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 CATCHING
CRAPPIE IN COLD WEATHER
Mistakes Crappie Fishermen Make in the Winter
Editor’s Note: Most crappie fishermen have put
up their poles, but not Whitey Outlaw, who fishes year-round
on both crappie circuits, Crappie USA and Crappie Masters.
To help you catch papermouths in cold weather, we’ve
asked Outlaw where he finds crappie and how he catches
them.
“There are many reasons that crappie fishermen
don’t catch crappie in the wintertime,”
Outlaw explains. “Here are the biggest reasons
I think most crappie fishermen don’t catch crappie
in the winter and what you can do to solve these problems.
Most crappie fishermen fish too fast during the winter.
The crappie’s biting metabolism has slowed-down
at this time of year. They don’t want to chase
a bait, they are not going to move very much, and if
you get in a hurry, they won’t be in a hurry.
So slow-down your fishing, realize that you can’t
fish as fast as you do during the spring, summer and
early fall, and you will still be able to catch crappie
in the winter.
“Most crappie fishermen use the same size line
to fish in the winter as they do the rest of the year.
When the water is cold, I’ll fish 6- and 8-pound-test
line. I believe the crappie can see the line better
in the winter months, and you have to use lighter line
to fish deeper. If you’ll back off your line size
and respool your reels with lighter line, you will catch
more crappie. Often crappie fishermen use baits too
big in the winter months. Crappie aren’t eating
as much as they are during other seasons, and they prefer
small baits. If you’re fishing jigs, fish with
a 1/32-ounce jig, or when fishing with minnows, use
medium- to small-sized minnows.
 “Another
possibility is that you are fishing the wrong area of
the lake. Most crappie fishermen in the winter fish
the mouths of creeks, assuming that the crappie are
holding there, waiting on warmer weather to actually
move into the creek and up the creek channel to get
to the spawning grounds. They’re also probably
fishing in the backs of creeks. Then they can get out
of the wind and fish without being beaten-up by high
waves and rough water. But to catch crappie this month,
you will have to fight the wind. I like to be out on
the main lake in that rough water, fighting the wind
and catching crappie. Too, when you fish the old river
channel out on the main lake, rarely will you ever see
another crappie fisherman out there. When you locate
crappie on these old river channels you can often go
back to those same places for several days and continue
to catch crappie.
“Often many crappie fishermen are quick to quit.
If they’re not catching fish within an hour or
two, they’ll roll up their B’n’M poles
and head home. But crappie are not going to bite all
day long during the winter months. To catch them, you
have to be there when they decide they want to bite.
Therefore, decide to stay on the lake from daylight
to dark. If you put in the hours and find the fish,
they will bite at some time that day. All you really
have to do to catch them is be there when they want
to bite.
“Yet another possibility may be that you’re
not using your electronics enough. Your depth finder
is your eyes under the water. Learn all you can about
what it is telling you. Experiment with it. Many times
when you look at a depth finder, you’ll see it
marking fish, stumps, logs or trash on the bottom. Then
you may say to yourself, “I don’t believe
that depth finder is telling me the truth.” So,
investigate with your fishing tackle to try and learn
exactly what that depth finder is telling you and how
the information you are getting from that depth finder
relates to your ability to catch crappie. Once you learn
how to understand the information the depth finder tells
you, then you will know what types of locations produce
crappie, what a school of crappie looks like on the
depth finder, and often whether that school of fish
will or will not bite. Fishermen just now are beginning
to learn to interpret all the information that a depth
finder can provide. I promise you, the more you learn
about what that depth finder is telling you, the more
crappie you will catch.
 “Also
you may not be using the right equipment, which for
me is the 14- foot B’n’M pole. As far as
I am concerned, B’n’M makes the only real
crappie poles and rods on the market. I like the 14-foot
pole because it allows me to get further away from the
boat so I spook fewer fish. The pole has enough backbone
in it to allow me to fight really-big fish, get them
up from deep water and put them in the boat. I fish
light line, little minnows and deep water and I depend
on my electronics. If you don’t have the right
equipment, then you can’t expect to catch as many
crappie as the people do who have the right equipment.
“Another mistake is that many crappie fishermen
don’t believe they need a map of the lake. A good
crappie fisherman who knows how to catch crappie during
the winter months lives with the lake map. This map
allows you to quickly and easily find river channels,
creek channels, drop-offs and ledges. If you don’t
know where the structure is that holds the crappie,
you can’t catch them. If you find crappie, for
instance, on the edge of a drop-off 16-feet deep in
the lake, and those crappie quit biting, you need to
know where there’s another drop-off that is16-feet
deep where you may find another school of crappie on
the day you’re fishing. Crappie are patternable
at this time of the year. When you establish a pattern,
you need to know where you can run to other places in
the lake and locate that same type of water and that
same depth of water. The lake map will give you that
information. If you don’t have and use a lake
map, you won’t find and catch as many crappie
as other fishermen do.
“If you don’t have a GPS (Global Positioning
System) or you’re not using your GPS, you won’t
catch as many crappie. If I catch one or two nice fish
on a place I’m fishing, I quickly mark that location
as a waypoint on my hand-held GPS receiver. Once I have
that location marked, I will return to that same spot
maybe two or three times during the day. That GPS spot
that I’ve marked tells me where the crappie are.
If I keep going back to where the school is located,
at some time during the day, that school has to feed.
So, if I fish that school two or three times during
the day, I’ve drastically increased my odds of
having my bait in front of the fish at the time they
want to feed. The hand-held GPS receiver will consistently
put crappie in your boat. Another advantage to using
a GPS to mark spots where you catch crappie is that
the crappie have been in that location for a reason.
There’s something in that area that is holding
fish, perhaps a brush pile, a stump, a log, a place
in the bank or a spot where baitfish for some unknown
reason just like to hang out. But regardless of the
reason, if you catch one crappie in that spot there’s
is a very good chance that the next time you return
to that place, a crappie will be there.
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