Catching Cold-Weather Crappie with Some of the Nation’s Top Crappie Pros
Fish the Mouths of Bays, Coves and Feeder Creeks This Month with Darrell Baker
 Editor’s Note: In many areas, the crappie fishing is better in the winter than at any other time of year. To catch crappie in the winter, anglers must understand the crappie’s seasonal migration patterns and know where the crappie will show-up before they get there. Here are cold-weather crappie-catching tips from some of the nation’s top crappie pros.
“Depending on the region where you’ll be fishing, and the water and the air temperature and the wind speed in this area, February is a great month to locate crappie in the mouths of feeder creeks and coves, especially when warm spells come through the area from the middle to the latter part of the month,” says Darrell Baker of Centre, Alabama, a crappie guide and tournament crappie fisherman, who has fished  Alabama’s Weiss Lake for 32 years and guided on the lake for 5 years, and spends an average of 250 days a year on the water. “At this time of year, I switch from fishing with minnows to long-line trolling crappie jigs. The crappie are moving into the mouths of bays, coves and feeder creeks, waiting on the right water temperature to move up shallow and spawn. So, the crappie will start pulling-off the main river and moving-in closer to the spawning grounds in the last half of February.”
This month, Baker will start trolling a 1/16- to a 1/8-ounce jig. “Unlike earlier when the crappie hold right on the creek channels in heavy brus h, at this time of year, the crappie will be suspended in the mouths of the creeks and the bays,” Baker emphasizes. “I’ll use my electronics to locate schools of crappie before I begin fishing. Oftentimes I’ll find the crappie holding at 10- to 12-feet deep above a 20-foot bottom. If the crappie are holding at 10 to 12 feet off a 20-foot bottom, and I want my jig to go down at that depth, I’ll be fishing a 1/16-ounce jig. If the crappie are below 12 feet, I’ll use a 1/8-ounce jig.”
Tomorrow: Slow Down for Cold-Weather Crappie with Darrell Baker |
