Earlier this winter a few Fish & Game Finder representatives had the opportunity to ice fish with Greg Clusiau of Jaw Break’r Guide Service. Annually, Greg hosts a Thanksgiving weekend ice fishing excursion for a small group of outdoor writers and personalities. This year, the group popped holes on a few small lakes in the Grand Rapids area. The question was posed to Greg before embarking, "Are we going to catch any two pound crappies?" Greg responded, "We’ll catch some nice ones, but the ice isn’t good enough yet to hit any bigger lakes where we might encounter some real slabs." In short, Mr. Clusiau knew that that big water meant big crappies.

The beauty of panfish, and for this argument crappies specifically, is that they’re able to flourish in creeks, rivers, ponds, reservoirs, culverts, and lakes of all shapes and sizes. Crappies easily adapt to varied water temperature, depth, structure, as well as forage, therefore enabling them to exist in a wealth of environments. If you want to catch crappies in my home state of Minnesota, break out a county map, cover your eyes, extend your index finger and randomly select a lake. Chances are that the piece of water you’ve arbitrarily selected holds black or white crappies.

But what if you want more. If you’re like me, you want to catch lots of crappies, and as well, you demand an opportunity to hook "tape measure" fish. Where do you go? Begin your quest by identifying "big" bodies of water. In general, lakes covering in excess of 2,500 surface acres meet the requirement. In fact, I fish several crappie lakes that range from 3,000 to 9,000 acres, and there are even a couple which exceed 100,000 surface acres! Oh sure, there are numerous smaller bodies of water that produce gigantic crappies, but with what sort of regularity? Small lakes are highly susceptible to cycles. Small, shallow lakes commonly experience "winterkill"; where anywhere from some to nearly all of the fish perish beneath the ice. Local anglers quickly rape other smallish lakes that suddenly undergo a boon of large panfish, and as the word spreads, more and more fishermen arrive to harvest. In short, small lakes are vulnerable to both Mother Nature and fishing pressure. The sheer massiveness of big lakes, on the other hand, offers protection from both winterkill, and to a certain degree, fishing pressure.

Depth goes hand in hand with surface acreage when discussing "big" lakes. In fact, depth is at least as important in creating a top-notch crappie fishery as is the total surface area. Deep water is vital to growing and sustaining trophy crappies. Firstly, let’s get an understanding of what "deep" is when referring to panfish. Consider a lake that offers one or more locations in excess of 25 feet of water as "deep". Deep holes, particularly in wintertime, sustain stable water temperatures and ample forage. Crappies respond to deep holes based on food location and climatic conditions. For example, the presence of schooling minnows or a cloud of zooplankton at 26 feet down over 45 feet of water will cause crappies to "suspend" at or near 26 feet. Also, a wicked high-pressure system, occurring in this same piece of water, might drive fish down to or near the bottom and render them inactive. Either way, a high percentage of crappies in big lakes spend most of the cold-water period in deep water.

Another reason why deep water is important to crappie proliferation is the refuge it provides. Deep water allows crappies to feed and lounge away from ambush zones, i.e. the weed beds and rock piles found in shallower water. Here, northern pike, muskies, bass and walleyes prey on panfish.

Available forage relates directly to the depth and size of a lake. Large productive crappie lakes typically host a myriad of food types. Large lakes hold food in both shallow and deep water. Shallow water forage consists of zooplankton, freshwater shrimp, crayfish, baitfish, and some aquatic insects. Deep-water forage is composed of much of the same, but with the addition of a few key ingredients.

Deep sand-flats, mud flats, gravel, and rock structure are home to a number of tasty invertebrates. Various aquatic worms and immature forms of winged insects thrive on the bottoms of deep dark holes. Don’t be mislead in believing that deep water crappies only feed while suspending. To the contrary, the black crappie seen on this month’s cover was caught one foot off the bottom in 24 feet. This particular fish was gorging itself on immature perch.

This brings us to the second type of forage crappies find in deep water. Deep-water sections of big lakes host throngs of roaming baitfish. Big crappies often eat big food. Shiners, small ciscoes, fatheads, and numerous other minnow species fall prey to deep- water crappies. Find the food and you’ll find the fish.

The final deep-water links in a crappie’s diet are tiny microorganisms known as zooplankton. These itty-bitty critters are of particular importance during the hard water months. In Minnesota, crappies regularly feed on zooplankton during January, February, and even into March. And deeper sections of large lakes commonly host vertical columns or horizontal clouds of zooplankton. Use a flasher to determine how crappies are schooling. If every single fish "marks" at or near a specific depth its obvious that forage is also present at that depth. Whereas scattered "marks" (graphed crappies) indicate a dispersed presence of food.

As in most cases, the hottest deep-water sections are those that adjoin a mid-lake flat, shoreline-flat, or shallow-weed bed. This configuration allows crappies quick access to possible evening, morning, and overnight feeding stations. Another thing to consider, particularly in late winter, is finding a stretch of deep water near spawning grounds. Beginning sometime in February and March crappies commence "staging" outside their shallow breeding area; typically a weedy bay or timber laden shoreline.