# Crappie through the ice



## TDD11 (Aug 5, 2015)

Question for you guys who really target crappie through the ice. In a lot of our inland Ohio lakes it seems the crappie are commonly targeted in the spring in the shallow end and creeks feeding our lakes. Some guys say they target crappie in deep water through the ice though. 

With so many of our inland Ohio lakes being man-made, and the deep end typically being near the dam with the feeder creeks/rivers at the opposite end of the lake, why not fish shallower water where the lake is fed - assuming good ice? 

Do the crappie stage in shallow water before going up the streams, similar to walleye staging in the western end before the spawn? I'm wondering if I'm targeting the wrong depths or areas in my local lakes.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

i don't think the crappie are staging to "swim " up stream... not like the walleye do... they more or less just stage in areas for spawning.. when the temperature is right, they just come shallow , no matter where they are in the lake .

A couple of weeks ago, when we actually had good ice, I was on several lakes catching Crappie in 20 foot of water... granted, the max depth of those lakes was about 40 feet . I was also on lakes in southern Ohio, with a max depth of 12 feet… And I was catching crappies in 5 ft of water and in 12 ft of water. what I focused on was structure ... The structure in the deeper lakes was a rock bottom with lots of sunken timber ...The structure in the shallow lake was weed lines.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Yup In Winter with ice they tend to roam in deeper flats but there are always some in shallower water too. Great mystery. I like to find them in deep water like 20-30 fow on mud bottoms but have friends who get them in 5-10 fow in the same lakes. Once water temps start warming up the adult fish move to the banks to spawn but no upstream migration just shallow. Rush or rocks to drape eggs on.


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## CRPPIE PARIDISE (Dec 27, 2014)

fish in the Sandusky Bay all winter long and it's shallow in the marinas and catch crappies all winter long in about five foot of water and then they'll go to the rocks and spawn when the water gets about 58 start catching them near the rocks I think it's more about cover don't hang around the poles by the docks all winter I guess that would be the same as trees Rock piles in Inland Lakes so right now I would say it's all about structure not the depth


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## laynhardwood (Dec 27, 2009)

Crappie do migrate up the Lake Erie tribs every year but not usually in super high numbers.


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## CRPPIE PARIDISE (Dec 27, 2014)

I beg to differ I catch a lot of crappie up the Vermillion River around the docks in the springtime I also catch a lot of crappies up the pipes Creek


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

laynhardwood said:


> Crappie do migrate up the Lake Erie tribs every year but not usually in super high numbers.


It's bout warm water boys after ice off u can kill them! Anything that warms quicker! But on this thread it depends on lakes some lakes are deeper and some are shallow!!! Shallow lakes it could be 3 ft deeper lakes I fish 20 plus! Western Basin its shallow could be 5ft


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

CRPPIE PARIDISE said:


> I beg to differ I catch a lot of crappie up the Vermillion River around the docks in the springtime I also catch a lot of crappies up the pipes Creek


U should fish the northeast crappie club bud


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

I agree, a lake by lake thing. I fish a lake that has 25 FOW and will catch them as marks coming flat off the bottom then catch them holding 14' down on the next drop. I fish a different lake that only goes down to 7' at the most and will sometimes catch them only 2' under the ice.

I know during mid summer a decent population of crappie will go deep during the day and then come up in the water column considerably at dusk and through the night. Don't have enough experience on the ice after dark, but always wondered if more come up higher after dark.


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## TDD11 (Aug 5, 2015)

I thought it might be a lake by lake thing. I didn't want to post "looking for crappie spots at X-lake", but wanted to gather some thoughts and think about my local lakes and what areas might be applicable.


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## HappySnag (Dec 20, 2007)

TDD11 said:


> I thought it might be a lake by lake thing. I didn't want to post "looking for crappie spots at X-lake", but wanted to gather some thoughts and think about my local lakes and what areas might be applicable.


 one year I fished Mosquito north end.
I had 25 crappie big up to 15.5" and 4 eyes.
10 guys fished around me from 10 to 100 yards and they had 2 to 3 crappie,they use same bait.
I think you have to lacate them,where I fished and rest off the guys it was 5' to 6' fow no structure.
I think it was luck I setup on top off them,i never use flasher,i fish blind.


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## devildave (Sep 20, 2014)

Its a lake to lake thing bud...if the you have high vegetation in a lake and we have a lot of snow over the ice the plants die and produce co2 ..we nor fish can breathe that so the fish will be suspended up where there is better oxygen.. Kinda like a thermocline...and fish will sometimes completely void an area of good fishing from previous years because of this...so I guess it really depends on the snow covering the ice for long derations....and how much foliage is in said body of water...and how healthy they are as well....aka Spencer die off


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## AtticaFish (Nov 23, 2008)

If you want just a general starting point........... i usually start in the areas i know are productive post spawn. Not necessarily the deepest main basin where they might roam/suspend during hot mid-summer weather, but out in the transition to the deeper water adjacent to any spawning areas. Work my way out to deeper water from there if i don't find them. If there is known isolated structure or weed edges in that transition, i would cut lots of holes to try and find it.


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

Type of crappie matters too in some lakes I think. In one deeper lake I only caught white crappie when I was around good shad populations. No shad around no white crappie. I would find roaming scattered black crappie. Sometimes right on bottom and sometimes suspended way up. Also learned alot from an article posted by someone on here about water temp considerations from in fishermen. Had a productive shallower spot at early ice turn into a fishless zone when the thaw filled it with cold melting snow water. temp went down to 33 and it was totally void of fish. Hopped around and found fish pulled out deeper in the main lake where the water was 41.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

AtticaFish said:


> I know during mid summer a decent population of crappie will go deep during the day and then come up in the water column considerably at dusk and through the night. Don't have enough experience on the ice after dark, but always wondered if more come up higher after dark.


Crappie fishing at night usually mean having a light that attracts micro organisms which attracts minnows which attracts the crappie. Usually night ice fishing after dark involves a lantern in a shanty. Seems the lantern light in the hole surrounded by total darkness starts the parade.


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