On Lake Tyler when will the crappie move shallow?

So I tried this last year but the weather made it difficult. But there has to be a time of the month in February till early March when the crappie move out of deep water into the shallows. I live on the lake and have a brushed boat dock and every spring it loads up with Crappie. Two years ago the day was in the later half of February. But that year there was a huge dump of rain that raised the lake two feet and muddied it up and the fish disappeared for a while. Last year again there was a big rise in either Feb or March. They were not active shallow in February of last year. So I will go out there every day and fish a bit till they show up. When they do I'll post the date. They have to do it sooner or later. They hang out shallow here till about early May. I can toss a roadrunner up against the bank and catch them. By June they are out of here.

Right now I've only caught one crappie at my dock. It's really mostly very, very slow.

Do you have any luck shooting docks on Tyler? I love fishing that way but usually go to Palestine to do it. I have bass fished Tyler a lot but don’t go there to crappie fish.

I will be watching your thread to see when they move shallow.

What is the water temp there now?

I was out cruising in the Tritoon today and noted mid 50s on the Garmin. I also saw a dozen or so boats fishing 25 to 30 feet near the dam on the east lake and out in the middle of the west lake. Still nothing happening shallow. But I'm going to go down and fish as much as I can and note when they show up. It's pretty obvious they are just going wait for the right day whether that is the photo period or temperature or moon phase and then they will show up. And they will hang around for two plus months. I pretty much catch them every day though I don't always catch a bunch. That's what happened two years ago. I always catch them shallow, specifically off my dock in March. In April they move right up to the bank. I can actually catch them in a foot of water off the bank and not in ten feet off the end of my dock.

Just for the record about a week ago I caught a single fish up on one of my PVC brush piles. I haven't had a bite since.

[quote=cantcatch5]Do you have any luck shooting docks on Tyler? I love fishing that way but usually go to Palestine to do it. I have bass fished Tyler a lot but don’t go there to crappie fish.

I really don't do that but you likely can. I mostly use a jig pole rigged with a Crazy Angler Slab Commander. But a bit later I just cast out a white Roadrunner jig with the spinner and they will hammer the moving lure. At that time I'm sure you could try shooting a jig. The crappie fishing can be pretty good here but I don't think it is as good as Palestine. But I live on the lake so I rarely put the boat on the trailer and fish elsewhere.

Thanks for the updates. I have family in Tyler and like fishing Lake Tyler when I get the chance.
RODS454

Well, here it is almost March and on Lake Tyler the crappie have not yet moved shallow. A neighbor looked at old photos and he was catching this time in February 3 years ago. And I have a large brushed up area in front and around my dock up to the shore. The bass have not moved shallow either. In fact the last bass I caught were in early January in the brush. I'm gone for a little more than a week and will report back on March 10.

Sounds about right to me. Once it warms up a few degrees they’ll move out to the end of your dock in what sounds like a staging area. You need consistent heat to push them up on the banks. These periods of 2-3 warms days followed by a front won’t do it.

According to some, they don't spawn till April.

They will be shallow on March 10th. Several warm days and nights in a row will send them to the bank quick!

Ok, I'm in South Carolina for a week but a neighbor texted me and said he started catching fish from his dock Saturday so the 29th is the first day he started catching them. The weather in South Carolina is great and based on the trees budding out and pine pollen, SC is farther ahead in the spring than E Texas. It is likely only a week or ten days but I'd guess they may be busting the fish here now.

Thanks for the updat. My pear tree started budding last weekend and the pollen has slowed a little. Water temp is around 51-52 degrees and the fish are still not on a good bite yet.
RODS454

60 degrees this morning... You can take it to the bank there are fish shallow this morning

Might try a Crazy Angler Slab Bandit. Crappie are cold and aren't really looking for a big meal right now. Mostly they are just starting to defend prespawn areas. 6' to 8' of water is where they are right now.

Any updates? I figured with the warm sunny past couple days fish have to be in the shallows..

Had a couple of bass tourneys 2 to 3 weeks ago and caught quite a few shallow... Was going to try it this past weekend but figured the weather pushed them off. I would think you could catch some this weekend! I may try it!