Targeting Offshore Ledges: Crappie's Comfort Zone
Story and Photos By Darl Black

During spring when crappie move toward the bank to spawn, it seems most anglers have a pretty good idea of where the fish are and how to catch them. Crappie will be relatively shallow and usually associated with some form of visible cover.

But when spawning time draws to a close, crappie gradually transition to summer haunts. In most reservoirs, that means the fish leave the bank. Now the real work begins.

With the arrival of summer, many of the anglers who enjoyed success a few weeks ago are now struggling. Some will throw out a list of excuses as to why they can’t catch fish. But if you are a guide, there is very little room for excuses. The pros better know where the crappie are located and how to catch them if they want to maintain customers through the summer. Just ask veteran guides Jim Duckworth and Brad Whitehead.

Duckworth focuses his summer crappie fishing on Percy Priest Lake and Old Hickory Lake near Nashville, Tenn. Whitehead fishes Pickwick Lake and Wilson Lake on the Tennessee River, plus several smaller lakes not far from his Muscle Shoals, Ala., home.

Transition
According to Whitehead, it’s the nature of crappie to move deeper for the summer.
“It’s a matter of comfort,” he explains. “Offshore on the ledges, crappie find the water temperature more to their liking, and they find an abundance of their favorite food — schools of minnows and young-of-the-year shad. Situated near drops where they have access to even deeper water, crappie can easily move up or down depending on the weather and barometer — again, looking for a comfort zone. Those ledges are like a living room, kitchen and rec room rolled into one unit.”

Duckworth and Whitehead define a ledge as a rapid change in depth — an offshore drop-off with an almost vertical fall of anywhere from 6 to 20 feet. Not only does the depth change quickly, but the edge must extend along a parallel path for some distance. The actual drop may be rather smooth, or if it involves a rocky outcropping, it may be jagged. Natural or man-made cover enhances the desirability of a ledge.

A main river channel or major creek channel are the most common forms of ledges in a reservoir, but they are not necessarily the only ones. Depending on the topography prior to impoundment, a crappie-holding breakline may occur where a ridge or higher land mass initially gives way to a valley floor. The actual river channel can be some distance from this ledge and may or may not come into play in a given section of an impoundment based on depth.

Typical depths for summer crappie range from 12 to almost 30 feet, so structures that fall within that range will most likely be utilized.

Crappie begin leaving the shallows soon after the spawn.

“There is no drop-dead date when crappie move,” says Duckworth. “I tell everybody that fish do not have a calendar. All fish recognize is changes in water temperature. So the exact time can vary from year to year by several weeks, depending on the type of spring weather. And the dates of that post-spawn period will be considerably later farther north.”

The first key temperature to keep in mind is 65 degrees. That’s when the larger crappie move to the first drop-off on their way to offshore structure. By 70 degrees, the majority of crappie have moved to at least the first drop or shallower ledge areas.

“By 75 degrees, basically all crappie have moved to deeper ledges or main creek/river channel drops,” continues Duckworth. “They remain in that offshore area all summer until water temperature drops to around 65 degrees, at which point some crappie move back to the shallows for a brief time.”

Cover Or Not?
Offshore crappie are a paradox to many anglers. Fishermen who were filling their livewell with crappie during spring by fishing what they could see with the naked eye must now rely on a depthfinder to find fish. But matters are further complicated because offshore crappie are nomadic.

One day you can be successfully targeting crappie around deep cover on the ledges, and the next time out the crappie schools apparently have left the cover. You cannot rely on a single location or single presentation because the fish are only relating to ledges, not holding on them all the time.

“Crappie will hold temporarily on a drop-off that is barren of cover, but they certainly prefer areas with cover,” explains Duckworth. “And the longer they hold around cover, the better we like it. On our older reservoirs, it’s often hard to find natural cover in deep water except for a few scattered stumps. That’s the reason crappie anglers love to sink brushpiles and stakebeds.”

Whitehead believes brushpiles are best for attracting and holding deep-water crappie. However, he actually prefers sinking stakebeds over brush because they are more difficult for other anglers to discover on their depthfinders. By marking the sites on his GPS when he places structures, Whitehead has no problem going right back to all his spots.

“Whether brushpiles or stakebeds, I place them at different depths up and down the drop-off,” explains Whitehead. “This gives the crappie various options when a cold front pushes through. I simply rotate through the cover at different depths until I find the area that crappie have moved to.”

Duckworth’s favorites are stakebeds that he builds from PVC pipe.

“There are specific advantages to PVC pipe structures,” he says. “They do not rot away, baits do not get hung in them and other anglers will not be able to find them easily because water-filled PVC does not show up on a depthfinder.”

Duckworth lays out a string of PVC pipe beds as a highway going from the spawning flat to the first ledge or drop-off. Then he positions additional stakebeds along the top of the ledge for about 50 feet.

“It’s like building a series of condos with a great view, creating a community area that the crappie school will want to return to year after year and hopefully stick around for extended periods of time,” jokes Duckworth.

Getting crappie to stay put all the time is an impossible task because the schools will range some distance when pursuing prey. However, as long as the movement of bait is routine rather than a relocation to an entirely different area, crappie will eventually return to the defined structural drop and the cover. Yet it’s that roaming tendency of reservoir crappie that forces anglers to be prepared with presentation options.

Presentations To Deep Cover
“When crappie are hanging around cover, I prefer to tight-line the ledges, as do many other anglers,” says Whitehead. “However, most anglers will tight-line parallel to the ledges, adjusting the depth of baits so they just skim the tops of brushpiles. This will work if the crappie are fairly active and sitting over the brushpiles. But when crappie are hunkered down, either lower in the brush or hanging on the face of the drop-off, I take a different approach.”

Whitehead undertakes a frontal assault for the tough fishing days. He positions his boat over deeper water, sets his lines so they come into contact with the structure and actually bumps into the brush or stakebeds as he eases up to the ledge.

“By pushing into the ledge, my baits are put right in front of moody crappie that are reluctant to rise to a lure,” acknowledges Whitehead. “This approach triggers crappie that most anglers don’t come close to catching. It’s particularly effective for larger size crappie, especially on days the wind is blowing into the ledge or drop-off.”

Whitehead’s tight-line setup consists of 12-foot B’n’M Pro Staff Trolling rods with Pflueger Echelon casting reels and 10-pound Silver Thread AN40 line. The lures are 2-inch Yum Vibra Tubes held at a precise depth with ¾- or 1-ounce Xcalibur TG Weights.

Duckworth agrees that tight-lining is an efficient approach when deep-water crappie are holding near cover. However, if his clients are proficient with spinning equipment and understand the countdown approach, then he will have them cast.

His outfits consist of a 6-foot medium-light Fenwick spinning rod, Abu Garcia 802 Cardinal reel and 6-pound Trilene Low Vis Green line.

After identifying the exact position of the cover, clients will cast a jig, count it down to a particular depth, then engage the reel and swim the jig slowly back so it just ticks the top of the cover.

“While certain other action-tailed jigs will work, I rely mainly on 1/8- or 3/16-ounce Road Runner Pro Series Heads with willow-leaf blades,” Duckworth says. “The new willow-leaf Road Runners run truer in deep water, whereas the older, rounder blades wanted to rise. My favorite summer color is a red head with blue body and chartreuse tail.”

A Time For Cranks
When sonar cannot identify crappie on previously productive ledges and your presentation of baits to cover does not net crappie, then you are left to ponder whether the fish went on a road trip. Trolling crankbaits can quickly eliminate water while providing a strategy for catching crappie.

When crappie roam in search of shad, Duckworth breaks out the Bandit crankbaits and his B’n’M’s Duckworth Signature Float and Fly Rods.

“The action on these specially designed spinning rods is ideal for pulling cranks, in addition to the original float-and-fly purpose,” he explains. “There are three different lengths in this series — 8, 9 and 10 feet — allowing me to stagger crankbaits.”

Three rods — one of each length — are placed in port and starboard rod holders. Taking into account the rods directly off the stern, Duckworth has a spread of more than 20 feet. He uses his electric trolling motor to ease along the structure at about 1 mile per hour.

Duckworth’s initial trolling passes are fairly parallel to the ledge, checking for crappie that may be near any pre-positioned cover. Additional trolling passes will extend to the adjacent flat, keeping an eye to the depthfinder for any signs of baitfish schools.

“I use Bandit Series 100, 200 and 300 to strain water depths from 8 to nearly 20 feet,” Duckworth says. “I’ll include several different color patterns in the setup, ranging from natural shad patterns to bold contrast colors. Under sunny skies and fairly clear water, natural baitfish colors generally produce best. But for overcast skies or dingy water, something with chartreuse often catches their attention.”

Whitehead turns to crankbaits under the toughest conditions. When your sonar reveals crappie are suspended in the river channel, that’s about as tough a situation as you’ll face. This usually occurs after a very severe summer cold front.

“The only way I know to trigger shut-down suspended crappie is with a crankbait,” explains Whitehead. “These post-front fish generally suspend over the channel or deep water at the same depth as the top of the ledge. I’ll troll parallel to the ledge but with the boat over the channel. If that does not work, then I’ll troll back and forth from one side of the channel to the other. As long as I keep moving, I’ll figure out a pass angle and speed that produce fish, which I can then duplicate in other areas.”

Whitehead’s preferred crankbaits for crappie are Rebel’s Deep Wee R and Bomber Fat Free Shad, which he trolls on 8-pound Silver Thread AN40 line. His most productive summer patterns are black/chartreuse, blue/chartreuse and crawdad.