Seasoned Perspectives On The Midnight Shift

Many ice fishermen tell me that the average size of the crappies they catch at night is larger than during the day. That might happen on some lakes, but probably not for the reason these anglers suspect. Often their baits are just bothered less by sunfish and perch, which allows more crappies to find the bait. Large crappies, in particular, may observe a bait for several seconds, while a small sunfish will rush in and engulf it.

One thing I can’t explain, though, is how an area can seem void of fish just before dark, then suddenly full of crappies as soon as the sun dips below the trees. The middle of the flasher dial lights up, and all of the fish are biting. I used to think that the fish were moving in from deeper water, but sometimes the angler in the middle of a large group is first to see the fish.

This phenomenon is common on many large lakes, such as Red Lake in Minnesota. You look around and see hundreds of people fishing, but no one—I mean not one person—is catching fish. Then the sun dips below the trees, and everyone is catching fish. Those fish were somewhere, seemingly everywhere, but none of them were biting until the light conditions were right.

It’s Still About Location

The type of area I fish at night depends on the type of lake. Many of the lakes I fish are what I call basin lakes. These waters have few structural features, and crappies usually suspend off the bottom over the deepest water. On lakes full of structure, though, I usually find crappies relating to some structural element during the day, then suspending over deeper water adjacent to these structures after dark.

Unfortunately, many of the lakes that anglers consider featureless often contain brushpiles, fish cribs, or other manmade structures that attract and hold crappies throughout much of the ice season. This kind of cover is much more important on barren lakes than on lakes full of bays, points, and green weeds. In a truly featureless lake, I usually begin my search in the deepest available water.

The best areas on a structured lake depend on when I’m fishing. Early in the season, for example, I’m confident that I’ll catch crappies in narrow areas. Narrows can be a necked-down area joining two lake sections, the area off the tip of a long shallow bar, or the deep water between two bars. Scour holes that form at the mouth of a creek or river also can be productive at first-ice.

Later in the season, I usually move to the largest bay on the lake and start drilling holes in the deepest water within the bay. In some lakes, crappies relate to green weeds during the day, then move to the edge of the weeds or suspend over deeper water after dark. In a particularly large bay, it sometimes pays to move a bit looking for fish on sonar. In smaller bays, though, it’s usually better to stake out a spot and wait for fish to move through.