Hi guys,
During the times crappie spend in deep water, do they stay in the deepest water in the part of the lake they're in, or do they hang around the deepest part of the whole lake? Just courious about what you guys think. Thanks

Depends on time of year, lake and given conditions. Throughout the year, there are crappie in every depth of the lakes around here IMO.

Crappie follow the Shad. Shad follow the plankton. Wind blows the plankton around the lake.

Too deep there isn't any oxygen.

Coolest water temperature during the summer is usually the zone for Crappie.

Crappie do migrate in the lake.
Wintertime = deeper water
Summertime = depends on the thermocline but they're definitely not deep as in winter.

In winter, if the deeper water is close to their summer hangout, they may move 1/2 mile from 12 FOW to 30 FOW.
Others in the upper reaches of the lake may move 10 miles to 30 FOW.

All good advice, another good choice is bridge columns... Crappies like vertical structure and shade.

during the summer they stay in areas that they find comfortable and the amount of ultra violet light penetration has alot to do with this. many folks wrongfully believe that the upper 10 feet of water column is cooler in the morning and the fish are therefore suspended, but that is not the case, same as with docks, the water under a dock is no cooler than water exposed to the sun, the molecules in the water are continuously mixing and the lake water temp is relatively the same throughout the lake. you as a human feel cooler and yes you are cooler due to being blocked from the exposure of the sun, the uv light isnt as intense is why they are suspended shallower. If you dont believe this, then next time your out on the lake, hop out of your boat on the sunny side under a bridge, then swim thru the shaded side, you will see that the water temp is the same. or go swim near a boat dock. stick your legs or arms under the dock... you will not notice a difference in the temp.. crappie primarily do most of thier feeding at night, they leave places they are resting , school up, and roam the lake looking for schools of shad. at daybreak, they disperse into small schools and gather to rest in areas they find suitable, that usually has structure or cover for them to relate to. it gives them a sense of security. during daylight hours a tiny animal called daphnias, kind of drift around the lake by the millions, moving up and down in the water column, according to.... wait for it... YES the UV light penetration, and available plankton for them to feed on. Crappie and other fish eat these tiny animals, as go some baitfish. its all a big cycle, it starts with the plankton, and everything is trying to eat .dont get too caught up in tempertures. the only thing that matters temperture wise, is really not even the temp, but what occurs due to the temp, and that is the thermocline, which is an oxygen void zone that fish cannot survive in. usually when you launch your boat and start looking at your sonar, you will see a " life line" as you motor around the lake. this will be baitfish, plankton, gamefish, ect that seem to be inhabiting a certain water column, it may be a strip from 12 feet to 20 feet. it may be from the surface down to 10 feet. it may be right on the bottom. once you find out where this " life line" is , you will notice that most of the lake is like this, I believe what it is, is the plankton, daphnia, baitfish, gamefish find it comfortable to them at that specific depth, because of the factors mentioned above. once you locate this life line, it is a good place to start fishing. you atl least know that there are fish where you are fishing, and that is a mandatory prerequisite in the puzzle.

the 2nd law of thermodynamics states that heat moves from a warm body to a colder body simultaneously. , water being a conductor, quite a good one actually, allows this to take place quickly and easily. unless something like major ice formation occurs, the warm water basically infiltrates the cold water naturally. so the next time you find fish hanging under docks, remember, they are there because there is or was baitfish there, or the light penetration is more cvomfy to them, its not colder.

Excellent information gentlemen!!!

Very nice info....Thanks for sharing,

I've never really fished at night, except to tie up to a bridge with a lantern. Is there a way to target these schools of night feeders?

Awesome explanation Leaning Post! Your post is very informative and easy to follow. Thanks! Thanks to all, I'll use it all.

That was good Leanin Post.

The tip about watching the depth of fish as you idle across the lake is a good one. I have usually done this and started on brushpiles in that depth of water with great success.

There is a lot of great knowledge posted above.

you cannot be afraid to think outside of normal patterns. I got so much negative feedback when I posted my theory abt crappie spawning conditions., especially that the temperture and depth they spawn at has been a longtime myth. I think the reason people dont want to admit that they have been believing in a myth and repeating these myths, has to do with pride. The pride in ourselves of believing that we are not wrong and have been wrong all along can be a hard cookie to chew on in a prideful soul. once you get past the pitfall of being a prideful, all knowing, super fisherman with a following of dozens of other fisherman who you have come to believe, think you are the fishing guru of the century, you can open your mind up to new ideas and learn new things.
here is something to think abt when you think you really got things figured out, and have elevated yourself to the all knowing oracle of crappie delphi..
every time you go fishing, you are amongst tens of thousands of crappie, and hudreds of thousand of other fish. YET.... with all of your equiptment, experience, accoutrements, research, planning and effort, most times you go fishing, you cannot even catch 25 of them. I know I dont, yes I catch limits, but it not prevelant in my fishing, its maybe once every 5 trips. I would imagine others have similar results. I am out actively pursuing these fish, not on the 2 hour tour so many other claim ,,, you know the post.. " yeah me a hambone had a half hour to kill the morning so we went out on the lake, had our double limit in 2 hours..." ha.. thats a very rare occasion, yet some folks try to make believe its something they do often. The truth is, our knowledge of how this planet really works is so sparse, its not even funny.

look at the river channels and creek channels of any lake as a nightime highway feeding route for crappie. They travel from the main lake channels to creek channels to feed on shad at night, who themselves are going to shallow areas like flats to feed on. The crappie tend to follow the larger gamefish. black and white bass work to herd gamefish into ckoke points where they feed heavily on them. This scene goes on most of the night. The shad will move out of one slew, cove, pocket, ect, back into the main river channel, where they are safer in deeper more open water, regroup, and go to another creek channel, work thier way back into the coves to feed. This process repeats itself.
Tying up to trees on points at the edge of the deep water, where the shad will start moving into the coves is a good place to be. or as your heading to the back of a cove, following the creek channel, where there is a hard bend, with a drop off or secondary drop off from the bank.
If your going to target bridges, tie up to the pilings where the river channel runs next to then.
you can study a lakemap and determine many things before you decide where to go. as u look at the map, just imagine schools of fish moving thru the river and creek channels, look for a natural flow of how the fish would likely go. for instance, if you exit off the main river channel into a creek channel and this goes a few hundred yards back, then opens into a large bowl shape, then starts getting very narrow and shallow. chances are the baitfish wont go way back in there, they will stay in the bowl shaped area, feed, then move out.