Catching Crappies in the Fall and Winter can be tough. You may be on the lake one day and can’t do nothing wrong. Get up early and go the next day and go fish the same locations with the same bait and you can’t buy a Crappie! Another factor is fishing for Crappie in the Winter thru early Spring is the Weather. One minute it can be pleasant. Within a few minutes it can turn deadly as an approaching front blows in without warning. But there is hope for us die hard Crappie fishermen. It’s docks and I’ll show you how to locate and catch Crappie in the Winter around docks and other shore structure.

The most challenging aspect of catching Crappie in the Winter|Fall and Winter|Winter thru early Spring|late Fall through early Spring|Winter time is usually the weather. Weather during Winter|Fall and Winter|Winter thru early Spring|late Fall through early Spring|Winter time can be downright upredictable. Bright, calm and sunny one minute and the next you’re dealing with cloudy skies and tropical storm force winds out of the North as a front approaches.

There is one place where Crappie fishermen can go to get out of the weather and have a reasonable chance at catching enough slabs for a fish fry. These places are boat docks. But not any ole boat dock will work. We’re looking for boat docks that have Crappie beneath them! This is sometimes easier said than done. But with a little practice and a little research, you can learn how to find the best boat docks for Winter Crappie.

To start, look for boat docks that are over deep water, Preferably near a creek or river channel. Once you’ve found docks over deep water, look for ones with structure. Many slip owners will sink bruch piles around the slip where their boats are tied up. It will pay to search out these slips with brush below them, especially the ones in deeper water near drop offs. Some Marina owners also sink brush piles below their docks. It may pay off big time to stop by the Office and enquire which slips have brush below them.

Now that you’ve done your homework and found a Marina or two on your local lake that have slips over deep water, look for structure beneath those slips. Ask the Marina operator whether or not they know of any brush piles beneath the slips. More than likely they know of several. Next, you’ll need to find what the Crappie want to hit. I start off with small minnows and work them around structure. If it’s a fairly warm day, the Crappie may be extra hungry and you can try tube jigs to catch them quicker.

Once I find them, I’ll usually switch to a 1/32 or even 1/64 ounce tube jig and fish it nearly motionless. Crappie love tube jigs and Winter can be a good time to use them. If the Crappie stop biting, I’ll move along the docks fishing brush at different depths until I find them again. One nice thing about Winter Crappie fishing around docks is, if you find them holding at brush below a dock at 12 feet, you’ll usually find them under all the docks holding at the same depth in the same type of structure.

One place many hardcore Crappie fishermen overlook in the Winter are heated fishing docks. The Marina operators sink brush below these heated areas to attract the fish. These can be great places to fill a stringer when Ole Man Winter is howling outside. It’s also a great place to take your kids on a Winter day. There aren’t many things sweeter in life than watching kids catch Crappie inside a heated dock while drinking hot chocolate!

Sadly many Crappie fishermen miss out on the fabulous fishing at other times of the year. These people only think Crappie can be caught in the Spring. Oh well, that means there’ll be more Crappie for you and me! I’ll see you at the docks! You bring the coffee!

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