Crappie Bite

[Rootman]

Late posting this, went up to lake last Saturday and fished up birch branch.  We were able to catch some crappie using shiners about 10-12 ft down.  Bite was very light and had my minnow stolen without even seeing or feeling a bite.  Caught more shorts than keepers.  Was curious if anyone else has experienced the same bite as we did.  By 10:30 am they were shut down.  Least we caught a few for the skillet!  

[MrGiggles]

Haven't been in a couple weeks, it's just been too hot.

I picked up a couple here and there on bridge columns. Trolling cranks has been unproductive since mid-July for me.

[Slowtroller]

Same here, very light. No thump. I kept up a slow reeling just to notice the tip of the rod dip. I could see where the bite would go unnoticed. I managed a few but 22' deep on structure.

[Rootman]

Thanks for the information, gonna head up early this weekend and hope the cooler weather makes a difference 

[liphunter]

Heading up to CC or Ceder Ridge area Wednesday. Any thoughts on how I would want to try for fall Crappie???  

[bassinjackson]

Was also up sat and the bite was extremely light for me too. Did catch quality fish on minnows but very light bite. Liphunter find brush and drop minnow.

[Rootman]

Not been in a few weeks, planning on going this Saturday.  Have they gone deeper?  The ones I caught a few weeks ago were in 25 ft, but caught them about 10 ft down .  I was thinking the cooler weather might cause them to go deeper.  

[freefallin]

On 10/17/2018 at 1:19 AM, Rootman said:

Not been in a few weeks, planning on going this Saturday.  Have they gone deeper?  The ones I caught a few weeks ago were in 25 ft, but caught them about 10 ft down .  I was thinking the cooler weather might cause them to go deeper.  

Actually most of the game fish are on their way up following the shad that are heading towards cooler water now. The fish I was catching in 12-15 water are now much closer to the banks in somewhat shallow water near deeper water. I suspect that the thermocline this summer was in the 25 to 30 foot range as fish were definitely suspended most of the summer  around 12' to 20' or so. Makes for tough fishing or only catching early mornings or late evenings. Suspended fish are "not" actively feeding and are the most difficult to catch. As the shad move more shallow this will excite the game fish and they will follow hiding near structure waiting for a school of tasy baitfish to wander by. Additionally in the fall and spring they are motivated to fatten up so the feeding activity can be all day and not just a few hours early and late. Been fishing Stockton about 45 years now and It has been my personal spring and fall experience/observation at Stockton that larger fish are most often less than 100 yards from deep water. Channel swings in any major creek (creek that continues on where lake ends) will hold large schools of fish this time of year.

Hope this helps and have some fun.

ff

[Dutch]

The ones I had a few days ago were 19 to 22 feet deep.  Today they were 27 to 28 feet deep. 

[freefallin]

15 hours ago, Dutch said:

The ones I had a few days ago were 19 to 22 feet deep.  Today they were 27 to 28 feet deep. 

Best of luck...I think Stockton has been turning over and there maybe multiple thermoclines as it has been a very unusual year with the north end being different from the south one end for instance may have color while the other is clear etc. Just wanting to add info.

ff out.