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 to have deep, clear reservoirs loaded with rocky, vertical structure, while flatlands tend to have shallow, relatively featureless reservoirs with gradual breaks. Between these extremes, reservoirs take on every imaginable shape and depth profile, with structure formed by everything from muck to rock.

Crappies exist in every type of reservoir. While the overall environment may vary considerably from one reservoir to the next, crappies locate and behave in a very similar manner across the board. In most cases, crappies indigenous to reservoirs descended from populations of river crappies, and river fish are notorious for making seasonal migrations. This age-old habit does not change simply because the environment does.

Reservoir crappies typically move to deeper areas, toward the main lake or main basin of a reservoir, just prior to winter. During spring, this migration reverses itself as crappies once again move shallow. During summer and early fall, crappies make use of the best cover options available while hunting the most prolific forage items the reservoir has to offer. When migrating,they use the same “roads” they used before the reservoir was created: old creek and river channels. Most of the time, they can be found on or just off this road.

Reservoir crappies also tend to suspend over creek and river channels a lot during every season of the year. And, because river crappies are often far more dynamic in terms of movement than lake crappies, overall location patterns can be much trickier to develop—especially during the transition periods of winter-to-spring and fall-to-winter. The following chapter outlines the fundamentals for finding crappies within each season and within each of the main types of reservoirs they inhabit.

Winter to Spring

Flatland And Lowland Reservoirs And Flowages

Flatland impoundments typically fluctuate less than 10 feet annually; tend to have cloudy, murky, or stained water; and arise in broad, sprawling flatlands. Creek arms are usually wide but shallow, and creek channels are sometimes silted over, indistinct, and difficult to find. Water depth at the dam is typically in the 40-foot range, with increasingly shallower contours upstream. In most parts of the country, white crappies tend to dominate this type of habitat. Unlike their cousins in other types of impoundments, crappies in flatland reservoirs often use the main-basin area near the dam, especially in winter. A classic example of a flatland reservoir might be Santee-Cooper in South Carolina.

Lowland reservoirs are flooded marshes or bayous. A classic example of a lowland reservoir would be Black Lake in Louisiana. Lowland reservoirs often have dams on small, narrow creeks. The main river channel is seldom near shore, and 50 percent or more of the surrounding shoreline can be composed of marshland. Channel bends are often long and gradual, and the surrounding flats tend to be quite large. Bays and coves are usually very shallow and are often choked with weeds. The seasonal movements of crappies in lowland reservoirs are all but identical to those in flatland reservoirs.