In the expansive environments found in hill-land and highland reservoirs, crappies may remain in relatively shallow patterns all summer. Those in the upstream or upper third of hill-land reservoirs often spend the summer in shallow deadfalls, logs, beaver dens, and stumpfields. The key to finding them is to go upstream to a point where the river channel disappears. At some point, water carried into the impoundment by the river dumps its load of silt and sand and eventually buries the river channel in the uppermost sections of the lake. Drop back from that point until you find a distinct channel, and begin your search there.

Hill-land reservoirs house some of the most prolific crappie bites in the United States. Places like Weiss Reservoir (Georgia-Alabama), Lake Fork, Toledo Bend (Texas), and Kentucky Lake are known for consistently producing numbers of slabs, with many topping 2 pounds. In the mid-sections of these reservoirs, crappies tend to inhabit larger creek arms during summer, and multiple patterns can be producing at the same time. It’s not uncommon to find big crappies scattered throughout a shallow cove and feeding in the top foot or two of the water column during the evening and into the night, while at the same time others can be found in fallen trees, submerged timber, stumpfields, and along the edges of hydrilla beds in 5 to 20 feet of water near primary and shoreline points in the main body of the creek arm.

Not all creek arms hold crappies. The best bets are the larger ones, with some depths exceeding 45 feet in the main channel, and with good woodcover in the back ends of the connected coves and along the major shoreline points. It‘s not uncommon for anglers to leave crappies alone during the summer, especially in the huge, sprawling, hill-land venues of the South. Anglers in surveys claim the weather’s too hot, or that crappies make less suitable table fare in summer, or that bass, striper, trout, or catfishing occupies most of their time. It’s possible that most summer angling for crappies in the South takes place during nighttime hours.

Crappies inhabit the thickest timber, weedbeds, or stumpfields they can find along the banks of a major creek arm. When hunting creek-arm crappies on huge reservoirs, it helps to look at the year as a process. Think shallow and near the back end of coves, when crappies spawn. From that point on they move back out toward the main reservoir, and it takes them all summer to get there. Any dense, expansive cover between those spawning sites and the primary points at the intersection of the creek arm and the main lake could hold crappies in summer. The later in summer it gets, the closer to the main lake your search should start.

Crappies are not in the cover all the time. During low-light periods at the beginning and end of the day—or on a particularly dark or windy day—crappies will invade the cover. During the remainder of the daylight hours, they’re typically suspended away from the cover or buried deep within it for shade.

FALL TO WINTER

Hill-Land And Highland Reservoirs

The most classic winter pattern involves submerged, standing timber on the slope of a shoreline point that drops to the edge of the main river channel. In essence, the best points are ones where the river or creek channel bends in fairly close to shore—but not too close. Crappies love trees in areas like this, especially those that rise from bottom to within 15 to 25 feet of the surface. Whole trees are better than rotted, pole-like trunks. Having no trees at all often equates to no crappies. Finding such trees often requires some on-the-water research, because most topographical maps fail to indicate where standing timber remains. And most of the trees in most Southern reservoirs are slowly rotting away. Placing a few tall brushpiles on these points eventually brings crappies back.