Hill-land impoundments are typically clearer than flatland reservoirs. Depths near the dam tend to be in the 100-foot range. Contours throughout the lake are steeper. Creek arms are longer, narrower, and more numerous, and are the places most crappies call home most of the year in these deeper environments. Depths near the mouth of a creek arm, where it intersects the main lake, can be in the 40- to 50-foot range.

Highland reservoirs are even deeper, with maximum depths often reaching several hundred feet. Creek arms tend to be 60 feet or deeper at the mouth. Typically the water is quite clear and the lake has little standing timber, with lower fertility—which equates to fewer pounds of predatory fish. But potential for trophy-sized specimens of all species seems to increase.

When the subject turns to seasonal migrations, crappies in highland and hill-land reservoirs may be nothing like their nomadic cousins of the flatlands. In these environments, they may remain within the general area of a single main-lake point, cove, or creek arm all year. Habitat in the depth ranges crappies prefer (50 feet at the deepest, most of the year) is limited in these environments, compared to shallower flatland impoundments.

Or crappies may be true to their river heritage and move many miles to spawn. It is quite typical for hill-land crappies to winter in and around timber on primary points (a primary point being one at the mouth of a creek arm, where it intersects the main river channel). When the water at the surface approaches 50°F, they may pack up and move upstream within the adjacent creek arm.

Little scientific observation in the form of tracking studies exists on this topic, but some professional anglers and guides from various parts of the country have described the movement like this: As the surface water warms to about 47°F, crappies rise straight up out of their wintering habitat. They linger within 5 feet of the surface for about 24 to 48 hours, then suddenly make like bees for the upstream sections of the creek arm. They don’t hold or stage anywhere until they reach the point where the maximum depth of the creek channel tapers up to about 35 feet. At that point they spread out and stage for several weeks, sometimes for more than a month. The area they inhabit continues from that point, where the maximum depth in the creek arm is 35 feet, upstream to a point where the maximum depth is about 20 feet.

During the time it takes for the water to warm from about 50°F to 60°F, crappies spend a lot of time suspending throughout this staging area, which is why we call the upper one third of a major creek arm the Prespawn Suspension Zone. Guide Bill Fletcher of Arkansas theorizes that this zone represents one of the most environmentally stable areas in the reservoir during early spring. “The nights can be quite cold in early spring,” he said. “In water shallower than 20 feet, like the back ends of bays and coves, where crappies eventually spawn, water temperature can fluctuate quite a bit over a 24-hour period. Crappies don’t like to yo-yo around much. Water needs enough volume to provide stability for them. But they apparently don’t like too much water volume, either. Back up the creek arm, where the water is 45 to 55 feet deep, crappies just move through in spring. They never hold on anything long enough to be caught until they reach that magic depth range.”

When crappies first appear in that range, they tend to hover a long distance from shore for days, typically holding right over the creek channel in the top half of the water column. Forage species like shad and shiners prefer stability, too, and often hold in the upper part of the water column in the same areas. In all cases, they’re moving closer to spring spawning sites during prespawn movements. Warm, stable weather extended over several days eventually triggers shallow movements into fallen trees, submerged brush, reeds, and other shoreline-related cover. Cold fronts, however, send them back out into the Suspension Zone.

How deep crappies suspend depends primarily on water clarity and available light. In low light, on cloudy days, or in cloudy water, crappies tend to hover within 6 feet of the surface over depths of 15 to 25 feet. On bright days in clear water, they can hold 10 to 15 feet down over depths of 25 to 35 feet. Crappies have sensitive eyes, and they seek comfort levels with respect to light penetration. Suspended crappies at this time of year can be highly active, easily caught by trolling crankbaits or spider rigging most of the time. The most active fish suspend at the same level throughout the Suspension Zone.

Brushpile, crib, stake bed, old discarded Christmas trees with cement galoshes—whatever form it takes, a manmade fish attractor provides crucial habitat in these often barren zones of spring activity. “A brushpile is like a McDonald’s,” Fletcher says. “Put it in the right spot and crappies show up in numbers to eat there.” Since the subject here has been open-water suspended crappies, you may reasonably wonder how brushpiles factor in. Well, if crappies hold 5 feet down over 35 feet of water 100 yards from shore, chances are good that a tree or brushpile is somewhere nearby. Knowing where key brushpiles are and marking them on GPS can be crucial, even when crappies are suspending.

“Crappies follow river and creek channels like highways,” Fletcher said. “Brushpiles placed in strategic spots along those highways hold fish. Crappies may not be on or in the brushpile itself, but it’s a baitfish magnet. If they can’t find forage in the open water, crappies crash the brushpiles this time of year and chase baitfish out. When you see crappies suspended anywhere near a brushpile, they’re actively feeding.”

During the Prespawn Period at Lake Norfork, a classic highland impoundment in Arkansas, the Suspension Zone in one of the major creek arms will be several miles long. With so much territory to search, it pays to have a good starting point. One of the best is a “channel crossing,” where the creek channel bends close to one shoreline, then bends again and runs over to the other. “It’s an absolute,” Fletcher said. “Put a brushpile anywhere on a channel crossing and prespawn crappies will hold there. Absolutely always.”

Crappies at this time of year often turn on during the afternoon. Look for a creek arm, cove, or finger that lies north-south. The fish tend to use the east side in the morning and the west side in the afternoon.

In addition to large expanses of excessively deep water, hill-land and highland reservoir banks can be markedly devoid of cover. Shallow bays, backwaters, coves, and inlets are scarce and often limited to the upper reaches of impoundments. These limited shallow areas that provide spawning grounds for crappies often must be shared with bass, bluegills, catfish, and sunfish. Highland reservoirs, in particular, warm late, simultaneously sending several species of fish to compete for limited spawning habitat at the same time.

During winter, crappies use deep cover on main-lake points. Brushpiles, fallen trees, and standing timber become magnets, holding crappies most of the year in some cases. Rocky points tend not to attract many of them unless timber and brush are present. Shorelines are generally steep, and points may not extend far from shore. Crappies winter among the branches of fallen trees or the limbs of brushpiles in depths of 30 to 60 feet, or around rockpiles at the base of these quick-dropping points. The best points for locating wintering crappies are usually near intersections, where creek arms join the main lake. As spring approaches, crappies that will spawn there slowly ascend the slope, using increasingly shallower cover as the water warms.

While winter depths of 40 feet are most common, crappies in spring often hold 15 to 20 feet deep, depending on water clarity. In cloudy water, they may move much shallower and stay there for longer periods of time. Active fish often suspend near secondary elements like logs, trees, and brushpiles as the water warms from the low 40°F range into the low 50°F range. Where cover is scarce, crappies hold and suspend on breaklines from a shallow shelf into deeper water. Breakline fish often immediately move shallower into areas that warm most quickly—channels, canals, and shallow, dark-bottomed bays—in this temperature regime. Cold fronts can drive them out again in spring.

Crappies throughout their range spawn in temperatures of about 68°F up to about 74°F, though temperature is not the main determining factor. Day length, in fact, is probably more critical. Science is discovering that most fish, including crappies, have a sort of internal calendar triggered by the length of the day. As the days grow longer in spring, they spawn within a certain window. That window, which may be influenced by events like full or dark moon phases, falls between certain calendar dates each year and has been determined over time, as well as and through genetics. It’s Mother Nature’s way of ensuring survivability—of making certain young-of-the-year fish attain a safe size by autumn, leaving them better prepared to make it through the winter.

In all reservoirs types, crappies look for sand and marl bottom—soft but not mucky—to carry out their spawning activities. A mix of gravel and sand is preferred over silt and other fine particles that allow eggs to sink to levels where oxygen is deficient. Though crappies have been observed spawning on the branches of woodcover in some environments, they seem to prefer spawning right on bottom where proper substrates can be found. If such cover is available, crappies spawn in and around reeds, brush, bulrushes, cypress trees, stickups, stumps, or maidencane in 2 to 6 feet of water. If no cover is available, crappies may spawn a little deeper on open sand, sand-marl, or sand-gravel flats.