I have found the Crappie to be very soft biting the last few weeks. If I wasn't on my toes it was real easy to miss them. Lots of time I lifted the rod and a Crappie was there. No thump at all. Watch your line too. Been catching them when I noticed the line go slack or my jig quit falling. Some have knocked the snot out out of the jig,but most have been as I described. Going small is a good idea too.

Paul

Started out Monday with success on slab bandit jokers wild, after an hour or so they shut off from my jig. My daughter started catching with minnows and after her catching three with me not getting a thump I went with minnows since it was getting hot and needed using up minnows so we could get out of heat by 11:00.Two of the craapie spit an extra minnow out besides the one I had been using, they wanted live bait.

Try trolling as well at different speeds with varying jig sizes and speeds. Have found they sometimes want swimming bait like in a bait ball. Or troll through the middle of them with cranks.Maybe they want fat lures like the bandits.

Good thing is, after you get one to bite you can usually get a bunch of em in the boat. That pile is STACKED bro! Oh man I would love to pull up to a pile like that on a cool fall afternoon.

I'll vote with the go small group. As light a jig head as you can fish well, small jig body, slab bandit or thermocline, and light line. I would also hold the boat off the pile and pitch to it and let the jig fall. And as mentioned, watch the line very closely. Hot summer crappie get very finicky. I see those piles are in 13-15 FOW and sometimes parking the boat right on top will spook them. They don't move away but they always know you're there and get lock jaw. Another trick, use the jig head and fillet a piece of minnow and put on the hook, no jig body.

Does your lake have black crappie?

great pile! I agree with trying a nibble or minnow. Sometimes you just have to. Also try casting about 15-20ft past the pile and let it fall towards you over the pile.

If they are just sitting on that brushpile and not bitting on a vertical presentation I would back off the pile and cast my jigs.Those crappie seem to be very close to the surface I would even throw a Road runner at em.I agree with Ken Gaby about spooking them

Depends on how clear the water is. Like Kirk said, are they black crappie? On Texoma you can fish right on top of them in 5 feet of water in the summer and the white crappie don't care. Huge slabs.

I catch at least 60 percent of my fish on 1/32 OZ. Jigs....

I agree with smaller baits as well.

IF you can. With the days heat. Being harsh.
Try at night. Anchor about 10' up current from that loaded-spot.
Drop a Crappie light, tied close to boat.
Fish with Minnows/ fresh cut perch.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for all of the replies. I assume there are some black crappie in it but I have only caught white crappie. Is there something that I need to know about the black crappie?

Probably but I have only been catching white crappie. Is the something about black crappie I need to understand better?

Light and stay back that shallow, pitch your jig just past the BP and let it swing over and beside the side of it

Ghostrider, The majority of the time when I see crappie stacked up as seen on your graph picture, they are little black crappie.

I only know this from what I seen and have caught. I don�t typically stop and fish for them anymore. They could be 6 to 8 inch white crappie or 2 pounders????? Besides black crappie are carpet munchers and will frustrate you to no end. Just ask Lane Palmer, he finds schools daily only to catch one or two and then moves on, something that is hard to do when you know what�s down there.

Anyways next time take you some crickets, earth worms or minnows. Catch one and you will know.