that can be used as a cover. Crappie fishing in the winter is also a great time to test your sonar skills. If you have a crappie fish finder, you can use the sonar to detect larger groups of crappies.

Okay, so you have found a school of crappies what next? Please note that crappies are quite evasive at this time, they move slowly but are easily spooked, so you have to be careful about the crappie fishing method to be used.

The first tip for crappie fishing during winter is planning your fishing trip during the midday. You should also use smaller jigs and baits. Try a variety of baits to know what works, also use slow trolling methods to lure crappies. Getting the right position to place your baits at an angle can lure more crappies, this is better than vertical jigging. You can also land more crappies by setting up more lines. A spider rig is a good option. Use slow trolling methods and avoid spooking the crappies.

The best part about winter fishing for crappies is that once you find a location where a school of crappies have gathered, the chances of finding crappies at that same spot the next day is higher. In conclusion, be patient, it may take a while to locate crappies and find the best lures during winter, but when you do, the catch will be impressive.

Read also: Ice Crappie Fishing

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