SURFACE WATER TEMP IS 41. HOW DEEP SHOULD I BE LOOKING FOR CRAPPIE NOW?
flyguy
Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!
johnny 5 wrote:
SURFACE WATER TEMP IS 41. HOW DEEP SHOULD I BE LOOKING FOR CRAPPIE NOW?
Welcome to the Forum, johnny, just inside crappie heaven.
The warm water should be toward the bottom, but I would start about halfway down in deeper water as they will suspend near the baitfish. If you have electronics they should show you a good place to start. Good luck!
JackH
Loc: South-west Florida/south central Missouri
It has been to long ago for me to offer any useful advise but I spent many memorable hours fishing for bass and crappie on Lake of the Ozarks.
johnny 5 wrote:
SURFACE WATER TEMP IS 41. HOW DEEP SHOULD I BE LOOKING FOR CRAPPIE NOW?
I saw pics of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman were both iced in and they are dropping the lake level on Lake of the Ozarks showing boats moored to docks stuck in the ice.
Probably a month yet for the crappie to turn on. Usually 50-55° for getting close to spawn temps.
MAS fish
Welcome fellow Missourian! I have more experience on Tablerock, and there are focused fisherwomen and fishermen here who enjoy the seek and find challenges of catching bass and crappie in winter. Without any pretense of any certainty, scientifically or statistically, my own and anecdotal experience is the ides of March starts to see some action, April picks it up, and May is payday. This all depends on a fairly normal Missouri cycle of winter to spring to summer to autumn, which we are not seeing as much in the past two decades. Not too far south of you is Bennett Springs state park which flows into the Niangua River, where you can catch some nice winter trout!
thirdwillie wrote:
Welcome fellow Missourian! I have more experience on Tablerock, and there are focused fisherwomen and fishermen here who enjoy the seek and find challenges of catching bass and crappie in winter. Without any pretense of any certainty, scientifically or statistically, my own and anecdotal experience is the ides of March starts to see some action, April picks it up, and May is payday. This all depends on a fairly normal Missouri cycle of winter to spring to summer to autumn, which we are not seeing as much in the past two decades. Not too far south of you is Bennett Springs state park which flows into the Niangua River, where you can catch some nice winter trout!
Welcome fellow Missourian! I have more experienc... (
show quote)
That is some cold water year round.
MAS fish wrote:
I saw pics of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman were both iced in and they are dropping the lake level on Lake of the Ozarks showing boats moored to docks stuck in the ice.
Probably a month yet for the crappie to turn on. Usually 50-55° for getting close to spawn temps.
MAS fish
Thanks for the replies. I will have to wait for the ice to melt. Very rare for solid ice on this lake.
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