Ice Fishing Tips For Crappies

By Jeff Matura

1. Wintertime crappies most often relate to sharp drop offs, suspend in deep water flats, and submerged wood in deep water. It is not uncommon to find crappies suspended in 35' of water if available. This is when using a flasher is a must.

2. When catching a crappie remember that crappies are a schooling fish so once you catch one, more fish are likely in the area. So take your time and try a few different jigs or bait and vary the depth of your presentation if you don't have a flasher.

3. Crappies rarely approach bait in a downward approach, meaning your better off presenting your bait above the fish versus below. I have witnessed this countless times when watching crappies approach my jig on my Vexilar FL-8.

4. Crappies are frequently caught throughout the entire daylight period, but the early morning and twilight evening periods are consistently the best.

5. Try both vertical and horizontal presentations, it can make a big difference. A jig would be a horizontal presentation while a jig such as a rembrandt would be vertical.

6. Smaller minnows 1" - 1 1/2" in length consistently catch crappies all winter long.

7. When using minnows for crappies cut the bottom off of the minnows tail with your fingernails or a fingernail cutter. This way the minnow will only be able to swim down, not up and away from an approaching crappie.

8. When using live bait along with a bobber use enough split shot so fat part of bobber is just above the water line. This is done so the crappies feel as little resistance as possible when taking the bait.

9. A crappie will rarely take a bait that is not moving, whether a jig or minnow. An active minnow will cause your bobber to swim around the hole. If the minnow is not active jig the bobber a bit. If this doesn't work put on a new minnow.