crappies Deep Water Suspended Crappie BIte

[gopher19]

Have been waiting for the crappies to move out into there mid-summer haunts, seems like it's just about to kick in.  Was out today and found them deeper and suspended, but not the numbers you would expect for this time of year.  They may still be in transition, last week they seemed to be all over the place.  Has anyone else noticed this?  I think another week or two and the mid to late summer suspended pattern will lock in.   Just wondering what other crappie fisherman have observed on there favorite crappie lakes.  

[gopher19]

It's official, the deep water bite is on!  I was out last Friday and today and the crappies are suspended over deeper water.  In the lake I was fishing that meant 16-18 feet.  This heat is the key, it may be a little uncomfortable on the water but the fishing is good.    

[Avid Angler]

I typically don't fish suspended fish mid-summer, however I do fish crappie, but usually locate them along windy shorelines and those break lines.  What type of lake you fishing? Is it a clear lake with deep water? Are the fish suspended off some sort of structure? How do you fish them?

I am usually fishing with jigs and minnows or plastics vertical or 45 degree below boat.

[gopher19]

This is the most under-fished yet productive patterns for crappies from Spring right through Fall!  The lakes I fish are all in the south and southwest Metro and they are not clear (for very long anyway).  Slow trolling is the key.  I run the bow-mount trolling motor at .7 to 1 mph, pulling a 1/8 oz. hair jig (Lindy lil' Nipper) with a soft plastic(Yum teeny shad), no live bait!  Bright colors (orange, pink, etc.) work best for the waters I fish because the green quickly.  As soon as you start marking fish, drop the trolling motor, cast out your jig and go.  You can add a small split shot a foot or more above your jig to help adjust the depth the jig is running to match the depth the fish are suspended at.  This also helps keep surface crud from sliding down the line to your jig.  The crappies don't care much for a jig head covered in green sludge.  I have been fishing crappies this way for years and it has produced on multiple Metro lakes again and again for the simple reason that you're covering a lot of water and the fish are roaming.  Basically I just keep moving shallow-deeper-shallower from Spring to Fall (not as shallow as Spring) using the same method all season.  Some days are slow of course, but it produces more days than not.  Once you dial in and learn the pattern you'll have some fantastic crappie fishing throughout the open water season.  Hope that helps all you crappie fishermen out there.       

[gopher19]

The lakes I fish range in depth from 16 feet to 30 feet to give you an idea of the lake depths.  Generally speaking the crappies don't suspend over the deepest water in the lake, but it varies  quite q bit from lake to lake, just use your electronics to mark fish.

[Avid Angler]

You ever try trolling small cranks for crappies? I've done that too and have had some success.  Usually troll about 1.3 to 1.7 mph.

[gopher19]

I have tried trolling small cranks for crappies if they are suspending lower in deep water and need to get the bait down deeper than a jig.  Usually produces a little bigger fish as well.

[Avid Angler]

I'll send you a private message.

[Sculpin]

Jigging Rapala's are also very effective once large schools start to show up over deep water. Fish them vertically.

[Matt Johnson]

I've been finding a similar pattern but the deep weeds seem to be a key element for me. 15-18 feet and near or in scattered weeds with a drop-shot rig. I haven't fished a lot of open water basins recently but will have to give that a try and check things out...

[Sculpin]

I would also add that it is important to remove the small treble hook under the belly of the Rap, when those nice crappies inhale that thing it's a bugger to get all the hooks out, and I don't like to tear them up with a pliers or hemostat, etc.   

[gopher19]

I was out last Wednesday and the trolling bite is going strong.  Small Raps, drop shot rigs, vertical jigging, that all works okay, but I'm telling you stick to what i described earlier in this thread (experiment a bit with colors for your lakes) and you will catch more crappies than you thought possible well in to October.  Last week I was fishing in from 18 to 20 feet, crappies are suspended 8 to 12 feet below the surface.  Absolutely no structure they're relating to, they just roaming the deep water to stay in comfortable temps.  Good luck out there.     

[Avid Angler]

Do you they make an 1/8 oz. Lil nipper??

[gopher19]

No, sorry that was a error in what I described earlier.  I use 1/16 oz lil nipper.   

[popriveter]

Small blade baits work excellent for vertical jigging suspended crappies. I've been doing well with them. Most articles brag up blade baits for cold water, but they get bit all summer and the extra weight gets you back down to the fish faster than a jig.

[gopher19]

It's still going strong, still trolling the deep with my baitless jig.  I was out Thursday and Friday fishing in 20 feet, no structure, crappies were suspended anywhere from 5 to 10 feet below the surface.  Morning hours seemed best.   

[dispatch1313]

+1 on the summer open water crappie bite (better defined as "confined open water" really). It's not uncommon to have 100-200 fish mornings and I see so few people using this tactic. Once you find the fish it's pretty non-stop action. I fish highly discolored east central minnesota lakes with max depths usually in the 30-40 foot range. Glad I'm not the only one to discover this!

[Avid Angler]

We should remove this post!! Keep it a secret!! Good info guys.

Avid

[Sculpin]

Anyone finding any deep water, main basin crappies in any of the Aitken area lakes?  Ripple, Hanging Kettle, Spirit, Gun, Etc. ??  No need to provide specifics, just a yea or nay ??