 “What
to Do When a Cold Front Hits Your Crappie Lake”
Wading for Cold-Weather Crappie
EDITOR’S NOTE: Kent Driscoll of Cordova, Tennessee,
a professional tournament crappie fisherman, has been
fishing for crappie for over 30 years and really enjoys
fishing all over, but particularly Grenada Lake in north-central
Mississippi. Regardless of the weather and the water
conditions, he has to be ready to fish on tournament
day. In late March when Driscoll and I fished together,
the temperatures had plunged from the 70s to the 30s,
and the  water
level on the lake rose 10 feet. If you fish for crappie
in the spring, sooner or later, this will happen to
you. Here’s how Driscoll solves this problem.
When a cold front hits, I like to fish the bays on
the north bank of the lake that are out of the wind.
The northwest or the north bank of the lake will get
the most sunlight during the day, and generally warm-up
quicker. The crappie is searching for that warm water
to spawn. When the water temperature is in the upper
50s to lower 60s, the male crappie will run up the ditches
to start fanning the beds in the spawning flats for
the females to come in and spawn. The female crappie
will generally be holding in 4 to 6 feet of water until
the water temperature is right for them to spawn.
 The
ditches leading to the spawning flats are the highways
that both the males and female crappie use to get to
the spawning flats. Many times when the crappie go into
these ditches, I’ll wade-fish for them. I look
for the bays that are protected from the wind and that
don’t receive any run-off and wade those bays
and creeks. I usually go into these bays with my boat,
then get out of the boat wearing my waders and wade
the shallow flats at the edges of the creeks with a
B’n’M Pole, Mossy Oak Fishing Line, and
Spike-It jigs. If I can walk the edge of the creek and
reach all of the way across the creek with my pole,
I may only be in ankle-deep water. B’n’M
makes 10-12- and 16-foot poles that I use for  wading.
I keep my jig fairly close to the end of my pole and
jig fish around any type of visible cover that I see.
But, I also swim the jig down the middles of these creeks
and bays. I keep my jig in the water the entire time
I’m fishing. Typically where I catch one crappie,
I’ll catch several. The real key when you’re
wading is to walk extremely quietly and make sure your
shadow is behind you and not in front of you so as not
to spook the crappie.
Tomorrow: “My Favorite
Six-Pack”
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