Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Ideal Crappie Structure (man made)

Hey guys! Question for everyone, what is the ideal build for crappie structure? I've done some research and seen that pallets, old trees and PVC pipes work pretty well. Just curious what success you guys have had with dropping and fishing cribs, like how long does it take for the fish to migrate to the cribs? Do they stay there even in the winter months? Where is the ideal place to put it? How long/tall should they be?

I'm thinking of dropping one or two in the big basin where there is a nice drop-off, from about 8 feet down to roughly 24 feet. Should I drop it deeper on the steep side of the drop, or should I drop them on the flatter, slower dropping side?

Thanks!

Try both.

See the structure archive for info.

https://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92463#Post92463

Maybe yes, maybe no. Due to the different O2 levels that are available at different times of the year, unless you have a bottom diffusion aeration system in the pond and run it during the summer, I doubt the crappie will utilize much of the habitat that is deeper than 8'-10 from the water's surface.

Now if the cover is in 20' water depth, and it's 12'-14' tall, they might utilize the top of it, or at least the part that is in water that has sufficient O2 for them.

They like more vertical orientated cover. We'd do well fishing in a marina in the Spring around the vertical posts that held up the pier.

My most time on the water crappie fishing was on a 500 acre reservoir. We would sometimes catch crappie in the "fluffier" structure along the banks, and also trolling crank baits as we crossed open water moving from one side of the lake to the other side (to continue bass fishing).

However, by far the best crappie fishing was always on two huge brush piles. These consisted of large trees with just the trunks and main branches, and cabled together so they didn't float off after the initial placement before the lake filled.

They were in deep water (one in about 16', one in about 23'), and were basically like very large cribs. At normal pool, the tops to the main branches came to within about 5' of the surface.

Protocol was to first throw jigs over the TOP of the brush piles. On good days, that would catch a lot of crappie. The next step was to let your jig get deeper than 5' and try to bounce off the branches to get the crappie. This also resulted in good catch rates, when you didn't get snagged.

Many times, the first two steps would only produce crappie the size of your hand. Other springs, it would produce lots of 10+ inch crappie (and we ate like kings)! Rarely, it would produce good-sized crappie plus a few real whoppers.

The third step was always to run jigs deeper along the outside edges of the brush pile to try to induce crappie to strike that were in deeper water. We did catch a few, but I NEVER had the experience of catching little crappie at the top and bigger crappie from the deeper water. Nor did I ever have the experience of only catching crappie from the deeper water. The top of the pile, and the 5-10' depth within the pile was always the most productive.

(Interestingly, if you did get a jig near the bottom along the deep brush, we would sometimes catch several spotted bass.)

In my (very limited) experience, I don't think the deep water aspect made the brush piles productive. I believe it was the awesome crib created by the structure that really concentrated the crappie immediately after the spawn and through the summer months.

My other non-expert advice, is that every lake is unique. I would try for two brush piles (or cribs) at slightly different depths this year. Make sure to fish both on the same day in the future so you have a fair comparison between the two. Determine which one is consistently more productive, and then copy those conditions on your future projects.

Have fun managing your pond this year!

Another thing to remember is that Crappie never feed "down". They feed horizontally or "up".

I've been watching youtube video's of guys catching crappie with livescopes. I don't have a livescope but watching sure can show you what kind of cover they like, the depth, and where they orientate to that cover. I think it's a good idea to study livescope video's from different seasons too.

Go ahead and post a link if you get to watch a really good one. I suspect several members would like to see that!

I don't watch hunting or fishing much on tv, but I've kind of grown fond of this guy. Kansas Angling Experience. I think I've learned a lot about structure and crappie from watching his livescope.

Wow! Thank you for the load of info guys! I'll plan on dropping some man made PVC cribs (decently tall) in like 15 ft and adjust crib height and depth as I go. I'm heading to the pond in a few weeks and I'll make sure to bring the Livescope and pan around.

Not sure how much it matters to crappie but generally artificial cover benefits from adding a bit of "leafiness." The easiest way is probably to cut up short sections of vinyl siding and (stainless steel) screw them in place.

Irrigation hose and irrigation tape also work really well, as do zip ties (but it's laborious and kind of expensive).

The same as rock piles seem to do better if some woody cover or "branchy" cover is added nearby.

My experience is "it depends" when the perfect depth is concerned, seldom found any deeper then 12' deep, that doesnt mean they are not down there, but its hard to fish that deep close to structure without getting hung up.

From there I have caught them in all different depths, from a ft deep during the spawn to the deeper depths in the hottest part of the summer.

Almost always close to cover but sometimes during cooler fall weather you can catch quite a few trolling in open water, at different depths and speeds and of course different colors of jigs.

I like to place cover between the 14' depth to some almost showing on the surface, especially when the water is a little low.

Good Luck!

Ok, I can't upload a file from my computer for some reason, but, I have made some structure. It's made out of old banker box holders (about1x1 foot squares). I was reading the comments and I think I'm gonna cut some pond liner strips that I have into little cutouts that will hang down off the structure. Each one is about 5 feet tall, a foot wide and 3 feet across (72H x 12W x 36L). I'm thinking of keeping them on the bottom by using 2 cinderblocks to hold them down.
I'm thinking about connecting the two together so it would be about 2 feet wide, good idea?

Thanks!

You are correct. This forum isn't set up to post pictures directly from your computer. You have to post them at an on-line hosting site like Imgur. That's what I use.

Anything you put in the pond for cover will help. Just keep in the back of your mind how easy or not as easy it is to hook it with fishing hooks. For instance PVC/PEX tube or pieces vs. chain link fence.