HOW TO FIND CRAPPIE ON A NEW LAKE

Map 'Em Out

EDITOR'S NOTE: With the strategies you'll learn this week, you can develop a game plan on how to fish a new lake. With this information, a large number of potential crappie hotspots will come to mind. However, depending on the time of year you plan to fish, you also must consider where the crappie will be along their seasonal migration routes. Success in pinpointing crappie on a new lake first requires a map of that lake. Attempt to find a lake map that shows underwater elevations. Professional bass fisherman Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Arkansas, has helped learn me how to read lake maps and look for bottom structure like points that will hold crappie and bass. "These points create natural intersections on which crappie congregate," Nixon explained. "Often you'll locate stumps and brush where crappie hold along these underwater points. Next, search for underwater feeder creeks that intersect with underwater creek channels, which also offer highly-productive bass and crappie fishing."

On the main river, I generally search for underwater humps and drop-offs. Many crappie fishermen target standing timber or other visible cover they can see coming out from the bank. However, rarely will you see crappie fishermen angling the humps in the middle of a lake. But these humps do concentrate baitfish and provide vertical relief for crappie to hold at different water depths, depending on the oxygen level and the water temperature.

If I've talked with someone about a lake and know that certain bays and coves have standing timber in them, I look on the lake map for underwater creek channels or ditches that run through the standing timber. I usually locate the most crappie in the standing timber lying closest to the edge of the creek channel, except in the springtime of the year. I also pinpoint bridges on the lake. Most crappie fishermen realize that bridge pilings on the edges of creek channels offer better-than-average fishing for crappie. But I only fish bridges on a new lake when I get caught in a rainstorm and need overhead cover or when I fish at night during the hot summer months because local anglers fish bridge pilings heavily.

To learn more about crappie fishing, order John E. Phillips's book, "The Masters' Secrets of Crappie and Fishing, available for $13.50, including shipping and handling by sending a check or a money order to Night Hawk Publications, 4112 Camp Horner Road, Birmingham, Alabama, 35243; or call 800-627-4295 to use a credit card or PayPal.

TOMORROW: DO AERIAL AND BOAT RECONNAISSANCE