Crappie on the Ledge

[Feathers and Fins]

I have had a lot of people asking me how I found the crappie I have been catching all week and to truthful it goes back several years when I finding them in very specific spots but wasn’t sure why.

When the lake went down this year I made it a point to go to those spots and see what attracted them. Each and every one of those areas was a ledge, some had cover some did not, some were under docks and some were just in barren area but each area was a ledge of some sort.

By a ledge I am describing an area where it is flat to slopping above a straight drop-off and then back to flat or sloping. The ledge drop itself all had the same feature of dropping from 18’’ to 3ft before flattening back out or gently sloping and all were within 5 to 10 ft of shore with water depth of 1 to 4ft.

Though I could catch the crappie as far as 30ft from the actual ledge that was the structure they were relating to. And it is just not 1 or two crappie on it but numerous fish. Based off the egg development I would guess these to be staging areas as the eggs are still a mushy yellow not well formed yet and 95% of the fish are female which leads me to believe these areas are warming up faster and the gals are in there using that warm area to help develop the eggs.

What I also have found is when you get away from the ledge there are no crappie, by getting away from it I mean as soon as you are right or left of the ledge even by a few feet they are not there.

As to finding the ledges, the only way I can think of as they are shallow water is to wait till the lake is down then go out and locate these seemingly nothing areas and mark them with a hand held GPS and when the lakes up go to them with your boat and mark them on the Boats waypoints.

I tried throwing at them from the sides and even from shore and the interesting thing I have found is they will not take bait with either of those presentations. They wanted it to come from shore and swam over the ledge. So it appears to be a Not only specific structure but specific presentation. I threw bobbers earlier and they would hit it sitting still but it had to have been pulled from the shore out.

So there you have it, they are fish and do weird things.

[zarraspook]

Great data for non crappie aficionados....

[Guest]

What he's saying is, there's no way for me to duplicate that pattern!

I have found a very similar scenario up the white river. But the lake needs to be low for this channel swing ledge to be right. Oh well, maybe I can find a new spot in that same area.

Thanks for sharing

[Feathers and Fins]

What he's saying is, there's no way for me to duplicate that pattern!

I have found a very similar scenario up the white river. But the lake needs to be low for this channel swing ledge to be right. Oh well, maybe I can find a new spot in that same area.

Thanks for sharing

HUH?

It is very much a bite that can be duplicated right now I'm doing it each time I go out, people will need to look for spots like those granted it would have been easier to find with the lake down but I am sure if people think about what they have seen they can remember a ledge or two.

[oldfella]

I appreciate your report and the time you took to share.

Not only did you tell what type of ledge and what your lure was,but exactly how you were fishing it.

I gathered that if you catch a fish in an area like you described,don't run off.

again, thanks for your report.

[Guest]

I was just joking that I have trouble duplicating your techniques at beaver.

Lack of experience on my part

[Kyle R]

That would explain why I couldn't get them from shore.

[JohnF52]

I saw my Dad several years ago catch several slabs from shore in a short time with a 14 ft crappie pole. Walk the jig off the ledge and be stealthy. It helps if the water is at least a little murky. This was another year with similar water level at pinhook bend where Blue Springs road comes down across the end of a cove. He was very skilled at this sort of thing and I couldn't duplicate it.

[Feathers and Fins]

I appreciate your report and the time you took to share.

Not only did you tell what type of ledge and what your lure was,but exactly how you were fishing it.

I gathered that if you catch a fish in an area like you described,don't run off.

again, thanks for your report.

Way to many people will catch a couple then they stop for a bit and they think they cleaned them out. Typically when that happens I just pull the boat away from the area ( not far ) have a smoke and Dr Pepper to let it settle down then go right back in on it and catch a few more till it slows then repeat the process again. Do it a few hours and you can really fill a limit and even some culling.

[Guest]

Your reports are much appreciated.

It gives me hope that I can catch some crappie soon.