How to Have a Crappie Spring

By: Rob Streeter
State of New York
Published: April 16, 2009

    One form of fishing that is as eagerly awaited as the trout opener is the first day the ice leaves some New York lakes, signaling day one of the spring crappie season.  Crappies don’t get the attention that trout do in the press, but they have become a very popular species in recent years, and oh yes, a tasty one too!
    Spring crappie fishing starts as soon as the ice leaves most lakes.  Even with cold water, the shallow bays in a lake warm up a degree or two when compared to the main lake.  This minute difference is enough to trigger the crappie bite, which keeps going until they finish spawning and head back to deeper water where they typically suspend through the summer months.
Seasonal Behavior
    During the early part of the crappie season, the fish are schooled up tight and often follow baitfish into the shallows.  Sometimes you can spot the dense schools of crappies as they move into the bays by sighting the ripples the fleeing baitfish make.  The baitfish will also leap into the air at times to avoid being lunch for a crappie.  Busy water is a good place to start fishing during the early portion of the season.
    Once fish are located, the early season bite can produce some of the biggest crappies of the year.  It is often possible to get into a school of big fish chasing minnows and catch several of them before the school moves on. 
When the water warms up to temperatures suitable for spawning, the male crappies set up nesting territory in shallow water.  They herd females into the nest to lay their eggs, and then stay behind to take care of the young until they can be left on their own.  During the actual spawning period, crappies can often be caught by sight fishing, and will vigorously attack anything that approaches their nests.
    After they finish spawning and leave the shallows, crappies are harder to locate and catch.  They often suspend over deeper parts of the lake, following schools of baitfish.  It is much harder to narrow down their location during the summer months.
Fishing Strategies
    Crappie fishing calls for light tackle.  Ultralight spinning rods rigged up with four pound test line are great.  I like to fly-fish with the same gear I use for trout.  In the early season, crappies look up to feed, so most anglers fish with a float and suspend a minnow about a foot below the surface.  Minnows work best early on, but micro-sized panfish jigs work well when the fish become more active as the water warms. 
    I fly-fish with the same system, using tiny streamers suspended below a strike indicator.
    Regardless of your fishing technique, one way to do better on crappies is to be stealthy.  Crappies are finicky fish.  If you are out in a boat, turn off the fish finders or live wells because the noise from either of them can spook the fish.  It is also good to avoid dropping things on the bottom of the boat or making any other noise.
    If you find a good spot in a bay and get into fish, try anchoring up.  Sometimes fishing from an anchored boat will produce more fish than trying to chase them around with a trolling motor.

Places to Fish
    If I had to pick the best fishing destinations for catching crappies in New York it would go something like this.  In Western New York, Silver and Honeoye Lakes are good.  In the Central part of the state, Sandy Pond along Lake Ontario is a great spot and Cayuga and Otisco Lakes have crappies.  To the north in the Adirondacks, the southern part of Lake Champlain has plenty of crappies.  In the Capital District, Saratoga Lake and Round Lake are good.  In the southern part of the state, the Whitney Point Reservoir is hard to beat for crappies. 
    If you do go out and enjoy some crappie fishing, it is okay to keep a few fish for the table, yet there is a fine line.  It was always thought that with panfish species harvesting plenty of them would prevent them from overpopulating and not reaching larger sizes.  In recent years, it has been found that you can overharvest panfish in some lakes.  There are a number of different limits for crappies on many waters today to protect them from being overfished, so be sure and check the regulations.
    In the spring there is a choice, and in recent years, many folks have chosen crappies over trout for their initial fishing outings for the year.  If you have not been fishing for crappies, give it a try.  You will find that there definitely is a learning curve with these feisty panfish!