Key On The Forage Connection To Stay On Their Tails

Even within the same water body, crappies may key on a particular food in one area and another food elsewhere—something to watch for if you’re familiar with the bottom content of the waters you fish. In vast Lake Okeechobee, Florida, for instance, Lothian Ager of the Florida Freshwater Game and Fish Commission found that black crappies ate chironomid (midge) larvae and Chaoborus (phantom midge) larvae in one area with mud substrate, but these were missing from diets of crappies collected in an area where the bottom was marl and rock.

Finding the Key

Locating the right pattern for crappies is more straightforward on certain waters, such as those with a strong base of shad or other baitfish, where crappies are more predictable and patterns fairly consistent from year to year. Seek advice from a local baitshop and they’re likely to offer up a bucket of minnows, a handful of jigs tipped with plastics, or jig-spinners—anything mimicking the dominant baitfish.

In other waters with a more mixed bag of potential forage, patterns can be harder to establish. Staying on crappies can require keeping an eye on what’s happening and a fair knowledge of what forage types are available. You might be on a strong minnow bite, then the pattern shuts off or the crappies move. If you observe a hatch of mayflies strengthening, try switching tactics, with a fly or an insect-imitating plastic under a float. Crappies also might be plucking larvae off bottom, or tucked up close to shore, feeding on schools of newly hatched shiners.

Get to know what critters live in the lakes you fish. Natural resource agencies often have reports available describing what forage base a water contains. Becoming familiar with scientific names can help decipher inventories. More information about specific lakes and research reports is becoming available on the Internet, so a bit of surfing might help provide clues to help your crappie fishing.

Check out what crappies are eating. They often spit up gut contents in livewells, or you can check the stomachs of those you harvest. You might find foods that you wouldn’t have thought about in your fishing. Learning about some of the more common groups of invertebrates and baitfish can help you determine what might be available, and when.

Crappies can change habits quickly, having the advantage of being one step ahead. The more you know about what they might be up to, the closer you are to staying on their tails.