Why Do Crappie Turn On & Off

I fish mostly in Lake Houston mainly cause its in my backyard. Lake Houston is a very hard lake to fish in but I catch more than I can eat so I'm good with it. One thing that baffles me is take for instance yesterday morning, We pull up to one of our spots and catch a fish as soon as we start. I literally mean first jig in the water and then for next little bit we catch 7 fish one right after another.
Then it's over in maybe 20 minutes. This is about 7 AM. We fish till Noon several spots and not a bite for 5 hours. A lot of the time it happens on the other end of the time frame. we will fish for hours without a bite then we'll pull up on last spot and bam, bam, bam we'll catch a mess of fish. Im perplexed because this happens all the time. Does this happen to you? Do you have any explanation why.

If they ain’t there, they don’t bite?

Happens daily to me. If they aren't there, then they don't bite. It also could be that the fish that are still there aren't active and you caught the active ones. Most people think that when they find a school of fish and they stop biting that something has caused this (whether it be air pressure, etc) when it is most likely that the active fish have been caught.

Happened to us on Sunday. Only caught a few active fish and nothing on the deeper brushpiles but I did see fish on sonar just not active I'm guessing. Just when I think I have a good pattern down they make you think twice.

If you are with your friends and some of them are Hungry does it mean you are as well?If you run into a Crappie infestation Not all the fish are Hungry at the same time. I agree with the above statements 100%!! I have literally seen fish on my HDS unit hanging out on a tree and thought I would really clean up only to catch a few of them after several presentations and baits.True if they aint there you get no bites but if they are there don`t mean they all do.

Ok thanks for the information. What do yall think about this. The fish are communicating somehow maybe sight, maybe thoughts, like telepathy. Like a heard of deer that sense or see danger / Predator. They will flick their tail white flags straight up, stomp and snort. Then high tail it with that white flag straight up. A flock of birds or school of fish will whirl and turn all at exactly the same time in the same direction without bumping into each other. They must be communicating with each other somehow really fast. the central nervous system can not react that fast off of visual or auditory signals; hence the mental connection or by way of a herd, flock, or school connection. Any way I drifted off a little.

I don't think I buy into the some are hungry and some are not. Maybe some of them are asleep and some are awake. I guess that would be the same as some of the fish are active and some are not. I sure spend a lot of time thinking about it.

I don't know what to say about your last two posts, but I agree with the replies suggesting a location change. This is my opinion (maybe) shared by other:

Fish suspend 99% of the time in line with the conservation of energy theory for wild animals regardless aquatic or land. I've watched so many videos over the years, some by Doug Hannon and Glen Lau. In all cases all fish species, salt water and fresh, were gliding along minding their own business letting bait fish swim unharmed nearby. I've seen this in my own pond when the water is moderately clear: bass swimming with the fishes but not in a bad way.

Now when it comes to provoking a fish to strike, IMO none of it has to do with what a fish thinks a lure is. It instinctively knows the difference between real prey and a fake but has no clue what the fake is.

I say fish are provoked rather than fooled into believing a lure is one thing or another from the simple reason: most lures look and act like nothing in nature. So why do they strike them anyway?

It starts with the lure's splash as it hits the water. That lure just interrupted that fish's peaceful trance and started doing things fish are forced to pay attention to. As long as the lure action's keeps that fish's attention, the better the chances the fish will attack. As we all know, lures that are of the wrong design or action are ignored, but those that are of the right specs (along with the presentation of course), [censored] off more fish than many other lures that just don't have it for the day. That's not to say they never work, but just not on that day.

Lure design and size do make all the difference in what we catch and how big the fish. What you used may have been too large for the current mood regardless the sizes of fish near the lure. At times a larger size lure is hit by fish of different sizes; at other times downsizing lures that go slower is the key.

I found that out recently: I started using smaller lures, though of the same design, on 1/32 oz jigheads rather than 1/16 oz that had worked all year. Even in 42 degree water the hits were HARD !! But 1/16 oz - far fewer hook sets and strikes. Don't tell me about the lower *metabolism of fish as it relates to fish activity - there's no correlation IMO. Fish can be provoked at any water temperature if they will. If not, find an area containing those that can be provoked.

Day before yesterday I scouted areas I caught many fish during a downpour. Yesterday a few of those same areas held no fish that would bite the same lures, but other areas I had caught fish before yesterday - did! The only difference was that the fish were actually shallower than 5' whereas those before that were in 5-6' though near the same shoreline.

* Note: The rate of metabolism relates to biological functions of digestion and oxygen use, not activity level. What really affects a fish's activity level is the spawn where it is very irritable and susceptible to many lure designs and presentations.

Consider the above from a diehard multi-species angler that rarely catches below 20 fish per outing but averages 40 to over 100 fish most warm water days of the year - and at times through the ice if I'm really lucky.

Hooked fish react in a fright mode. Nothing relaxed about how a fish swims when hooked and fighting. Other fish instinctively know something is wrong and the fish is fighting to get away. Other fish in the school will soon stop feeding even if they stay in the same location. About 50% of the time the fish scatter or change depth after a few are caught. If the fish are in a feeding frenzy, no too much seems to hinder them.
Other species like bass, will chase a hooked fish looking for a meal. White bass quite often. I've never caught a crappie and seen other crappie follow it up. One reason I like fishing top down. Reeling 2-3 hooked fish up through a school will usually stop the bite.

Just an opinion based on my experience boss. It aint a hard fast rule

I have heard this to be the case as well but have never been able to link catching a fish and bringing it up through the school and the bite dying. I have also heard that if you are releasing a fish and it goes back to the school, it kills the bite. I have caught fish and watched them go right back to the pile and proceed to catch another right away and this happens numerous times. I truly don't believe crappie are intellectual (instead are reactive and instinctive) and cant connect the dots to biting a green thing and being caught.

Sometimes they just fish bite during the major and minor fishing times

Sometimes changing the color of your jig will trigger strikes. You just have to put in work and figure them out. Everyday is different.

I would agree with this. I've had situations where I've caught several fish off a brush pile vertical jigging, then not a bite. So, I started "fan" pitching away from the pile and letting the jig fall to the desired depth and letting it swing back to me maintaining that depth. By doing this I've been able to catch several more active fish from that location.

>E

May be true Anthony; I have no concrete evidence, just experience. I do know when the bite has stopped, I've dropped a different color, or size or style jig and immediately caught more fish. So it seemed to me they were smart enough to not bite the previous one and dumb enough to bite the new one.
But I'm not going to get a headache trying to figure out crappie. I'm just going fishing.

Good fishin y'all

i don't think hunger has much to do with it as iv caught many Crappie so full of minnows they were ready to pop. and some even with shad in there mouth. they are a predator,apportunist. a lot of the time they eat weather hungry or not just to beat the other guy from getting the bait. last week i caught over 150 off one small brush pile in 3 hrs in 13 fow as fast as i could cast over the pile (only 8 keepers). that evening i went back and caught 35 (3 keepers). next morning 0 after 4 more trips there not 1 bite! they do fallow the bait.when the shad/minnows move on so do most of the Crappie.i do know if you see the birds actively feeding on bait and sand bass busting the shad,Crappie will be near by and catchable if you can find them. the claim that fish release a pheromone when caught and released can stop the bite im just not convinced about as iv released over 100 in the same area and still keep on catching more for hours.in conclusion iv determined trying to figure out a Crappie is like trying to figure out a Women .good luck with that!

School fish do not connect the dots when it comes to one or more fish being caught and this is true for any school species in my experience. In fact once I find a school, I anchor and catch fish one after the other for at least 10 minutes before moving the boat 10 yards and then do it all over again. Most schools I've caught fish held more than one species and I witnessed fish follow other hooked fish back to the boat.

Also in the last month, the boat was stationary in 4' or more and sonar showed three fish under the boat's transducer. I caught at least two of those fish vertical jigging regardless of the boat shadow or fish caught in succession right off bottom. I'm talking really shallow water!

YouTube has a video of a large school of perch turning on to a spoon and minnow where one fish started the feeding frenzy. It's possible the lure design and size used may get a few fish but be ignored by others in the area. The soft plastic baits I make or modify always get hit by schoolies resulting in at least 3 fish caught per minute. As always, presentation matters and slower is better a great majority of the time coupled with a lure design/action enhanced by it.

Hungry not hungry,Active not Active,Predator,Opportunist etc since no one knows for certain why these creatures turn off & on....IT`s all speculative based on one`s opinion.

Y'all all spilled a bunch of great info that I think all plays a roll....
Lake Houston can be a terrible lake & a great lake for catchn crappie.. .
What's surprising me the most here is that there is someone else here that fish MY lake.....
One thing I have found that helps me a lot is slowing down, using smaller/lighter jigs (when conditions allow) when the bite slows to help put more fish in the boat.
Most of my vids are on Lake Houston so as you can see the feesh are very catchable.
Have a bunch of spots that don't get beat up, and are hidden as possible to keep them bent pole fisherboys away from.... there's a bunch of those out there.....
If I see someone beating up one of my spots it becomes there's....
I have just under 600 wp on that lake do no fuss from me when I have to give up one....if they are eagle eyeing me then I'll make a run to the other end of the lake.....

Very interesting sounds like you spent a lot of time on the water as I have. Thank you for the scientific answer.

Wow someone else who fishes for Crappie on the Lake. I never see anyone but me on the lake south of the RR Trussel. There used to be a couple of guys but they went to the dark side bass fishing. I fish nearly every weekend except in the super hot summer time and when the wind is above 15mph. We catch a lot of fish but not like most other lakes.

I'll compare the feesh I catch to most any lake.... that's why it's so hard for me to travel to another lake....I fish the south quite a bit especially in the summer...

fish feed mostly at night and the ones that are hungry in the morning are the ones that didnt score much the night before. thats why you can go to one school of fish on a pile and theyre lock jawed, then go 100 yards and they are on fire. I f wind conditions ;permit I try to keep moving until I find a school of active fish. If im on a good pile that im sure is loaded with fish, I can usually get a frenzy going by spraying shad spray on minnows or jigs, and as its getting spread around under water, the fish seem to perk up. Ive even taken a syringe and small needle, filled it with shad oil, then stuck it in the minnows vent, and filled the minnow with shad oil until its coming out of the eyes. when a crappie bites him, its like a starburst candy, the oil gets dispersed down in the pile, and other fish will get feeding. It just depends on the style of fishing I feel like doing that day. Many times, finding and pulling just a few fish off of very small piles can be challenging and fun. Crappie fishing is not always just abt going try to fill a cooler so you can show your neighbor or post pics on different sites. learning new techniques, and finding patterns inside of patterns can take your game to a higher level.
Something that often works for getting big crappuie out of gnarly piles that tend to have drop thru levels is take a minnow and hook it thru the lips with a true turn small bass hook. once thru the lips, turn the hook and stick the point just into the meat at the top of the dorsal fin. it takes practice to do it right, but what you end up with is a weedless, live minnow thsat can swim freely to the limit of your line. Put an 1/8 ox splitshot ant 5 inches above the minnow. Start working the minnow down into the pile, trying to find that "hole" where it drops down thru to the bottom. Thats where big crappie tend to hang out. They are down in thier little " lair" waiting for something to come into there.
also sometimes when nothing else will get the fishv active I spray some " lure flavor"{, fish attractant, made by fle fly company. there was a guy on this forum who bought the company, and sells it, but havent heard from him lately. The stuff smells like cough syrup to me, but it sure gets the crappie going sometimes.

When Ice-fishing this little unit is handy to see if they are there. For a crappie condo or what ever it would work if you don't believe the graph.

Cabelas Underwater cameras

Funny cause I never see anyone close to me. I dont investigate every boat on the water though. Maybe Ill run into you one day. Im in a aluminun center con loaded and armed for Crappie.

The only way to catch a Crappie or any fish for that matter is to Have a Hook in the Water.

Yes sir, feesh only bite wet hooks...
That's the reason I like the south end there's not a lot of folks that fish it but you do have to contend with the jet fleas, ski boats & the regular run the lake boaters....

WOW!!!!!!!!!!! this has been a very interesting conversation. Wet Hook increases your chances of catching a wet Crappie. LOL

FLE FLY`s "Lure Flavor" spray is a Good product.One smells like Robotussin & the other like Bubble Gum. BUT THEY BOTH WORK

That's my advise too those that rip & run all day long then complain the feesh ain't biting.....
Feesh bite wet hooks!

The guy from Oklahoma on Fox Sports ... You can catch fish, but you can't catch-em if you don't go.

Wow thats a great answer. They are there

The other tip: keep moving to find active fish.

Both ideas were essential to finding fish today in 38 degree water. Last week the water was 42 and the fish were easier to locate - especially groups of fish. But though the water cooled even more with the 21 degree nights, when they bit my small grubs rigged on 1/32 oz jigheads, they meant business!

The key was a slow retrieve, fishing only in water 5-6' deep, and drifting with the wind until I located groups in different areas. The group may contain fish that are yards apart versus a tightly packed school, but the direction of the casts should stay within a certain angle to the angler (say 45 degrees) and to the spread of fish contained within it. Occasionally I'll cast in an opposite direction just to be sure fish aren't shallower or deeper, but after I anchor I concentrate casts (sometimes 180 degrees) mainly to one side of the boat.

Lure size was no more than 2", making the offering more attractive to the panfish and bass I caught. No point staying home on a nice sunny day even if a bit chilly.

This has been a cool forum discussion. I have learned some new stuff that has helped me in putting more fish in the boat. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. Please check out my new invention in the classifieds section. I have just received the patent for it which is really exciting. The invention can be seen in action on Fish N Tools You Tube Channel