I'm going to be on Belton this weekend and could use some pointers on where to look for crappie right now. I normally just target hybrids out there but want to see if I can put a few crappie in the box in case the hybrids don't cooperate. Are they super shallow right now like 2ft or less? Should I target the back of coves and sloughs or are they hanging a little deeper? Thanks

Depending on weather, they may be up shallow. That's been hit or miss the last few weeks. If not, look in 8-12 ft on whatever structure you find.
Good

Thanks we will see what happens

The water on belton is fabulous right now, not muddy, not clear. Quite a few are being caught near white flint park area, also up owl creek.
something ive learned also is they can and will spawn in different areas of the lake almost every year.
The little fronts and mostly the wind and wave action will run the small males off the banks, and most will not return.
In my experience the mature crappie tend to spawn deeper, Ive caught them spawning in 4 to 14 feet on belton. Not staging, not moving in and out, they are spawning on deeper, more stable structure in deeper water that isnt affected as much by the wind, such as on windblown banks.
If you want to catch nice crappie, males and females, fish the deeper brush and timber.
The myth that most crappie spawn shallow, especially on deep water lakes such as we have in texas, has been repeated for many generations.
The explaination as to why people hardly ever catch big egg laden females along the bank is because the females slip in on a full moon night and deposit thier eggs is also a long standing myth.
Logically there isnt enough running feet of suitable bankline for the crappie to spawn, and also take in to acct many other species, such as largemouth spawn shallower, they are dominant over crappie and will run off anything that approaches thier nests.
If you want to run the lake and fish alot of shallow slews, you will find a few here and there, but they will be mostly small males.
If you want to catch better sized crappie, look a little deeper.
many times crappie will spawn near places where shad spawn, the shad are there because it is nutrient rich , oxygenated water.
If you cruise along high probability areas just before daybreak, you can kill the big motor and look and listen for the shad spawning along the banklines.,,. it sounds like shrimp flicking around , popping in the water.. as soon as first light breaks, they stop.
Also, in my opinion after fishing central texas lakes for decades, I do not believe water temp has very much to do with when they spawn, I believe it is a biological trigger, and has alot to do with the water conditions, and UV light penetration in the water
Believing the temperature myth and shallow spawning myth for many years, I searched out the warmest waters on lakes, during springtime, and the crappie simply werent there. I start looking for spawning crappie around mid february, no matter what the water temp is.
Many folks miss out on the action, because they are waiting for the water to get to some magic temperature and they miss out on the action.
I start deeper and work shallower. I few years back, we found an old tree, near where u will be fishing over there on hybrid flat, and it was loaded. big males and females. it goes from 13 feet to 17 feet of water at normal pool. the next year, they were not there, the majority of the fish spawned north of there, due to water conditions. Its different every year. keep an open mind and move around alot, until u find the areas and depths with the best looking water.. if the water is really clear, they will be deeper. if its muddy, go find cleaner water. Fish on deeper larger lakes have options and will go to the best water.. GOOD LUCK!

Here some advice. Get on the lake and fish it it’s hammer time.

Thanks for the info. leaning post! We caught a few hybrids and WB. Tried the back of a slough for about 45m and I hooked about 5lb gasper goo on my crappie pole which put up a good fight but not what I was looking for. I was just there for the weekend doing a little work on my sister's house, so not a whole lot of time to fish. The crappie spawn super shallow on Granger since it's so shallow and murky. That's where I do the majority of my crappie fishing. At least I will have a little better idea of where to look now if I try it again on Belton.

Sounds like a fun day, anything to stretch the line gets the adrenaline pumping. I think it will be a good year on Belton this year. the stable lake levels and lack of flooding conditions is great. Soon, crappie will move to the 36 bridge in mass numbers, they stay for a few days, its magical when they show up, fish on almost every piling, and they replenish quickly. Great time to take a kid out fishing and make a great memory or get a good mess for a fish fry. If water conditions stay like they are, the north end of the lake will likely be very productive. When the north end gets trashed, fish move to cleaner water around midlake area. rarely will u ever find much on the south end.
Hadnt been to granger in a while, I recall there is a little drop off at the corner of the fox bank, and that little cove in the corner that has an old roadbed or something that creates a 2 or 3 foot drop off going all the way across. At normal pool it is in abt 15 FOW. One spring we fished there with silp corks set at around 10 feet, over 13 to 15 feet of water and did very well. working over the little drop off ... most others were working near the banks, and werent getting many. I found the fish incidentally, I was going to the back of that little cove to fish shallow, and spotted a large school of fish on my old Eagle fishmark 480. I dropped anchor and threw out a few lines and it was steady action most of the day. are u familiar with the area im talking abt?

Yes I believe I do. We fished in the back of that slew/cove the 2nd week of March and caught quite a few but they were mostly males no bigger than 11.5" or so. The really good bite has been up river at night with some large females being caught. We have been fishing in 12 to 13 FOW 6ft down under a slip cork. Man that old Eagle 480 brings back some memories, I had 2 on my old boat.