Fork Crappie

Any reports on the bite on fork? Headed there this weekend and I'm trying to get a gameplan

Last Monday they would not bite on Minnows at the 515 bridge. I could see them on the bridge pillars at 13-18 feet but they would not bite. Ole Ketchn would tell me it was because it was a bright sunny day, but that's what you'll have Sat/Sun too.

Sand Bass were biting.

I thunk Sunday was supposed to be kind of cloudy and rainy ?

The sun usually helps bridge fishing for me in the past. Pushed them in the shade.

it for sure does in the summer
THAT for sure aint the case in the winter though

I wonder why this is?

Why is it different in the winter? Just curious

fish are cold blooded, and the sun is warm?

Cause in the winter the water is cooler, so they don't need hide in the shade to get cool from the hot summer sun and also during the winter the sun warms them up, during the summer they hide in the shade cause the shade
water is cooler than the sun, if you ever crappies fished trees during the summer, they're always underneath a limb that goes out hortizontaly, another tip to finding crappie in the summer.

Do you guys really think that the sun can penetrate 20-30 ft down for the fish to feel? The water that deep is already warm.. hence why they are down there.

The reason they are down there cause the water is more comfortable and more oxygenated than shallower water.

More comfortable because its warmer.

they are shallow right now...
has nothing to do with eyelids... has everything to do with temp/baitfish. they are ambush predators, and feel better concealed in shade than sunlight, but if the bait is in open water, so are the crappie.

I wasn't talking about bait... I was talking about the simple fact that they prefer shade versus sun in any season.

The same goes for the shad.. they would rather hide in the shade than be in the sunlight.

catching them shallow on fork now... no grass.

I bet they are around some type of cover. Unless they are in full spawn mode which I highly doubt.

this was in janurary

Probably bait there. Which is one of two reasons why they wouldn't be in the shade. I can promise you they aren't there for a sun tan.

that is the bait. they follow the bait wherever it goes, lol

Shad no, On fork I've seen some of the biggest balls of shad out in the middle of boat lanes with zero cover

That is true to some extent.

In the winter they do this because of the bait going to deep water to survive. The fish aren't there because of the sun.

In regards to bridges and the fish not liking the shade under them in the winter, this couldn't be more false. They may not be on them due to the bait being elsewhere but it has nothing to do with the shade and the fish wanting to sun tan. LMAO!

True and Crappie use shade to ambush prey and for their own protection from their predators. But hey, y'all keep on passing up the shade. Ain't no fish there!

I said cause of thermocline, the reason they go down there, it's the richest of oxygen and more comfortable for them , fish are cold blooded, they survive no matter what, I've also caught crappie in 10 fow, during the winter and summer, most of the big messes of crappie I catch come from 10 fow, month ago, I caught my crappie in 10 fow, I don't waste time on bridges that 20 million other people know about

Hate to break it to all the pros on this forum but crappie like cover and darkness any time of the year and fish in is right can you hide from 12 pound bass easier in the light or in the dark? Is it harder to ambush from the light or the dark? KABOOM!

Sun is at a different angle to the earth in the winter than during the summer. That angle makes a big difference on how light penetrates the water.


Gman

of course crappie love cover ....AND SHADE
but it DONT mean you can make them bite

Well to each his own. Just because 20 million people know about bridges doesn't mean all 20 million can catch crappie off them.

EXACTLY sir .....

and there in lies the truth

The 2nd week in Feb is when I always notice a push towards shallow water... By the 3rd they are shallow and starting to bite better and better.

So Mark, is your statement correct or not correct? I got lost in your posts.

I will say this, today on Lake Fork they preferred SHADE!

I think Ketchn is wrong.

Here's a wad of 2 pounders for proof.

Wow..nice mess of crappie right there. I'd be tickled pink with those.

Gman

Is this why the baby crappie bite at night?

Same size, looks shady to me.

This two pounder came from the shade on a mostly cloudy day hanging very tight to the tree.....hmmmmm

I forgot! This one came from the sunny side of a bridge piling on the Trinity River. Man, I might go back for more tonight!!!

This is true.

I think Ketchn knows where the fish is. And when they will be in the shallows a lot depends on water level and time to run by and check now. But I think maybe on a lot of the lakes we are at least 3 weeks off. all though they may come in to feed before that.

what I think is that there may or may not be fish under a bridge that want to bite
some folks say they are there and biting , but ALOT of folks and myself have found otherwise
maybe you folks that are finding biting fish under a bridge need to send this fellow a pm that asked the question a tip or 2 so his family can ketch a few.
I don't subscribe to many theories and articles and such non sense when it comes to ketchn crappie
been sent on a many a wild goose chases over the years after fish that were biting .
bridges are most certainly are great spots to ketch crappie on most lakes most of the time
and they may even be staging up under some right now
but the word I got from several anglers on fork is otherwise

geeeeee imagine that ...a cloudy day ....and its shady tooo .....go figure
I always have a hard time finding the shade on cloudy days ,,,no wonder I cant ketch em

You all have your own theories and philosophies about catching crappie AND, you're all right because you all catch crappie. So with that being said, here's my 2 cents worth.

READY?

Crappie are everywhere all the time. The vast majority of crappie school and move about the lake depending on weather, season, and all the other variables. However, some do lag or linger where ever there is water. Case in point, I fish a kayak and sometimes I fish creeks just to stay out of the wind. On very cold days, I have caught crappie in 3 to 4 FOW in creeks in the dead of winter. Now I didn't sack them up BUT, I do catch 1 or 2. Shady, sunny side of bridges, stumps, surface water temp in the upper 40's. etc. Bottom line is, I've read this whole post and see that you are all right and none of you are wrong. Here in lies the problem. We all fish, we all catch, we will always argue about what crappie are thinking and what they do and when. Unless one of you turn into a crappie, we will never be 100% sure what a crappie thinks.

I'll be here all week, Thank You and Good Night!