Fri, May 5th, 2023 - 5:01pm
January 09, 2023 - 9:00am | By James McCarty
The Flag Outdoors Expert Steve Carney has your weekly Outdoors Angle right here!
As we head into the early part of January, the crappies always exhibit a movement into deeper water. This can be anywhere from 20 to 50 feet depending on the lake.
The best strategy is to drill your holes and use your electronics to scan the deepest water and look for activity. Crappies almost always suspend at mid depths, usually around half the depth of the water you are fishing. An example would be if you are fishing 50 feet expect the crappies to be suspended halfway down at say 25 feet. The reason they are inhabiting these depths is the presence of food such as insect larvae, mayfly larvae and bloodworms. The presence of food is indicated by lots of green lines that rise to the surface and can be easily seen on your electronics. If no activity is seen or if fish are not present, then you move to a new location. I never drop a line until I see activity. Spend about 10 minutes scanning and then move. Almost all of these deep basins have muddy bottoms which is where the insects are hatching. If there is food present, the fish will be there. Most of the insect hatches are after dark but are sometimes visible on cloudy days.
Don't wait for the fish to come to you...be proactive and go hunting for fish and you will have success.
Steve Carney is The Flag WZFG Outdoors expert. He can be heard every Thursday morning at 8:05 on AM 1100 and 92.3 FM WZFG. Check out his weekly podcast on am1100theflag.com and hear his Outdoors Angle reports every Friday on AM 1100 and 92.3 FM WZFG. You can also visit stevecarneyoutdoors.com for more information.
