Question For You Crappie Experts

I just recently set out some structure in a few different places at my home lake. I have had a lot of success fishing docks in the area, but wanted to have a more secretive place to fish. How long do you think it will take for fish to hold on this structure? They are all on drop offs near creek channels, and in the same depth of water I typically catch fish in April/May. There is also not much structure in this area besides the few docks around. Thank you in advance.

Some folks say a few days, others a few weeks. Depends a lot on what it is made out of. Natural stuff seems to work faster, PVC lasts forever.

Either way, all those secretive spots will be marked on dozens of fish finders before you can blink.

Wayne

Since you asked for an experts opinion, here I am. (Kidding. Definitely not an expert, as many will attest to. ).

I have caught them on piles I dropped the next day. I have never fished any the same day that I dropped. I have always figured that’s too soon. Who knows?

I dropped some last Monday - PVC and I had wired a few cedar limbs to some of the PVC just to increase cover and help growth. I fished them Sat. morning. Marked fish on them, but could not catch anything... but could not on docks I had been catching on also... weather had changed and fish seemed to have lock jaw. Talked to some others that had rough time Sat. morning also...

good luck
Ken

I am not an expert but have done my share of sinking brush. It really depends on a variety of factors. Time of year, water depth, structure it is on, size of pile, what kind of pile just to name a few. I have sunk some bamboo and went back and caught keepers off of it a couple hours later. I have also sunk some that I have only caught a couple on in years. Brush holds them quicker it seems.

Who knows what a fish is thinking...lol. I put some condo's out and for two years all I could catch on them was bass. One day I decided to just go bass fishing and that was the first place I stopped. I kept getting short strikes and could not get a hook set. I had my suspicions so I dropped a crappie jig down there and been catching crappie there ever since. Other places I dropped brush and caught crappie on them the next time I went out. So, I don't believe there is a definitive answer to your question but if you put them out where you have been catching anyway then I'd say you had a good chance of getting them on brush quickly. As mentioned above....there are no secret spots anymore since sidescan.

Just tell us the name of said home lake.. with the GPS location and we will see how long it takes for the fish to arrive?? Lol just kidding. I ain’t no expert for sure! I have never set out my own brush piles though I have thought about it. Hard to do with a million trees on Rayburn and I catch crappie off them almost every time I go. I’m still learning but I have figured out depth. No mater how deep the water, 15 to 25’ if they are at say 9’ in one area they seam to be at that depth everywhere... that day. Next day maybe less or more. Sun light, wind , ect seams to change it. If I was going to sink something I would do it in water around 15 to 20’ and keep it at least 8’ down. That’s where I catch my best fish. But that’s Rayburn. Good luck on your hard work! Hope it pays off for you!

A lot of good information, thank you guys. I definitely agree that there is a lot of factors that will affect how fast the fish move into an area.I sunk 6 different trees that we cut a few months ago, so they were all dead with no leaves now. I should get a chance to go fish them next week which will make almost two weeks since I dropped them. I'll report back how it goes. Tight lines.

If it’s in a good location, there will be fish on it in a day.

II fish Lavon mostly because I live 5 minutes from the lake. COE won't allow crappie condos to be dropped. I actually think they would just as soon lock everyone out of all the ramps and never let boats on the lake.

Wayne

Pm sent

Yeah that lakes gets on my nerves, they just look for a reason to shut the gates. Just about all ramps are closed becuase of flooding it says on the web site, there is nothing flooded now, and they sure as hell are not waiting to do repairs, they never fix anything, that place is a dump. Just open the damn gates!

In my previous experience, knowledge and location was key. Sometimes you think you have some great new drop locations according to the usual criteria, and you'll never find a dang fish on them. If you know areas according to patterns, and use a map, your drops will have a better success rate and some will hold fish unbelievably quick. If you know spawn areas, you can better determine pre and post spawn routes/spots to drop. If you know nearby summer and winter fish spots, you can basically draw highways with your drops at that point. If you know existing piles/spots that hold fish, you can incorporate them into your mapping too. You can also find nearby points, ledges, channel intersections, bends, etc and try them there. Then I also liked to envision coves or shallows they might move to at night to feed from these routes and pick places to drop in between. It seemed to work better for me thinking along those lines, and breaking the water into sections that I know and expanding out from there, than just picking good looking areas and depths around the lake. Though, you should do that too. It's always hit or miss regardless.