I see many posts of fishing reports where water temp is indicated. evidently it is an important consideration to many anglers. as far a crappie anglers go, Ive read many posts that say that crappie move deeper as the water warms up. so how much does water temp vary from the surface to the bottom?
crappie are usually targeted at depths of 0ne to 25 feet in most locations.
here is a temperature profile of lake belton taken a few days ago. as u can see, in the target depth for crappie, the temp changes are very small.
. does it matter to a crappie? I dont know. I will be tracking temp variations thru the year and post what I record.
Personally, my belief is that water temps rarely affect crappie locations in the water column.
Oxygen content and water quality, UV ray sunlight penetration, and proximity to baitfish are deciding factors in my opinion.
what are your thoughts?

0 feet 72F
5 feet 72.1F
10 feet 72.2F
15 feet 72.1F
20 feet 71.7F
25 feet 71.6F
30 feet 71.5F
35 feet 70.5F
40 feet 67.9F
45 feet 65.5F
50 feet 61.1F
55 feet 57.5F
60 feet 54.3F
65 feet 53.6F

As you can see in the experiment, the common target depth for crappie is not even half of 1 degree F variation.
Will this change in hot summertime conditions? we shall see..

I would expect it to be more pronounced in Summer once the thermocline establishes itself.

Water temps will go up without doubt during the summer but IMHO it is the inability of fish to extract oxygen from hot water. Fish become sluggish as the water temps go up and sometimes will actually go shallower as the nights allow some relief in temps.

possibly, but what makes you suspect this?
Being that water mixes continuously , why would the surface temp be much different than the mid levels?
Many myths out there, such as the "water is cooler under docks" belief. its simply not true.
In summer folks say they catch crappie deeper because the water warmed up on the top layer, but I believe it has nothing to do with the temp, its the UV light intensity.
On overcast days, it can still be very hot, and the UV index very high, which pushes crappie deeper.
Sometimes we have a very high, dense cloud ceiling, that blocks some of the UV rays.
Ive started paying attention to the daily UV index lately to determine the depths I plan to fish that day, and its a great tool in the puzzle.
Also on most lakes the thermocline is usually significantly deeper that normal crappie target range. it likely affects fish that live in deeper water, like largemouth, sandbass, catfish, gasper goo , ect.
during most of the year, most crappie tend to be in a one to 26 ft range, with an average of 14 feet.

on many central texas lakes, the hotter it gets , the more active and aggressive the crappie get. Ive had 150 fish days in the heat of july and august. on lakes that are alot shallower, this may not be the case.
It would be interesting if others also did temperture depth range readings over time, on lakes up in north texas and east.
Take texoma, it is mostly shallow from what ive seen, is there much of a temp difference at all from surface to bottom?

Amazing! Never was fortunate to have one of those days any time of year.

Nice post with a lot of accuracy!
Being that fish are cold-blooded, I catch them through the ice and on the hottest days of summer. Time of day may be more significant than any other data as well as weather fronts - especially pre-front conditions.

(Wish I knew how to fish in 1973 when I fished Texoma. The only thing I remember was racing to shore, hiding in a metal shed as golf ball size hail pounded the roof. Most likely there was something wrong with the live bait as the reason I caught only a few sunfish.)

you need to fish lake waco sometimes.,., it is a crappie factory!!!!
july, august best times for numbers, sept , oct, for size.
spawn hit or miss due to so many high quality areas available to spawn in,. it is an amazing lake, with trophy blue cats, plenty of white bass, something for everybody.
Ive found large brushpiles that have held hundreds of fish , several times. the brush on waco tends to be very large.
several marinas , bridges, timber, it has it all.

I don't really know the "why" of it, but when you put on the scuba gear and head down, you can certainly feel it.

I have fished Lake Waco. Won a couple tournaments there, in July. In fact, you fished the same tournaments.

yes, I recall. it . me and my brother caught so many crappie we were almost tired of catching them. we were on a spot near the bridge and there seemed to be no end to them. Great place to stock the freezer.

The first year I started fishing waco, after fishing stillousy lake for many years, I was in heaven on earth.
I believe the amount of nutrient rich river and creeks that go into the lake, along with fairly stable water levels, make it what it is. The bubbler near the dam that keep a healthy flow of oxygen for the shad is amazing. Another fact of waco is that it rarely develops a thermocline. This gives more suitable areas for fish to roam, feed, thrive.
The only thing waco somewhat lacks is alot of good bank fishing spots in summer for crappie.

would be fun to have another tourney there this year! my gameplan has always been to try and cull thru as many fish as possible, to try and get a heavy 7 count, as ive never found isoialted timber patches that held bigger fish. I know theres alot of deeper timber in the rivers, but have never found good quality in river systems. I still have alot to learn abt waco. it will take a lifetime, just so much stuff to fish.
Im going to diversify my fishing strategy on all lakes I fish this year, and try to unveil many locations that are not targeted as much.
Take Belton, I always do alot better on it when the water is low, because more timber is exposed, and easier to find and fish.
Many, Many submerged timber lines in the lake that never get fished. when the lake got super low several years ago, and u could stand on the old bridge abatement near the 36 bridge, it gave me a whole new perspective of the lake.
Theres likely a whole lot more fish that hang around timber on belton than on brushpiles most of the year.
Like right now, not many fish on the brush, so where are they? I know some are still shallow as ive been catching them shallow, some are roaming in open water, but the majority are likely on timber lines near river and creek channels.

Ive caught 75 fish limits several times, and over a hundred fish over a half dozen times. but keep in mind, ive spent alot of time on waco. your not going to catch large numbers of fish in timber on the main lake, I fished ALOT of it before I realized brush was king for numbers and a quality fish mixed in here and there .
you might try some brush on main lake points, and near the old dam in 14 to 24 feet. also sometimes crappie congregate on rockpiles in mass on waco.,. hope this helps

Don’t over think it just fish it. I just caught numbers on the main lake timber on a lake I fish. There today gone tomorrow. If the timber isn’t working hit the brush have options. JS