Cover Categories

In those early-spring excursions, crappies favored two types of vegetation in two bays. But plenty of other options exist.

Cattails—In a tracking study on two South Dakota waters, crappies favored cattails for spawning sites in one of the waters, a narrow reservoir.* But they didn’t just move into the edge of the emergent grasses; they burrowed into them. Ultrasonic telemetry equipment allowed the researchers to locate a fish to within a square yard, but murky water and dense plants prevented them from visually detecting the fish. In that study, several crappies couldn’t be found, and the biologists felt they might have ventured into grassbeds so thick that they couldn’t be heard on the hydrophone or approached via boat.

Cattails are prime crappie cover in darker waters where submerged vegetation is limited. The stalks stand year-round, though in winter they turn yellowish-brown. In early spring, crappies swim among the grouped stalks, feeding on minnows and invertebrates. Later they spawn on nests swept on harder spots within the stands of plants.

Like lily pads, cattails tend to grow in shallow bays and creek arms protected from prevailing winds and warming early in spring. In the South Dakota tracking study, another key factor emerged. The study reservoir contained two major arms, but only one had a deeper channel running through it. The crappies strongly favored that arm over the shallower one, which also offered abundant cattail beds.

Maidencane—Maidencane is an emergent grass that grows in water from 2 to 6 feet deep. This plant provides more corridors among its stalks than cattails, offering excellent spring habitat for crappies, as well as largemouth bass and sunfish. As a rule, maidencane grows on harder bottoms than cattails and more often thrives on offshore humps and bars.

Bulrushes—Several species of rushes or reeds offer prime cover for crappies in spring. Bulrushes grow in stands that vary greatly in density. At times, clumps of stalks grow several feet apart, providing access lanes and pockets in every direction. At other times, the plants form an almost impenetrable wall. In any case, they grow best on a combination of sand and fine gravel.

Not coincidentally, crappies often select this type of bottom for nest building. Occasionally smallmouths also spawn here, while bluegills and largemouth bass typically find slightly softer bottoms, and rock bass favor areas without much cover.

Once water temperatures rise into the mid- to upper-50°F range, crappies begin exploring stands of bulrushes, first holding in the deepest outside fringes of the grass and later pushing toward shore in the shallowest reeds. In clear lakes, crappies can be spotted by perching high in the bow and slowly meandering through the area with a trolling motor.

Submerged vegetation—On lakes or reservoirs without shallow bays, crappies hold much deeper until water warms into the mid- to upper-50°F range. Submerged plants offer prime cover in water from 8 to 12 feet deep. Often the bright sprigs of cabbage can be seen glistening in the depths on a sunny day. Suspending a minnow, grub, or small jig can produce steady action, as fish tend to be grouped in particular spots.

Pondweeds offer rather elegant cover, but crappies aren’t aesthetically inclined. They also rest under the slimy remains of dead coontail and algae in early spring, which hides them and also seems to absorb heat as the dark mats float under the surface. This type of vegetation is difficult to fish, particularly as it’s often ultra-shallow, and the crappies in it are spooky.