Post-spawn crappie still in shallows

It's been a whacky weather Spring with unusually warm days followed by chilly cold fronts.  The only thing that's been consistent has been the wind. But when it's laid down, there's been some excellent crappie catches being made along docks and weed lines, and along structure in shallow water.

Sacalait are the earliest spawners in Spring, usually taking to beds from early February to early March. Once they spawn, they continue to hang out near shallow water, closer to drop-offs, before heading to deep structure in May.  For flyrodders, April is a prime opportunity. 

Nothing is certain with crappie. You can fish a spot one day and get nothing, the next day the same spot and  it's action on nearly every cast.  Complicating things even more is color selection.  The papermouths are notorious for being very picky about color, and that the color can vary from morning to noon to sunset, and from sunny days to cloudy days.

For this reason, I keep two fly rods setup when I'm out in a boat or kayak.  One is suspended 2-3 feet under a strike indicator, the other has a more heavily weighted fly on a somewhat longer leader. 

With the strike indicator, I cast a slightly open loop. Let the fly sink under the indicator, then do the "twitch an inch" with the strike indicator - same as if I were fishing a popping bug.  Move the strike indicator a couple inches slowly, then pause 2-3 seconds. Many times the strike comes on the pause.

Without the strike indicator, I use a heavier fly. Cast out and countdown several seconds to get the fly deep. Then begin tiny strips retrieve and I MEAN TINY!  You'll feel a pressure on the line. Lift slowly as the fish often hook themselves.

The use of flies depends on whether suspended or deep.  Fluff Butts, Balanced Leechs, and Crappie Candies are good under a strike indicator. Heavier flies would be the Silli Minnow, Jigged Micro Bugger or Mini Clouser. 

As for colors, I often start with olive, olive and chartreuse, black and chartreuse.  But flies with some pink, or sometimes the "Gray Ghost" - all gray colors can be a hot menu item.

As for when, I always like the very early morning or very late evening.  But I also use the solunar table and on occasion, it's made me a believer.  In fact, many times I've fished the middle of a sunny day when the fish should be down and inactive and got hits left and right!