This time of year? Are they up in creeks or hanging out on the main lake? Are minnows or jigs the best bait for this time of year?

Up here in NTX they go both. Deep and up the creeks

minnows aren't a sure thing, but they definitely get the job done! but jigs can last fish after fish. They both will work, just try to keep a different variety of colors on hand just in case one may not be producing like the others.

Just like stated above. Some fish go both and I always use jigs.

Biscuits, I'm a jig guy. I usually stay deep this time of year. Although I may walk a creek next week to see how I do.

Thanks for the input guys. I live on Medina Lake and we have some huge crappie in the lake but man it is tough to find them and catch them consistently. When you say deep, what is deep to you? The crappie I have caught are in 35 fow about suspending around 15-20 fow and one an hour is good. Are you fishing under a bobber or tight lining those jigs?

How is life treating you Double Dave?

Good sir. How about you? That's still my favorite signature picture of all time.

I'm living the dream my man! I'm guiding for bass on Medina lake now days and hoping to figure out the crappie down in my little part of Texas. They are proving to be a tougher adversary than the bass.

I tight line the jig and fish above them, that way you can count the jig down easier and make sure you get it down in the strike zone. You can still get a jig down on a bobber, but I just find it easier the other way.

With a minnow I will usually use a bobber and split shot about 6 in above the hook. The crappie will mostly hold up deep this time of year or in brush piles. The State has not officially set any fish attractors in your lake. You could also do some graphing and find old brush, Christmas trees or other artificial fish attractors that may have been placed by other crappie guys.

You catch crappie consistently on medina lake, let me know. I'll take a trip with you. Crappie always seem to be 8-12' deeper than you would think. Say 18-22' brush piles on other lakes are producing,then look at 26-34' on medina.

Where are they? That age old question lol. There are sites, books and articles on that very question and you will get 100s of different answers. In my experience where they are depends on where you are, what I mean is I have fished lakes within 50 miles of each other have totally different crappie patterns fish in one lake being caught in 4-6 fow and the next lake 20 -30 in winter months. Some lakes fish wont touch a jig or its slow but will bite a minnow and vice-versa. I think spending time on your lake of choice (which you do anyways for white bass) trying different tactics is the best way to get them figured out or to get a good knowledgeable crappie guide for the body of water you want to learn. Where crappie suppose to be and where they are on certain lakes sometimes is like apples and oranges. I'm sure you know where structure is already just write down the depth time of year and water temp when you do catch them and you will get them figured out in no time. As for finding a plum tree full of crappie some lakes simply have 2-3 fish BPs and you may just have to fish more BPs. Me and my bud fishes a lake and we just know 2-3 fish sometime 1-2 fish is what it is for that lake. I hope this helps some God Bless and Merry Xmas.

Thank you for the help guys. I primarily bass fish but since I started guiding I've learned that I need to diversify to attract clients and customers. I am not sure if I'm fishing wrong or if there are just not a lot of crappie in this lake. The crappie we do catch are big, at least I think they are big. 13-15 inches are about the size for Medina Lake. We do catch smaller ones too but I do not think I have ever caught a short crappie.

Anyway I have a client that is wanting 3 trips a month to catch crappie and I really want him to catch fish because that is a ton of money in my pocket. He says he would rather pay for a guide than deal with the hassle of owning a boat. He is a really fun guy to be around too so I really want to put him on fish.

I am a novice at best when it comes to crappie fishing. Time on the lake is not a problem for me, I live on the lake. Are there any YouTube videos or websites you can point me too so that I can learn about these fish?
Medina is a hill county lake with clear water, in a lot of places you can see 10 feet down. Some things I have read say use bright colors in clear water. What do you guys say?

One big question I have is when you tight line, how much are you working that bait? Do you move over the BP and just drop the jig in it and let it sit or are you working it a bit?

Question two is what size jighead are you using? 1/16th oz? I watched a guy on the forum jigging a zoom fluke. I never thought of that for crappie fishing. What size and color grubs or tubes should I be buying to try?

Sorry for all the questions. I am trying to figure these fish out. I fished five hours today and zeros for crappie. Bass love crappie jigs here and I'm having to beat them off the hook.

set out some brush piles

I was just looking at that online about bamboo brush piles. The thing is that Medina was 3% full two years ago. The entire lake is one awesome brush pile right now. There is so much cover in the lake now that there are thousands of places these fish can be. The lake went from being about 300 acres to 6000 acres almost overnight. I almost wonder if there are just not a lot of crappie in the lake and maybe it needs a few years to recover.