Prespawn/Spawn Tricks for Lake of the Ozarks Crappie

[John Neporadny Jr.]

            Find a shallow brush pile and drop an anchor. Cast

out a couple of minnows with  bobbers and start hauling in crappie.

 

            Springtime crappie fishing used to be that easy, but heavy fishing

pressure has caused many anglers to change tactics.  Prime spawning

spots get worked over daily.  If you're the first angler to dunk some

minnows at one of these spots, you have a chance to catch some fish. 

But if you arrive after the area's been visited by four or five other

boats, your chances diminish drastically.

 

            This trend has led some anglers to adopt bass fishing's run-and-gun

philosophy of moving around to several spots and firing off a couple

of casts in each area. Aggressive fish can be taken this way, but

complicating the situation are detractions such as high pressure weather

fronts and falling water levels.  During these conditions crappie

tend to leave the shallows or cling to cover and develop a case of

lockjaw.

 

            There are  some techniques to overcome tough conditions you  face during the crappie spawning cycle at Lake of the Ozarks.    You can track down fish in three different

stages of the crappie's procreation cycle.  The  stages are

pre-pre-spawn, pre-spawn and spawn.  In the pre-pre-spawn, the fish

suspend in schools along the mouths of creeks and coves.  The fish

will suspend at various depths depending on the weather.  On warm,

sunny days, the fish will be up higher.

 

            Crappie in the first stage are least affected by weather conditions

and falling water levels since they reside in deep water (20 to 30

feet).  But they can still be hard to find and even more difficult

to catch

 

Your electronics make the search much easier. 

Watch your graph and keep a marker buoy in hand

while cruising along potential staging areas.

 

            When you find a school of crappie, drop a buoy and start

fishing over it.  Either fish vertically over the school or

use your trolling motor and the wind to drift your lure through the

mass of crappie.  Keep  track of the school and

determine  the depth of the fish of fish by

constantly watching the fish finder on the bow  of  your boat.  After

determining the depth of the greatest concentration of fish,

set your lure at that depth to keep it in striking range.

            After  catching a fish, work the area thoroughly because you  have  a good chance to catch some more.  When you have that

many fish together, some of them are going to hit. If

you're lucky enough to be out there when they're feeding, you can

catch one about every time you drop your line in.

            To increase your odds, use a dual jig setup, which sometimes

results in catching two fish at one time.  Tie on a plastic-skirted

jig with a 1/32-ounce head first, then adds a 1/16th

or 1/8th-ounce plastic-skirted jig of a different color 18 inches

to 2 feet below the first lure.

 

            The selection of jig colors depends on water clarity.  In

clear water, select bright colors such as yellow or fluorescents.

The best hues for murky water include red or purple.

 

            The first phase of the spawning migration usually lasts one

to two weeks.  During stage two (pre-spawn), the crappie move back

into the coves and closer to the bank.  They're not actually in the

spawning beds yet;  they just relate close to them. The

fish will be staging 12 to 16 feet deep.  Some will be suspended and

others will be moving in and out of the shallows checking on spawning

conditions.

 

            Crappie in the second stage tend to be more moody. 

Let the fish tell you how to fish for them because sometimes

they want the jig held perfectly still and other times

they'll want a horsehead-type jig with a blade on it reeled steadily. You should try different colors and different

retrieve speeds until you find what triggers the fish.

 

            High barometric pressure or cold fronts push the

fish into deeper water.  You have to slow your presentation

down and stick it right in front of their nose then.  During

these periods, you might have to resort to vertical jigging and drifting methods

or a "dead fall" technique. When you cast and retrieve, the jig moves

a lot faster than it does on a dead fall.

 

            The "dead fall" method resembles a light-tackle version of

bass fishing's flipping technique.        Trade  in your dual jigs for a single 1/16th-ounce jig then.

            Before flipping, measure out about 10 to 12 feet of

line.  Flipping the jig propels it to

the shallows pulling along the unspooled line.

A longer rod helps keep slack out of your line 

and gives you a better feel of the lure as it falls back towards the

boat. Most of the

time,  you impart little or no action to the lure as it drops.  The slow-falling jig tempts crappie into investigating the  intruder that has  moved into their domain. Since

fish don't have hands, the only way a fish can tell what  something

is, is to swim up and grab hold of it with their mouth.

            When you feel the fish need coaxing, try

twitching the lure to

trigger a fish into hitting.  Crappie think it's trying to

get away or is injured and  other times they hit it out of curiosity

more than out of a desire for food.

 

            Using the "dead fall" method, you can catch fish that are suspended

when  the lure sinks and also take fish on the bottom as the jig drags

along after it has fallen back toward the boat.  Sometimes you can  

let the jig drag along the bottom while flipping out another line. 

  By keeping track of both lines you can catch  fish cruising in the

shallows  and the crappie staging in the deeper water next to the

spawning bank.

 

            Catching crappie gets easier when the fish move into the spawn stage

because the fish hit at anything  that moves into their  bedding area.

When the fish are spawning, they're not really feeding, they're protecting

their territory. They grab hold of your bait and try

to get it out of there.

 

            The spawning period offers the best opportunity to catch fish  shallow,

but  the fishing can be spotty at times.  One day you'll work along

the bank and load up the livewell, but the next day its as if the

fish disappeared.  Remember that not all the fish move

to the bank at one time,  and there will be crappie in the 10- to

12-foot range near by.   If you work the shore and don't catch any

fish on the beds, back up a little bit.  There will be

fish out a little bit deeper from where you caught them the day before

spawning. Probing the deeper water can also result in catching larger

crappie.  If  you continually catch  small fish along the bank, 

turn your boat around and start working  the same area in a little

deeper water.  Bigger fish usually spawn first and they usually spawn

deeper.

 

            When  the fish establish themselves in the shallows, they usually

stay put.   Once it gets to where conditions are right, it's hard

to keep them from spawning.

 

            Rather than abandon the shallows during high pressure or cold fronts,

the crappie will burrow into the thickest cover they can find.  Since

casting to these areas usually results in your lure becoming a brush

pile decoration,  flipping becomes the most effective way to haul

the reluctant fish out of the cover.  Look for the best

looking cover available along the spawning bank.  The bigger fish

always get the choicest spawning  and feeding spots. If

you  fail to catch a fish  or take only small fish along the outer

edges of the cover, flip your jig into the middle of the

 brush where you can  usually catch slab-size  crappie.

 

            If your favorite spawning bank fails to produce this spring,  remember

that the fish are still there and can be caught by slowing  down your

presentation and maybe  fishing a little deeper.

For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.  

 

Copies of John Neporadny's book, "THE Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Guide" are available by calling 573/365-4296 or visiting the web site www.jnoutdoors.com.