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.

Another key late-fall-into-winter pattern on hill-land reservoirs involves bridge abutments. These areas are among the most popular targets for night fishermen. Most bridges on hill-land impoundments cross creek arms, because the main body of the reservoir is too wide. When these bridges cross the main reservoir, or cross a creek arm close enough to the mouth to span channels at least 40 feet deep, crappies often use the base of central abutments as wintering sites, especially where the lip of the channel is in close proximity to an abutment.

Key spots in this case include: The lips of the channel directly adjacent to bridge pilings; riprap banks dropping into depths of 20 feet or so; and stumpfields, brushpiles, or timber reaching out to the lip of the channel.

Crappies in the upper third of highland or hill-land reservoirs move downstream, away from the river and into the main lake. This movement takes them down the main river channel to a point where its maximum depth reaches at least 35 feet. From that point on, they seem to search for a bend hole with suitable habitat with respect to cover, depth, environmental stability, and forage.

Mid- to lower-reservoir crappies that spend the summer in creek arms or the main lake are looking for environmental stability, as well. The classic fall destination is submerged, standing timber on the slope of a shoreline point (generally a primary or secondary point) where it tapers down to the edge of the main river channel.

Standing timber is the ingredient that turns a good point into a honey hole. Use sonar to find good trees in the proper depth range (40 to 50 feet is ideal). Move around the area at a slow idle and watch your electronics. In cold water, crappies suspend vertically and could appear anywhere within the timber, from the bottom to within 20 feet or so of the surface. In the best spots, sonar reveals tight schools within the branches of the trees. Surprisingly, one tree may hold hundreds of crappies, while a similar tree nearby seems devoid of life. The same trees can attract all the crappies year after year—until, of course, the trees rot away. Only a crappie knows for sure, but there must be subtle differences in the structural makeup of a tree, or in the water quality in the immediate vicinity of each type of wood, which acts to attract or repel baitfish, crappies, or both.

On many highland and deeper reservoirs, from Connecticut to Utah, crappies winter in coves or shoreline “cuts.” Anywhere within these areas, a fallen tree with its roots on the bank and its top under 30 to 40 feet of water is a key spot for fall crappies. In less forested areas of deeper canyon reservoirs, a rockslide, where a segment of canyon wall has crumbled, often provides the only “shelf space” in those critical 35- to 50-foot depths crappies prefer to winter in.

Even in heavily forested New England, where many highland reservoirs exist, a land or rockslide can provide key habitat for fall crappies. From a layman’s perspective, the geology of new England is simple. If it isn’t rock, it’s sand and gravel. A surface layer of topsoil and intertwined roots holds everything together. Along the shoreline of deep impoundments, this layer of topsoil quickly washes away. If the underlying layer is sand and gravel, it soon erodes. Eventually banks cave in, and in some instances the resulting landslides take large chunks of real estate into the steep-sided reservoir. Sometimes the landslide takes down entire, full-grown hardwoods. It’s not uncommon to find such trees 45 feet down and 25 feet or more out from the new bank. And that’s the purest definition of a prime-time crappie hot spot in a highland reservoir, when autumn rolls around.

Many reservoir crappies make a distinct shallow movement in fall. Ronnie Capps, a Crappiethon Classic and tournament champion many times over, spends a lot of time chasing hill-land crappies in Tennessee. “It’s not just the patterns that are overlooked in fall,” Capps says, “it’s the entire fishery. I see very few boats in October, and that’s the best time of year to find numbers of big crappies.” In these reservoirs, gizzard shad provide the primary forage. “It’s common for crappies to invade shallow 6-foot flats in October,” Capps adds, “and I rarely see another boat working these shallow fish. As the water cools in September, gizzard shad move shallow, feeding right on top. Crappies follow, moving up the same migrational highways they used when leaving these same flats after spawning in spring. These routes leading fish from deep to shallow can be channels, cuts, weedlines, or depressions in the lake bottom. This is an active feeding migration during which crappies forage heavily.”

After migrating, crappies move directly to flats and humps in the 5- to 15-foot range, about two-thirds of the way toward the back of a creek arm. “Look for areas with several thousand square yards of 6- to 7-foot depths,” Capps advises. “Shad school in tight groups, and stumpfields or low brushpiles are good places to find crappies waiting in ambush. Crappies may remain in these areas until late November, and feeding activity stays intense throughout this period. As temperatures cool below 50°F, however, the fish disperse over larger areas and begin to suspend, becoming harder to locate,” he says. “I use sonar, run farther, and troll more at this point, looking for any structure that might hold a concentration of fish. Creek arms, creek channels, and vertical structure attract most or all of the crappies in the lake, by the time temperatures dip into the mid-40°F range. On overcast days, crappies hug bottom right against the structure. On clear, calm, sunny days, they migrate vertically and suspend. Crappies may move right up to the surface when the water’s cold, to bask in the sun.”