To get a significant and steady warming of water to a depth of 3 to 5 feet, it usually takes a steady increase in air temperature, some sunny days, and moderate winds. To heat shallow areas as deep...View article
Does the sun warm lake water, or does the air warm it? What happens on cloudy days? Why do some backwater areas warm so much faster than others? Does the north side of a cove or lake always warm first? Anglers...View article
A. Wing Dam (Summer/Early Fall)—Key spots usually are riprap and wing dams if water is deep enough (ten feet or more) right against the bank in the most current-protected spot, where the wing dam...View article
Rich Zaleski, a longtime In-Fisherman contributor, has written widely about crappies and enjoys hunting slabs in large tidal rivers like the Connecticut. Tides influence the flow 12 miles or more inland...View article
On larger rivers like the Mississippi in Minnesota and Wisconsin, crappies also spawn out of the current. The habitat of choice most of the time is within large, sprawling backwater areas. Crappies...View article
In-Fisherman has long maintained that some of the best and least pressured crappie fishing on the continent can be found in rivers, backwaters, and “river run” impoundments (flowages). Many of our...View article
Many reservoirs are drawn down in fall, in preparation for winter precipitation and spring runoff. A radical Kansas drawdown is 3 feet over 2 weeks. In Connecticut, the water in some impoundments often...View article
In the expansive environments found in hill-land and highland reservoirs, crappies may remain in relatively shallow patterns all summer. Those in the upstream or upper third of hill-land reservoirs...View article
The genetic history of most reservoir crappies extends back to a time before the water was impounded and they were living in a river, where extensive migrations were required to find suitable habitat...View article
Hill-land impoundments are typically clearer than flatland reservoirs. Depths near the dam tend to be in the 100-foot range. Contours throughout the lake are steeper. Creek arms are longer, narrower,...View article
Reservoirs come in all shapes and sizes, with myriad depth profiles. Depth and structure, of course, are dependent upon the lay of the land before an impoundment is filled. Mountainous regions tend...View article
As water cools in natural lakes, much of the weedgrowth on flats dies, although some deep-lying weeds usually remain along the deep edge of weedgrowth along drop-offs. Crappies holding on shallow flats...View article
To catch crappies, timing is critical. Dawn and dusk are key times to intercept active crappies in the most predictable locations. To predict movements and intercept crappies along a weedline, find...View article
During winter, suspended crappies are a bonus in natural lakes. High-flying crappies, those big, buttery, golden slabs that float under your ice hole 5, 10, 15 feet or more off bottom, are the easiest...View article
During late summer, crappies spend increasing amounts of time suspending off main-lake breaks in natural lakes. The portion of the water column they suspend in tends to become gradually deeper as summer...View article
