Percy Priest Crappie

[bd-]

It's still several weeks away from peak season for crappie on Percy Priest, but it's starting to heat up. Mike Anderson (from over at www.trophyfishingtn.com) and I went out last weekend looking for some, and we had a pretty decent day. It started out tough, and the fish were a long way from where we expected to find them, but around mid-afternoon we found a productive pattern and stayed on fish until dark.

Most of the fish we found were smaller males, and we probably had half a dozen short fish for every keeper, but we got enough slabs for a meal or two. The fish were gravitating toward the largest brush piles and trees in deeper water, but they are starting to move toward the banks. They were VERY tight to cover - if your cast fell as much as 2 or 3 feet outside the "zone" where they were holding, you could forget about getting a bite. If you pick up a fish out of a spot though, stay on it, because they are stacked up thick on the holding areas.

The fish may spread out a bit as it warms up, but it'll only get better as the crappie move to more shallow cover and the spring bite gets underway.

bd

[Jim]

Congrats on finding some crappie! I need to get out and start looking soon. I guess the snow forecast may not help that any.

Jim

[MattR]

bd, do you think your early struggles to find a pattern had more to do with fish being in unexpected places or more to do with the time of day, i.e. later in the day meaning a longer period of sun on the water? In this late winter time frame, is it more beneficial to just start a fishing trip around mid-day?

What are everyone's opinions on this?

[Travis C.]

Were you fishing a fly or standard crappie lures/minnows?

[Alphahawk]

bd, do you think your early struggles to find a pattern had more to do with fish being in unexpected places or more to do with the time of day, i.e. later in the day meaning a longer period of sun on the water? In this late winter time frame, is it more beneficial to just start a fishing trip around mid-day?

What are everyone's opinions on this?

You can catch crappie at anytime...but IMHO that period just before sunrise and the next hour or so can be some of the most productive time to catch them. bd was very astute to know to try fishing tight to cover. I have been fishing many times with others and catching one crappie right after another and they are catching none. The fish were tight to cover and while I was telling others where to cast they thought you just had to be in the area. At times you have to be within inches of the cover to pull them off. Crappie are some...if not the most...finicky fish there is. When I go to a crappie hole I am prepared to stay there all day. Many times I can limit out in an hour or so...but this is not always the case. If I catch 4 or 5 fish and they quit I stay there. Too many people think the crappie have moved on...they have not. They have stopped biting and if you stay there they will turn back on...and are subject to do this many times in a day. While a blue bird day is not usually the best time to catch crappie I go no matter the weather. I would prefer a cloudy day with a slight breeze but you cant always have that.

Regards