Fall Crappie Up North

If you ask the most fisherman where you should fish for crappies, he’s likely to tell you to head for the shallows.

The reason, of course, is because the springtime crappie bite can be phenomenal. Not only is the fishing good—the first on-the-water trip for those awaiting ice-out-- but the catching is good as well. Spring is spawn time for these black-and-white gamesters, and the shallows offer the warmest beds in town.

But up North, after the No-Tell Motel bite shuts down, crappies leave the shallows to put on the feed bag elsewhere. Then, fishing for them becomes an electronic beat down, searching for schools near rock piles and ledges and other offshore structure. As the summer season progresses into fall, things change again.

For those fishermen not used to the idea of deep-water crappie finding them can be a challenge. However, all it takes is an understanding of what the fish are doing; then it’s simply a matter of going on the hunt.

Lindy pro staffer and guide Jim Orcutt says that in the fall, crappies move off their summer haunts and head toward the deep lake basin. "That’s what happens around here," Orcutt says of the lakes around Ely, Minnesota.

"I mean you can still find the fish near or on summer rock piles, but as the season advances, they will pull off and head toward their winter sanctuaries.

"You’ll find them suspended, and you’ll find them on the bottom. It’s a time when you have to hunt them down with your electronics. But once you find a school, you might also find a bigger school nearby on the same breakline or structure."

One of the things that make fall crappie fishing productive, Orcutt says, is that the fish are feeding heavily in preparation for winter. As a result, crappie fishing can be down right good in the fall, right up until the water gets hard.

"I start hunting for crappies near summer-type structure," he says. "And then I branch out. When I’m fishing by myself, I’ll usually start jigging along the bottom while watching my depthfinder for suspended fish. Once I spot fish higher in the water column, I’ll try for them."

Orcutt’s lure of choice is a jig tipped with a minnow. "I use Lindy’s Little Nippers or Lindy Jigs in 1/16 ounce up to ¼ ounce," he says. "In the tannic-stained lakes I fish, color is important, and bright colors are best. I like chartreuse, chartreuse-orange and orange. I also really like to use the X-Change jig because it lets me change the size (weight) and color of the jig head to suit conditions without having to retie every line in the boat."

While backtrolling a jig is the method of choice for Minnesota fishermen chasing fall crappies, Orcutt likes to mix things up.

"I like to cast a light jig for crappies once I find them," he says. "You don’t need any weight or even a bobber; just cast the jig out, let it sink and watch the line. Often the only indication you have of a bite is a twitch in the line, while other times, you’ll feel the fish hit. It’s a lot of fun, and my clients like it because they’re doing something."

He adds that conditions don’t always lend themselves to casting with a 1/16-ounce jig. "When it’s windy, a bobber generally works better because it’s easier to see when bites.

"One thing worth noting," adds Orcutt, "is that crappie usually feed up. With a bobber you’ll see bites you might otherwise miss—like when a fish takes your jig and rises. That’s when you’ll see the bobber tip over on its side or maybe just rise up a bit in the water.

"That happens when a crappie takes the jig as it’s moving up in the water."

Bobbers also help catch suspended crappie because they let you target the depth at which the fish are holding.

A lot of the time, crappies will simply pull off structure and hold at a given depth rather than following the bottom. Once a lake turns over oxygen levels and temperature tend to be consistent all through the water column, at least out in the lake basin. Temperatures in the shallows, of course, will vary with air temperatures and sunlight.

The depth at which crappies suspend in fall can depend upon a lot of different factors, such as water clarity. That is where electronics play a key role in angling success.

"If I’m fishing with clients," says Orcutt, "I may start out fishing on the bottom, but I’ll put the other lines out at different depths. Then I pay attention to the electronics as we are fishing, trying to find the depth where the crappies are holding."

Once that depth is determined, bobbers, such as the Thill Crappie Cork work to control the depth of the jig.

One feature of the Crappie Cork that makes it stand out from the rest of the bobber herd is the fact that each bobber has the exact weight needed to make the bobber set in position.

The weight range on the bobbers runs from 1/16 to 3/8 ounce. This designation makes balancing easy. Either you use a jig of the weight which appears printed on the side of the cork itself, or you add split shot above the jig to get the correct weighting below the bobber.

Once a float is balanced where the weight matches the buoyancy labeled on the side of the bobber, it becomes sensitive, showing you the "lift" bites that can be typical with crappies. Balancing the float and jig also gives you a bobber that has little resistance to being moved, meaning the fish can’t feel the bobber when it hits. In the long run, a balanced float means more fish in the livewell.

And so does the right bait. While jigs alone will fill livewell with crappies, you’ll catch more fish faster if you add scent. Orcutt relies on crappie minnows, a mainstay with crappie fishermen everywhere.

However, as he noted above, crappies will eat big in the fall, and he won’t hesitate giving them the steak they’re after. "There are plenty of times," Orcutt says, "when I’ll use a ¼-ounce jig and two-inch fathead minnow. Crappies have a big mouth, and they don’t hesitate to take a larger bait than you might think."

And for those days when minnows aren’t the ticket, mealworms, waxworks and other ice-fishing type baits will generally get the nod.

No matter what you tip your jig with, rest assured that fall crappies up north are on the bite, and all you have to do is find them.

Contact Jim Orcutt -  "Jim The Fish Guy"
218-349-3658

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