River Crappies

[notanibble]

I'm a 70 year old retired guy that is really new to the river. I could use a little help in how to find Crappies. What signs to look for, etc. I have the boat, motor, electronics and tackle. Now would be a good time to develop some knowledge.

[badbeat]

They are in 4-10 feet of water. Tube and jig or minnow with a slip bobber is the ticket. If you are using tubes experiment with colors ...usually the dark/light combo tubes work fine. Move around til you get a bite- when you do, stay there they tend to school up. If tubes and minnow are not working try a small spinner (white or charteous) and just reel in real slow just over the bottown. You might even catch a few silvers too.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Found six of them last night along with a smallmouth and something that looked like a large shad? Saw the first one in 22 ft. with the camera and they progessively went shallower as it got darker. Green jig with a small fathead. To big and it would be ignored.

[b1gf1sh1]

hey nontan depends on size really. crappie are everywhere and anywhere. if your looking for easy fishing in closed areas away from the main areas find any man made walls or structures and use a slip bobber. DON'T get to close to check the depth next to it just stay away and adjust the depth to the fish.they can be found as far as 20 feet off that wall in slow current conditions very very tight in medium and avoid them in fast.oherwise fish edges of any bay just outside current. look for emerald shiners. typically anything deeper than 4 feet of water will be ok anytime if they are there. i've caught them in 60 feet of water suspending from 5 feet to 40. slow reeling is irresistible. small minnows small minnows small minnows. it may take several spots but you will get plenty when you find them.did i mention small minnows? good luck SMALL MINNOWS

[canon]

So are the crappies in all locations? I know not to ask specifics and know it may change anyway but in looking, it is nice to know they are in that area. I tend to fish between Afton and the 94 bridge. I caught one once by accident on a tube jig for bass near some docks, I wasn't fishing for them at the time. I am interested to learn the art of crappie fishing on the Croix. I have an old Eagle fish finder from the 80's, it doesn't seem to pick up fish, I can see the depth and floor changes, that is about it. I think a new one will be a present to myself over the winter. Any crappie advice would be appreciated.

[b1gf1sh1]

i've fished the croix since i was 13 years old when mom would let me vevture out of north st.paul on my moped. of course off shore is a little limited but you can learn things that way. water depth is the most important key along with several others. high water they are here low water they are there. if i was to give advice to anyone it's look for emerald shiners for any species of fish that might eat them. that's been my KEY for 15 years durring summer/fall. spring???... i'll never tell the key. if you mark a baitfish pod on the sonar it could be just about anything.even a bunch of newly hatched sheepies. matching the hatch is cool but if you know what they are it's alot easier. if the emeralds are swimming near the surface it's a pretty good bet there are shad below them with feeding schools in and around them. (if you ever seen a pod of shad they vary in size from less than an inch to about 4 inches.foot long shad pods are 10'' to 14'' in my observations) now when these fish eat it's a frenzy and these baitfish get injured alot and sink to the bottom where they are eaten by stray fish from the packs. smaller fish of a school are usually these strays, sort of like the runt of the litter.or they are lone fish, or even cat's. alot of sheepies take advantage of these forays hence the amount caught. ones that float up are eaten by birds...mosly gulls... and fish. these frenzys don't last very long. usually 10 mins or so so getting inside of these pods for the bigger fish in the school is a challenge to say the least. not only is your bait competing with up to a billion or 2 of the baitfish but time is a factor.so your bait has to stand out. visibility is one key. size is another. the bigger fish in a feeding frenzy are the ones we want, no? if you can catch the emeralds there is no better bait to use. not even shad work better although shad will out fish anything you can buy 4-1.if your forced to use crappie or fatheads size them up about 50% bigger than the emeralds on top with a colored hook for better visibility. now you want a big enough weight so when you get inside of these pods it scares them away from your bait and leaves open water around your bait. this leaves your minnow in the open and looking injured, makes it seem an easy meal. these bait fish will resurround your bait in seconds so it's ''pop'' it up wait a few secs and repeat. what kind of fish are feeding is a mystery untill you get them aboard unless you want to just scout alot and use a camera. that's why i love rivers. could be a 40'' northern for all i know. multi species feeding is common. fishing the bottom can tell you alot about what fish are there. as far as crappie. yeah they can be anywhere except ''inside'' fast current. they are in slow current and medium current anywhere near walls, falldowns,underwater humps or dips. mainly less than 25 feet is where i get them but they will suspend over any depth anywhere near easy access to food. if there is alot of food around your probly going to be looking for several schools to get one or two that did'nt get full in the last frenzy or it's almost time for the next feed. but i have caught crappie pretty much everywhere on the croix. size is the main hijinx to find bigger fish i'm leaving that up to you. 2 lb slab schools are out there with big daddy inside it. have fun. man i must be bored look how much i typed with just on ''finner''. can't wait for the rat.

[MidCoast]

I usually just look for structures with drop offs close by... Spring time, I find, is the best time to fish for river crappies.. At least for me it is. This time of the year, I noticed that crappies are no longer schooled up... I would catch one to a few here and there, and that is all... Then i gotta move around... However, on the plus size, river crappies are sure big compared to lake crappies.