After fall turnover, crappies in natural lakes switch from suspending or relating to shallow weed cover, to dropping on or near bottom in moderate-depth lake basins, generally 40 feet or less. Fish may simply roam across shallow basins, following minnows, or feeding on larvae hatching out of the soft basin. Large schools of mobile fish are easily located with traditional or forward-viewing electronics.

Once you spot clusters of fish, hover above them with your electric trolling motor and lower a lure to their level, or just above the top of the school. Rather than pulling hooked fish up through the school, potentially spooking nearby fish, simply pick off active biters rising up to nail a lure just above their heads.

Jigs are easy to fish during this time frame, using a vertical jigging approach. Lower a 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jig to the bottom, close the bail of your spinning reel, and grasp the line with your index finger. Gently raise the jig a foot or two, hold it for a few seconds above the bottom, and then repeat. If you see fish higher off the bottom on your electronics, lift the jig to or just above the level of the top of the school, and hold it there. Chances are, you’re going to get thumped!

For a faster approach, use a small, #5 or #7 Jigging Rap, which is a heavy lure despite its small size. Add a barrel swivel into the line about 16 inches above the lure to minimize line twist. Then drop it to bottom, engage your reel, and give the rod tip a short upward sweep to snap the lure straight up off bottom. It’ll hit the top of the arc, and then plummet back to bottom. Repeat.

One of those times when you go to snap, the line will be heavy. Fish on! Strikes usually occur as the lure falls back to bottom, or as fish pick it up off bottom when it’s at rest. Don’t be surprised if you catch loads of walleyes and smallmouths doing this, too! The action lasts all the way up to ice-up—and past that—although few folks seem to pursue crappies through the ice on these waters.

By mid- to late winter, expect the fish to begin rising higher off the bottom again, suspending midway down. If fish are a bit above bottom, drop the lure to their level—you can easily see them on your electronics—close your reel, lift it up to the top of the school, and aggressively jig it at or above their noses.

Deeper holes in shallow bays can collect a lot of fish right up until the time when the ice leaves the lake and crappies begin making early pre-spawn movements in search of suitable cover—first to feed, and later, to spawn.

For more insight and tips for fishing throughout the year, check out the articles in every issue of MidWest Outdoors, available by subscribing on our website.