June 01, 2010
When crappies go on a feeding spree the action can be fast-paced and there is no better way to enjoy the arrival of warm weather than spending time on your favorite waterway catching tasty panfish. But the boom-and-bust nature of crappie populations can keep you looking for new hotspots and unless you want to leave success to chance, knowing where there is productive fishing is the critical key to success.

As A kid I grew up catching bass and panfish on the Tittabawassee system below the Sanford Dam and Wixom Lake spillway using cane pole, bobber and plain hook treated with an earthworm dug from Grandma's garden. Back then, the fishing was easy and stringers filled fast. The same holds true today although the tackle I prefer is an ultra-light spinning outfit, custom float that is extra sensitive and fluorocarbon line tipped with a tiny jig.

Here's a rundown of productive crappie waters across the state where you can enjoy the fishing fun with family and friends in 2010.

Sanford Lake And Dams

According to fisheries biologist Jim Baker, there is good public access, you can drive to the dam through the new Sanford Park and schools of big fish are waiting to be caught.

"There are good numbers of crappie available below the Sanford Dam and in Sanford Lake and you can catch them from shore or boat. Anglers can target schools of slab crappie in the deep swirling water below the Sanford Dam and even better fishing is available below the Wixom spillways as fish swim upriver from Sanford Lake through the Tittabawassee system and congregate below the man-made structures. Anglers can reach the spillways by parking along M-30 and walking to the dam. The east dam is larger and holds more crappie when spring rain brings spawning runs. The west spillway can be quite shallow until rain causes the water to flow over the concrete structure and draw crappie from below," said Baker.

Fisheries Biologist Kathrin Schrouder recommends hitting the Sanford Dam or Wixom spillway early in the season when spring runoff cause crappie to charge upriver. Then try Sanford or Wixom Lake and concentrate efforts around fallen trees, sunken logs, points and any structure that provides habitat for crappies. When water temperatures increase move to the main impoundment and work the channel edges. Schrouder explained, "The last fisheries survey found that crappies averaged more than 8 inches and plenty of slabs topped the 1-foot mark. Look for crappies to congregate in the undeveloped riprap around stumps, aquatic vegetation and fallen trees in shallow water."

By Adam Johnson

Do spawning fish bite?  That's a good question.  Many anglers don't think so because they see those largemouth bass on the beds and when they run a lure by them, the fish just ignore it.  Schools of spawning muskies in the shallow bays won’t look twice at a lure that cruises by.  But what about those bluegills that are sitting on top of those nests?  They don't seem to hesitate to smack a wax worm or a piece of nightcrawler you dangle in front of them under a bobber.

Crappies also seem aggressive when they're stacked up in the shallow bays during the spawn.  Maybe it's just the gamefish that won't bite when the spawn is on.  Maybe the panfish stay hungry through this ordeal.

In fact, during the actual spawning process fish of every species tend to quit actively feeding and choose instead, to put all of their resources on procreation.  In fact, those panfish that are biting are actually in the pre- or post-spawn phase and will be feeding.

Those bass on the beds are in a protection mode and will hit a lure if you rest it right on the nest.  These fish have no desire to eat the lure; they just want to move it off the eggs.  This is why a plastic lizard that sinks slowly dragged over the top and left to settle on the bed will often elicit a strike.

One of the best largemouth-on-the-bed techniques there is consists of a plastic lizard on a drop-shot setup.  You can cast the rig past the nest and pull the lizard right up onto the nest and with the sinker holding the lure in place you can twitch that plastic lizard until the bass gets frustrated and picks it up to move it.  You can tell that this is all about sight fishing.  You have to be able to see all of these steps happening. 

Bluegills are more aggressive about protecting their beds and will hit anything that comes close.  You can catch a lot of big bull bluegills when they're bedding just by suspending a thirty-second ounce jig a foot or two below a bobber and pitching it out to the nests.  What usually happens is the bluegill will scurry off the nest when the bobber plunks down.  It quickly returns, spots the lure and grabs it.  As soon as that float twitches you should set the hook.  The smaller the bobber the better.  Too big a splash when it touches down might spook the fish into not returning or quit biting.

Walleyes move up feeder creeks in rivers and reservoirs and will converge on the shallow rubble bars in lakes to spawn.  Dragging a Roach (live-bait) Rig in these zones with a minnow or leech will generate bites.  It's not the spawning walleyes that are taking the bait, but the pre- or post-spawn fish that are staging there.

By Ron Anlauf

When the last layers of ice finally start to give way to open water, panfish respond and will move into specific shallow areas where the can be readily caught, you just have to know when and where. Most of the early season panfish attention is directed towards sunfish and especially crappies, but there’s one more member of the family that usually gets passed over and its jumbo perch.

Perch will make shallow water runs and are just as vulnerable but the action is usually short lived and you better be on your toes if you want to get your share. Unlike sunfish and crappies whose earliest runs are mainly feeding forays that can last for up to a month, perch come in to feed and spawn on the same run, and it happens fast. The good news is the action can be extremely intense and you can hit it big if you’re in the right place at the right time.

Movements correlate with optimum water temperatures and typically occur when they have warmed up into the forty-five to fifty degree range, which closely follows the walleye spawn. Within a week or so of ice-out is what it really boils down to, but can happen almost immediately if the spring warm up and meltdown has been delayed. Even if the temps aren’t quite there their bodies are still ready to go, so don’t let temperature be your only guide.

Some of the better areas to start searching for all of that green and yellow gold are in the back ends of shallow bays and channels. Not so much the black bottomed sloppy pad field bays though, but something with a firmer bottom like sand. An incoming creek can be another early season magnet and will help warm things up faster than areas that would otherwise be the same.

Female perch will move in and lay their eggs by stringing it out across old vegetation and they don’t seem to be that fussy about where they do it.

Last years stands of reeds, cane, and cabbage beds etc. are all potential spawning sites. It really won’t take that long to find out if you’re in the right area once you start looking because in most cases they can be seen and readily caught.

The catching is what it’s all about and is as pure as it can get.  Casting and pitching light jigs tipped with a plastic trailer and maybe a minnow is what we’re really into and is a great way to give your jigging skills a tune-up. A short cast to the edge of a weed bed, a close-in drop off or break line, or the middle of a bay will get you started, and all of the aforementioned has the potential to hold active perch. And don’t be afraid to pitch up into real shallow water, because you just never know and you don’t want to overlook anything.

By Ron Anlauf

Crappies are an early season favorite for good reason; they’re not that hard to find and they bite when you can find them.  They provide a great opportunity for getting the open water season and can be caught from a boat or the bank, and everybody can get in on the fun. 

Most of the action surrounds shallow water including black bottom bays and channels where they will show up in masse and the action can be downright intense.   These early runs are all about feeding and nothing more, as the actual spawn may be a month or more off.  Somewhere between those first early season feeding runs and the actual spawn is a period of time when you can find big schools of the largest fish in a system holed up in specific areas, and when they are quite vulnerable.

Ron Anlauf does the right thing and releases a depression era slab.

Water temperature can be a guide in regards to the actual timing and the hottest action really starts when temps push into the lower sixties.  Crappies typically spawn when water temps hold in the mid sixties but that isn’t the only factor to consider.  Consistent weather and steady water temps is the key to finding the largest numbers of fish up shallow, and when they’ll be the most active.  Severe cold fronts can shut the whole thing down (at least for the sort term) and is something to be aware of. 

Finding fish is the key and includes holes or depressions near potential spawning sites.  A depression is nothing more than an area that’s just a little deeper than the rest and a place where crappies will stack up just before they make their move to the beds.   Heavier stands of hard stemmed bulrushes are where most of the spawning takes place, and are a preferred location as they typically provide the right bottom content and the right amount of cover.   With that in mind you can first start looking for potential spawning sites and then try and find a depression in the near vicinity.   If the water’s clear enough and calm enough you’ll be able to see the depression (and the fish), otherwise you’ll have to rely on electronics to do your investigating.  A likely hot spot would include a two or three foot deeper pocket surrounded by maybe four to eight feet of water.  Throw in some green weeds for cover and you may have found a real honey hole.   With a good graph like the Humminbird 957c you can draw it all out and see the drop and the weeds, and get an idea of how the area is actually laid out.