An often overlooked late fall fishing option is that provided by crappies. As water temperatures fall, crappies tend to congregate in well-defined areas. Find them, and you can often catch a bunch.

How and where crappies are located during the late fall varies from water to water, depending on the individual characteristics of the lake itself. In general, though, crappies tend to use more of the main make basin areas this time of year. Often I find crappies relating to the largest structural elements of the lake, often concentrating at the base of these structures. This means the biggest points, the biggest humps, and the largest flats.

This is a situation where it pays to hunt for fish before wetting a line. Slowly motor along the edge of points, humps and flats, watching the sonar unit for the telltale signal that indicates deep water crappies. Large schools of crappies will often show up as a cloud that extends from the bottom to 10 or more feet up the water column.

Specific places along the drop off, a structure is more apt to hold midwinter crappies than other spots. Quicker breaking slopes are a better bet than more subtle depth changes. It seems crappies like a situation where they can hover at various levels along such edges.

One factor that really concentrates crappies is the presence of deep wood at the base of a sharp-breaking point or hump. In lakes and reservoirs that contain good crappie populations, it’s common for cribs and brush piles to have been introduced by resource agencies. In Pennsylvania, many of our area reservoirs have received such cover by way of conservation groups working in concert with the Fish and Boat Commission’s Adopt-a-Stream program.

Deep wood isn’t always the result of a man-made introduction. In the case of reservoirs, often there are deep stumps along sharp breaks and at the base of the drop-off.

This cover shows up well on good sonar equipment, as do the crappies that typically hover near them. Spend time cruising around the base of structural drop-offs, looking for fish, as well as the cover that holds them. When you spot such, drop a marker buoy or a GPS icon.

Boat control is a big part of this game. The fish may be 15 to 30 or more feet below you, depending on the waterway. Fishing vertically is the way to go, as you have total control over your presentation.

For situations like this I prefer using a small jigging spoon or a blade bait. Since the fish can be suspended in the water column you can fish from the bottom, and then gradually work your way up. If you find a productive level, it’s then a simple matter to duplicate the details that led to success.

Shore anglers can experience good late fall crappie fishing by picking warm afternoons to fish. Crappies will move up into laydowns, shoreline trees that have fallen into the water. The desire to feed is what motivates this movement, so the fish tend to bite well. Suspend a small fathead minnow beneath a float, or cast a small leadhead jig/grub combo in and around the submerged wood.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle