Crappie

A lot of crappie lakes help provide cooling water for nearby power plants. In winter, look for great crappie fishing in the warm water near discharge outlets.

Chasing crappie is one of my favorite autumn activities. Fish stack-up and are willing biters, most days anyways.

What's the toughest time of year to catch crappie? Survey your buddies who fish year-round and chances are good you'll find them in total agreement: finding and catching America's favorite panfish is most difficult during the summer-to-fall transition period.  

Autumn fishing frustrates many crappie anglers. During fall, America's favorite panfish often are scattered and hard to find. Crappie may be deep one day, shallow the next and suspended at mid-depths the next. Fish may feed ravenously in the morning and get a bad case of lockjaw in the afternoon.  

"It's only easy when it's easy. And most times, it's not that easy."

My uncle used to say that about crappie fishing. It was his way of telling me not to get discouraged when things got tough.   

Hang around this country's top crappie anglers and you'll learn something that may surprise you.

Crappie fishing is in full swing with spring's arrival. The proof lies in the social-media pudding, so to speak, as I've seen dozens of slabs hoisted in online photos over the past few weeks. Here are some of my go-to tactics for honing-in on large crappie.

Work Outside, Then Go In