Crappie question

[fowlplay'n]

So I’m not very knowledgeable about fresh water fishing in general but I’ve been wanting to learn how to crappie fish. I’ll be going turkey hunting up in Granville county tomorrow and plan to take the creekboat and hit a lake after hunting. Either Kerr or Gaston most likely but open to any within a reasonable distance.

I won’t be venturing too far since I’m on a small creekboat but would like some input on what types of structure to key in on right now for crappie. Docks? Treetops? Bridges?

Also, planning to just fish artificial. What depth should I be focusing on and would a slip cork be a good option for keeping the jig in the right depth.

 

[nccatfisher]

Just hit docks and piers, many of them load them up with brush. Run and gun, if you don't get bit fairly quick move on, you will find the ones with brush. That is if you don't have electronics.

 

[Bailey Boat]

Look for docks with rod holders along the rail and lights close to the water. Those will be the docks that have brush and are fished for crappie...

 

[oldest school]

you better go the gaston or be very selective on buggs island if you want to fish docks. some areas at buggs are dockless.

 

[fowlplay'n]

So it sounds like my best bet is to just throw up under docks and not worry with finding treetops along Banks? No electronics on the creekboat. Will the brush piles under docks be visible or will I figure it out after I get hung up on it?

 

[Soilman]

I used to fish Kerr a good bit for crappie. To be honest, I really wasn't that good at it, but I enjoyed trying. Kerr has lots of brush piles that folks have set out, but you pretty much need electronics to locate them. Crappie like docks, with or without brush piles. Also, from what I could gather, the best crappie fishing is in the creeks on the NW end of the lake, mostly in Virginia. (NC license good there also). Kerr is a Corps of Engineers lake, so the water level fluctuates. Therefore, there are not so many docks on it. For Kerr, I always liked putting in at County Line Park, in the edge of Warren County. It was usually much less crowded and I had decent luck catching fish in that area.
For Gaston Lake, I put in at Paschal often.

 

[Helium]

Depends on time of day, spawn, and water temp.

Best way is fish docks, treetops and brushpiles until you find them. Where there is one there are usually many

 

[fowlplay'n]

Thanks for all the advice. Ended up sleeping in and hitting a local reservoir in the big boat instead of the creekboat. No docks on that body of water so I found a dead tree that had fallen in the water. Pulled a half dozen crappie off that tree pretty quickly but then it went cold so I moved. Never caught another crappie but did land a 3ish pound bass on 4 pound test which was fun and some other smaller bass. Maybe I’ll make it up to the bigger lakes soon to try my luck.