By Bob and Ginny Riege

The key to spring crappies is knowing where they spawn. And while you may choose to never actually fish spawning crappies, both pre-spawn and spawn movements will be related to their spawning grounds. On lakes which I fish (generally fertile, fairly shallow lakes), ideal spawning conditions consist of three ingredients. First, there are fairly large expanses of shallow water in the four-foot range. Second, there is a moderately hard bottom consisting for the most part of sand. Finally, there are reeds – large beds of reeds.

When these three ingredients are found together on a lake you know it contains crappie, you can almost rest assured that fish will here throughout the spring.

Crappies, which are also members of the sunfish family, spawn when water temperatures creep well into the 60’s. This phenomenon occurs by late April to early June depending on where you live in the Upper Midwest. Typical of their breed, the males fan out a depression for eggs in the sandy bottom or among weeds. Submerged timber and brush are often nearby. Once the female lays eggs, the male guards them and fans away particles that would otherwise settle over the eggs and rob them of life giving oxygen.

Just where are the preferred pre-spawn locations? At the immediately early pre-spawn stages, crappies will be located along a dropoff. However, as the lake gradually warms up, it won’t be long before they’ll head for a gentle underwater rise such as an upswell of bottom muck, often the principal pre-spawn structure. At this time of the year of course, you can be sure that weeds won’t be high or full-grown.

Spawning usually begins along the north shore of lakes, which because of their southern exposure, are first to warm. The largest crappies usually spawn first, but the females may go back and forth from deep water to shallow several times over several days before unloading all their eggs. Cold fronts send fish back to deeper water where they bury themselves in structure of weeds, just as bass do. The best time to fish for crappie is on the second or third day of a warm weather pattern that is holding. Besides temperature, water level plays a key role.

Like the other panfish species, crappies know there is safety in numbers, and they travel in schools, usually according to age group. Ice anglers know that crappies often suspend in or near stickups, fallen trees and other woody structure. As the ice goes, fish move closer to shallow water, taking advantage of protective vegetation and wood debris. Deep-water points and submerged creek channels also attract them.

To catch crappies in this environment, use small jigs. A 1/16 Foxee jigs with Fox-Glo heads are the best. I like to take a small crappie minnow or a waxworm and dress up the Foxee jig. About 8″ above the dressed up Foxee I like to attach a Floatin’ Foxee. This allows me a chance to hook a crappie right off the bottom or one that is suspended about 8″ off the bottom. Try this, you might be surprised when you catch two crappies at once.

The secret here is to go as light as possible, you want the crappie to be able to see the bait fall from the surface to the bottom in a slow natural presentation, not an express elevator falling to the bottom floor.

I prefer to use a vertical jigging presentation for crappies in the spring. Usually, I allow the small jig to fall to the bottom and then start a slow retrieve back to the boat stopping occasionally, or pausing on the retrieve. This allows the bait to be put right in the face of the finicky crappie.

If the crappies are tight to cover and it would be impossible to get a boat in close enough to vertically jig them, or the cover is full of snags, then I will attach a European float or small slip bobber. The business end of this rig will have a 1/16 Big Crappie Jig attached to the line with waxworm or a small leech or crappie minnow. The float or slip bobber help to vertically jig the Big Crappie Jig and live bait offering right in the critical strike zone for shallow crappies. This type of method is also enjoyed by the entire family because it provides some casting skill, plus the action of the bobber being pulled under gets the kids excited about seeing their prize on the end of the line.

This has been a very long winter and I am tired of the same old casseroles. I am excited that spring is here and that I can finally have a meal of some of those ol’ papermouths. Ah! I can almost smell them frying in the skillet.