Crappie Fishing

Welcome to our Crappie Fishing Home Page

Crappie are some of the most popular fish to eat and because of that, they are one of the most popular panfish for anglers throughout the United States and into Canada. You can find crappie in a variety of lakes and reservoirs, rivers and ponds. Most people target them in the spring when they are shallow because once they go deep, they become a lot harder to find and catch.

Crappie Fishing Tips

Quick Links

Baits, Rigs & Techniques	Tackle Recommendations

Best Fishing Rigs	Fishing Line Recommendations
Best Fishing Techniques	Fishing Rod & Reel Recommendations
Best Live & Natural Baits
Best Lures	Time of Day & Throughout the Seasons

Catch More & Bigger Fish	Seasons (Spring thru Winter)
	Time of Day
Catch Big Crappie
Catch Lots of Crappie	Water & Weather

Kitchen Table	Cover & Structure
	Types of Water
Eating Crappie	Water Depths
	Weather

Habitat

Crappie are definitely more popular in lakes and reservoirs than rivers. In lakes and reservoirs, you will really only find them shallow early in the spring, then crappie move out towards deeper water. Crappie love wood and they can also be found around weeds and rocks too. Crappie are known for schooling out over open water which makes fishing difficult until you can find them. You may find these fish 20 to 40 feet down from summer through fall out over open water. They can also be found in very clear water and murky water, so they do well in many different environments.

Learn more about the different types of cover and structure where you will find and catch more crappie.

Don’t Miss the Spawn

The spawn is by far the easiest time of year to catch crappie. As water temperatures move into the low 60s, you can usually find plenty of crappie in full spawning mode all over the shorelines in the bays. Find the weeds and/or wood and you should be able to find plenty of crappie.

Crappie Feed Primarily on Minnows & Small Bait Fish

Crappie feed on minnows. If you want to catch crappie consistently, it’s usually minnows or jigs, however, crappie will eat a variety of lures that mimic their favorite bait fish as well.

Crappie School Up In Big Numbers

Crappie do school up in big numbers. Many anglers fish for crappie offshore summer through fall and if they can find them on their electronics, they can catch big numbers of them. Just because they go deep doesn’t mean they are hard to catch. They are hard to find, but with the better electronics on the market nowadays, it is easier to find these schools of crappie in deeper water.

Crappie Like Deep Water

Many anglers do great fishing for crappie in the spring in the shallows and then they get the idea in their head that crappie are a shallow water fish. In reality, it is quite the opposite. If the lake or river has some deep water, crappie will stay in the deeper water for the most part. On some lakes, it may be 20 to 30 feet deep while on other bodies of water, it can be 10 to 15 feet of water. It all depends on the water temperatures and the water clarity. In clear lakes, they tend to go deeper than in murky lakes and rivers.

Crappie Roam the Open Waters

Crappie roam the open waters and they will follow bait fish long distances. They are much harder to find once they start roaming the open waters offshore. Once the spawn is over, you can forget about the easy shallow water fishing as the bite usually stays deeper for most of the rest of the year.

Best Crappie Fishing Destinations

Crappie are found all over the country and in many parts of Canada as well. This is a fish that gives you lots of options because there are some awesome crappie destination in the northern part of the United States, up into Canada and all the way down to the southern part of the U.S. as well. Take a look below to find some of the best crappie fishing destinations.

Best Crappie Fishing Destinations

Best Baits for Crappie

Soft Baits

Hard Baits

Live Baits