<h1>January Fishing Strategies From The Dock</h1>
From late Fall through early spring it can be hard going for Crappie fishing. One day you find they're hitting anything that moves and yet on another day you can't find a Crappie with a huge net. Another thing that is hard on crappie fishing is the weather. A storm front blowing in can turn the weather into a threatening situation literally without notice. This is just one more reason fishing for crappie in fall and winter on the lake is often totally unpredictable for many fishermen. Never fear, however, all is not lost. Many winter thru early spring crappie are caught below boat docks during this time frame. Here's some advice on finding your share of spring crappie.
Dealing with the weather on an open lake in winter thru early spring is often difficult. From minute to minute conditions can change with the lake going from smooth to white capping. Fronts blow in with little notice. This is partly why winter crappie fishing is be very challenging at times.
Boat docks offer crappie holding structure, but they also offer the fisherman cover from the winter weather. However, not all docks are created equal. To be successful at finding crappie below docks in winter, the fisherman will have to find which are the best docks that are holding crappie.
To start, you should look for docks over deep water, preferably near a creek or river channel. Once you've found a dock over deep water, then search for one with structure. Many slip owners will sink brush piles around the slip where they tie their boats up. It pays to search out these slips with brush beneath them, especially those in deeper water near drop offs. Some marina owners will sink brush piles beneath their docks. It could pay off big time to stop by the office and enquire which slips have brush beneath them.
Finding a marina with slips over deep water is only the beginning of the task. Once you've located such a place, now comes the part where you have to figure out what the crappie are hitting. I often start with small minnows on a tru-turn gold Aberdeen hook and a small split shot. Crappie will not chase bait far, so you need to put it right in front of them. Work your rig over the structure until you are catching fish consitently.
Once the crappie are found using minnows, you can try to switch to jigs. If the action is hot enough, you can will your stringer quicker with jigs than with minnows. I haven't seen a scientific study to prove this, but it seems I catch the larger slabs in winter on jigs rather than minnows. The crappie will hold in the same areas beneath different slips over deep water. If you catch them at 18 feet beneath one slip, you'll likely catch them at the samer depth in other spots. This is the beauty of winter crappie fishing.
One place many hardcore crappie fishermen overlook in the winter are heated fishing docks. The marina operators sink brush below these heated areas to attract the fish. These can turn out to be a great place to fill your stringer while Ole Man Winter is howling outside. It's also a great place to take your kids on a winter day. There aren't many things sweeter in life than watching your kids catch fish inside a heated dock while drinking hot chocolate!
Don't think you have to miss out on winter crappie fishing just because you don't have a boat. Fishing for crappie in the winter can prove to be be great around the docks!