Do they go deep or shallow?

Do you look for wood or brush piles?

Not a solid answer to this one. Typically, they go deep but on some lakes they will move up into the feeder creeks and can be caught just a few feet down. Crappie almost always relate to some type structure but they again on some lakes they will suspend in deep open water. The challenge in crappie fishing this time of year is just finding them. Everyone has their favorite places to look for them. I still beat the brush piles this time of year.

They were on the brush in 25' last weekend. They were biting good enough to keep me from going quail hunting.

The fish follow the bait, bait is the key. If you find a bait ball in 20ft of water...then start looking for brush/rock piles in 20ft of water.

Interesting take I found on-line,..
"Could there be a better place than a deep-water brush pile to find winter crappies? Most anglers think not. But when targeting trophy crappies, you may want to avoid brush piles entirely. Unlike small crappies, which find safety from predators in brush piles, crappies weighing 2 pounds or more aren't on the menu of many meat-eaters. Their own appetite is substantial, however, so they follow schools of shad, feasting on the high-protein baitfish to fuel their internal furnaces.
"Lots of brush piles placed in an area may actually keep big crappies away," said Oklahoma City crappie guide Todd Huckabee. "The schools of shad big crappies feed on prefer open water without obstructions that block their movements. If brush piles are in the area, the fish must go around them. They don't like this, so they avoid these areas"

Interesting idea for sure. Huckabee has been around the block a few times and is successful so who would want to argue with him. I think the mystery is part of what makes them so much fun.

I don't know about this man. I caught my PB 2.64 crappie on brush in 35 FOW in the winter. Big crappie still relate to cover.

A lot of them are on deeper brush.

Caught my PB 2.86 lbs. in 7 FOW on brush a couple weeks ago. Once you find fish I think luck plays a part in the slab daddy's. I think a safe answer to your question would be both, deep and shallow water.

sunday every crappie we caught was 2 cranks off the bottom . 21 FOW

This past weekend on Palestine caught several big fish just off the bottom in 30 fow and following day caught big fish in 4 fow. It's worth noting these were the first keeper fish I have caught in our shallow slips in over 2 months. The previous two years we didn't start catching big fish shallow until the first week of February.

I understand Todd Huckabee's point but, it doesn't apply to these lakes that are chock full of timber.

Hell a big fish couldn't feed from dodging all the timber!!!!

I have caught very few fish in open water as compared to the fish caught on cover, mainly because I don't fish open water often.

I believe big fish like to rest at a certain type and place of cover 90% of the year, well that's how I target them anyways.

Been doing very well in the creeks myself till the flood on Sunday night.

Some good info given here. What most of us have determined is crappie are where you find them.
I'll add my
Water temp and time of year are the two main things that determine where crappie go in winter. Crappie will start to migrate to deeper water and creeks in late Oct early Nov. This happens no matter the water temp. Just like ducks/geese fly south. Most of us find we can catch crappie in 8-14 FOW right up till Nov then numbers at that depth greatly decrease. That's when they start to move.

Once water temp reaches 52 or lower, the bait fish seek warmer water, which is up in creeks and the deeper parts of the lake. The migration of the bait fish gets stronger in these directions the colder the water gets. Crappie in the creeks was covered perfectly by fishinaholic2 in the post about crappie in creeks.

Crappie heading to deeper water is a result of bait fish movement. Once water temps get to 52 and colder and hold there, the migration is strong and more crappie move with the bait fish. Crappie will be there deep on structure or in open water; doesn't matter. I've caught them, big and small, in both places.

When water temps move between 52-57 like this year, bait fish can move anywhere, especially at night, and usually do. Crappie follow making crappie harder to locate. With the water temps this year, crappie could be anywhere on any given day.

Docks are an anomaly. Crappie like docks for shade and hiding. You may catch winter crappie at 8 ft under a dock in 30 FOW. I've done that many times. But that pattern won't repeat on the open water of the lake.

Once mid Feb arrives, mother nature urges the fish it's time to spawn. Regardless of water temp, some fish will start to roam shallow looking for warmer water. Others stay deep longer until the urge hits them. Once this movement starts, crappie become increasingly hard to locate. They may be in 5 ft one morning and back in 30 ft the next morning. The crappie will move several miles in a day or two. They may start staging mid way up the lake waiting for the temp to improve. You may find a 100 fish grouped up on a couple trees in 25 FOW one day and not a single fish there the next morning.

This cold - warm - cold - warm weather is making the fish more unpredictable than normal. My last three trips have produced well in deep water. But that's the only place I fished. All the other fish have come from docks in 30 FOW fishing 8 ft deep early morning. If the sun is out, no clouds, the fish move to 12-18 ft as the sun gets higher. Bite usually slows by 9:30 -10 am.

I am no expert, but I believe that crappie live in the water this time of year! What say Ye Ken and Kirk...am I wrong? Good thread, keep up the good work!