Key On The Forage Connection To Stay On Their Tails

Finding crappies in shad systems is often a matter of finding small shad. Young shad typically inhabit open-water areas where they feed on zooplankton, suspending at depths where plankton abundance is high. Among several studies, the highest densities of gizzard shad fry were at depths ranging from right under the surface down to 20 feet or more, depending on the body of water.

The depths shad use have been linked to water clarity. In more turbid water they’re found closer to the surface, where brighter conditions improve feeding efficiency. Both shad and crappies were found moving shallower towards the surface, after heavy rains caused muddy conditions in normally clearer reservoirs.

Locational shifts in young shad also are affected by vertical migrations of zooplankton. Zooplankton tend to be deeper in the water column down to the depth of the thermocline during the day, and migrate towards the surface during low light and into the night. Also, after a period of strong wind, plankton densities are often highest on windward shorelines, and young shad and crappies often follow.

To locate crappies on shad patterns, search areas from confined open water to off-shore with electronics. Watch for baitfish clouds that coincide with discrete fish marks, which could be feeding crappies. Activity can be at any depth above the thermocline, likely becoming shallower in dim conditions. Finding little on sonar, along with dimpling activity on the water, may mean that shad and crappies are near the surface.

These crappies are used to chasing down baitfish, so a wide variety of presentations can be effective, from livebait to artificials. Drifting livebait, casting or vertically presenting small tubes or jigs tipped with small plastics, and casting or trolling crankbaits are all good ways to catch crappies feeding on small shad. Spider-rigging with multiple tubes and livebait rigs is popular in the South for pursuing open-water slabs. Small shad also use shoreline areas periodically, often at night, so don’t overlook potential near-shore patterns.

Other Baitfish

In waters where shad don’t exist, which include many natural lakes in the northern U.S., crappies eat a variety of baitfish species, including shiners, minnows, and the young of gamefish species. This also can be the case in shad waters, in years when poor spawning results in low shad abundance. It’s a pattern that can emerge in rivers, as well.

In Grove and Maple lakes, Minnesota, foods eaten by black crappies were investigated by Minnesota Department of Conservation researchers Keith Seaburg and John Moyle. Fish, including small perch, bass, sunfish, and crappies, made up to 61 percent of stomach volume in larger crappies. In a Canadian study from the University of Ottawa, Ontario, the most common fish species in the stomachs of black crappie from the Ottawa River were golden and emerald shiners and silvery minnows.

Some shiners and minnows only reach a length of a couple of inches, making them vulnerable to crappies year-round. Others, like golden and common shiners, grow quite large, so it’s the young of these species that are important to crappies. Shiner spawning can last for months, beginning in spring and continuing through summer, which provides longer-term availability of smaller shiners.