Spring's boat-slip slabs

By Gord Ellis

It was late April in the Kawarthas, but it felt more like mid-July. My friend, Geoff Coleman, and I were down to shorts and tee-shirts, exposing patches of milk-white skin to merciless UV rays. It was the third day of a spring heat wave, and the steamy weather was warming the lakes of cottage country. Geoff and I were retracing our steps. The previous spring we'd been told this lake had a hot crappie bite "close to the launch." With visions of black slabs dancing in our heads, we quickly loaded up Geoff's boat and hotfooted to the reported scene of the crime. For some reason, we interpreted "close to the launch" as within a mile of the marina. After a day of pounding water, we had just one measly crappie to show for our efforts. It took us a year to figure out that fishing near the launch meant fishing in the marina.

A year later, almost to the day, we were back. This time, we dumped Geoff's boat in and never touched the outboard. Instead, we used a trolling motor to quietly probe boat slips, mooring poles, docks, and drowned timber with 1-inch tube baits on ultra-light tackle. By staying back from shore and making long casts to cover, we plucked out 12- to 14-inch (30- to 35.5-cm) crappie. It was a great way to spend a warm April evening.

In Ontario, some of the best crappie action of the year takes place in the days following ice-out. In the south, lakes can be free of ice in early April. In the north, this might not happen until into May.

Whatever the case, as soon as ice leaves shorelines, crappie start vacating deep-water winter haunts and head shallow. The key to locating them is finding the warmest water in the lake. Even a degree or so warmer than the main lake can make a difference.

Marinas and sheltered boat-docking channels are some of the first spots to heat up. They provide food, warmth, and a potential spawning area for crappie. The addition of overhead cover provided by docks, walkways, boathouses, buoys, and other odds and ends adds to their allure.

Sheltered areas are less affected by early spring's dramatic wind and weather changes. Stable water temperatures keep the crappie bite more consistent. Many marinas have earth or rock berms that stabilize wave action and have heat-absorbing logs, docks, or boulders. In these warm-water areas plankton and invertebrates bloom first. Small minnows that big crappie prefer will not be far behind. All these elements make marinas and boat docks one-stop shopping for fish and anglers.

The best marinas and harbours are in sheltered bays or dredged into a river edge protected from current and wind. Marinas, by nature, need water deep enough for boats of all sizes to enter them. For this reason, marinas are often dredged. The added depth provides a refuge for crappie and allows them to stay close to cover until spawning commences later in spring.

Since most of their food is shallow and near the surface at ice-out, expect crappie to be shallow as well. In early spring, however, crappie won't always be tucked in close to shore. As often as not, they'll be working bait near the surface, but over slightly deeper water. If you see minnows busting the surface in open water, there's a good chance crappie are attacking them. These active fish are usually catchable. If crappie are near shore early, they use fallen timber, the poles of boat docks or the docks themselves for protection.

As water warms and the spawning period approaches in May, crappie relate more closely to shorelines. In clear lakes, they're often visible, staking out spawning areas amongst brush, reeds, and aquatic weeds.

While spring crappie fishing is relatively easy, compared with summer and fall, often the fish are just as fickle. My favourite presentation for spring slabs is a 1/32- or 1/16-ounce lead-head jig slipped inside a small white, white /pink, or black/chartreuse tube body. There's no real trick to getting crappie to bite a tube. A slow, subtle swimming retrieve is generally effective.

When the fish are really active, turn to lures with a bit of flash and vibration. Small in-line spinners like the Roostertail or Double Loon are a good bet, as are tiny crankbaits like Yozuri Pins or the new mister Twister Bigysmal. A favourite crappie lure in the southern U.S. is a jig and spinner hybrid know as the Roadrunner. I've also had crappie success with the Beetlespin and Northland Thumper Jig.

A light- to ultralight rod of about 5 feet and 4-pound-test line are ideal when using downsized lures. It's amazing how much fight you'll get out of a 14-inch crappie on this gear. If you fish from docks or shore, I recommend using a 7- or 8-foot light- to medium-light rod to allow you to make long casts with light lures.

Another great presentation is a jig and float combo. I like to use light, thin balsa slip-floats and either a 1- to 1 1/2-inch soft-plastic twister, tube, shad, or minnow body on a 1/16-ounce jig head. Generally, I set the float stop about two feet above a jig, but I've fished with as little as a 6-inch lead in heavy cover. Crappie will move up to take a jig. A float allows you to hover a jig over fish that are inactive due to cold weather. I've noticed while ice fishing for crappie that they often prefer a tube or a dead minnow to a live one. This seems to hold true in early spring as well. A small tube or twister jig under a float often outfishes an active shiner.

Fishing a float and jig is easy. Cast out and let the jig sit for 30 seconds. If you've had no takers, twitch the jig, wait, reel in a couple feet of line, and let the jig hover again. Crappie will follow a jig and often hit when it comes to rest.

While artificials are deadly on crappie, never underestimate small minnows. More than 20 years ago I watched my cousin, Mark McKee from Tennessee, pull crappie out of drowned brush with nothing but a cane pole, fixed float, hook, and shiner. We'd paddle up to a brushpile, he'd drop the shiner and float into the tangle and, if the bobber moved, he'd yank out the crappie with one upward sweep of the rod. This simple, but effective, method for spring crappie in Old Hickory Lake has also filled many a fish basket for me here in Ontario too.

Marinas and boat docks are a fact of life on most of Ontario's lakes. They're not always the most attractive places to spend a day fishing, but when a spring haymaker melts the last vestiges of winter, they become crappie magnets. You can overlook a lot of eyesore when you have a bucket full of slabs at your feet.

Just a reminder. Many marinas and boat canals are privately owned. If this is the case on the lakes you fish, be sure to get permission before you fish them. A bit of courtesy goes a long way to securing you a spring hotspot for crappie.