The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Crappie fishing heats up

Gabby’s fishing fever


Almost every fisherman I know or have talked to is ready for warm weather and early spring fishing.

I have received reports of good crappie fishing on Carr Creek Lake in the past couple weeks, where anglers are catching good limits of crappie in the 13- to 14-inch range. This is a normal early spring crappie pattern.

As the water temperatures and the air temperatures start to slowly rise and the water levels rise, crappie will slowly move from deeper wintering holes and will move more shallow and to cover closer to the bank. This is the time of year that most crappie anglers look forward to.

The schools of baitfish will also move toward more shallow water as the water warms and rises. Game fish like crappie and bass will follow them.

When crappie make this move they will first move to what is known as secondary structure. These are areas close to but not on the banks. Areas like this can be the ends of points edges of creek channels, cover close to the bank and things like big rock piles, weed beds, and even manmade cover and some boat docks. They will move to these areas first and hold till the shallow water gets all the way up and warms and becomes stable.

By holding on the secondary cover the crappie can either move shallow in nice warming weather or if the temperatures drop and become cold, the crappie can return to deeper water.

Always look for crappie on our area lakes close to heavy wood cover and look for signs of minnows and baitfish. The crappie will not be far away.

Good crappie fishing is close. Get out soon and give it a try.



Leave a Reply