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Many very accomplished and well-known anglers have made the observation that crappies are a mysterious fish. In mid and late summer in a good number of lakes, they seem to disappear from areas where they were abundant just a few weeks earlier. But if you keep a few things in mind, you can catch'em when they re-appear in the fall.
Crappies are crepuscular. This means that they are most active early and late in the day much of the year. In the fall though, they'll often bite all day.
Depending on where you're fishing, there are a couple of very good ways to catch crappies right now. The favorite technique of many crappie-catchers is to cast a light jig to a deep weedline or dock. Crappies like the cover that each provides and they also like that baitfish will hang around the same areas. Crappies will also suspend off the deep edge of the weedline. Watch for dimples on the water's surface. The dimples reveal crappies slurping bugs off the surface. Throw a jig around the dimples and they'll often slurp the jig.
Another technique that works well in these same areas is to rig your jig under a slip-bobber. There's something about watching a bobber float across the surface, then slowly go down that's almost magical. Experiment with how far your bobber is set above the jig. At times the fish like the bait close to the surface, especially when there's less light penetration or a bug hatch. Sometimes they want it deeper, like when it's brighter out.
Last technique. In some lakes, crappies will move into deep water and spend much of the rest of the year there. They'll hang out close to the bottom in deep water. If you watch your sonar carefully, you'll be able to see the crappies holding near deep water points or even in the basin of the lake. Sometimes you'll see fish that you believe are walleyes on the sonar and they are actually crappies. This time of the year crappies can look much like walleyes on the sonar. You'll frequently catch some walleyes with the crappies, and that's not a bad thing. Many anglers would consider that a winning deal, to have both walleyes and crappies in the same spot. In this deep water an eighth ounce jig fished on a four or six pound line will be most productive.
In all of these techniques we're mostly using jigs in either sixteenth or eighth ounce sizes. The sixteenth ounce size when casting to the weedline or docks, the eighth ounce jig in the deeper water. And consider a 1/32nd ounce jig with a splitshot under the bobber.
Through the years, serious crappie chasers usually had a rod rigged with a minnow on a jig. Not so much anymore. Crappie plastics have become so good there hardly is ever a time when a minnow is better. Maybe when the fish are being really finicky a live minnow will be more productive. Plastic offers more colors, shapes, and durability. Mr. Crappie Grubs, Crappie Thunder, and Slabalicous plastics are outstanding. Start with brighter colors and go more natural if the crappies aren't aggressive.
Crappies are fun to catch and can be willing biters. If you keep these ideas in mind, you'll be able to catch'em through the autumn months. They're outstanding on the table, so don't hesitate to keep a few. Once you get onto it, catching a few usually won't be a problem this time of year.
Photo Caption—Mr. Crappie Wally Marshall uses jigs and plastic to catch crappies year 'round, including in the autumn.