Willard N. Marina 9-15-20

[TubeDude]

Pat do you think the lower water level will also impact the crappie coming into the harbor? I like to sneak in some evening/night runs in late Sept Oct to grab a few cats and slabs- hope they will oblige again this fall

Too soon to tell.  Most of those bigger fish are females and they pretty much do what they want...good reasons or not.  Seriously, the crappies do not seem to be as depth sensitive as the perch.  I have caught crappies under the ice on Willard in only a few feet of water...because they sometimes cruise very shallow under the ice.  But I have also caught them around the docks in maybe 5-6 feet of water.  All depends on food, temperature, clarity and a lot of other things.  However, I am optimistic that the water level will not drop too much lower this year.  The water users' demands are about over so there will be less drawdown.

In the past I have caught a lot of crappies out of the north marina in the fall.  When they slow down a bit in the cold, the best bet is a sliding bobber to present your lure about a foot or so off the bottom.  Then use a small ice jig with a wax worm...just like ice fishing.  Use a small bobber and watch it for any "change in the force".  The tiniest ripple coming off the bobber can signal a slurp.  They don't smack it hard.  Sometimes the bobber just moves an inch or so to one side.  Hooksets are free.

A lot of the crappieholics prefer to work around the docks...vertical presentations with a light bobber...or just a delicate touch.  Little tungsten jigs with a bit of worm or waxworm will get bites if they are there.  One of my fave tactics is to drop to the bottom and then raise the jig up through the water column a few inches at a time...leaving the jig dead still for a few seconds after each move.  If you have sonar and can tell what depth the fish are holding it is a bit easier.  Just remember, crappies will come up a ways for your jig, but will almost never dive down to hit something below them.

If you can't get down to prospect for yourself, watch the reports.  However, most of the really good crappie whackers do not post on BFT, so you kinda just have to watch for numbers of folks working along the shoreline or off the docks.  They won't be there if the fish aren't.