Crappie are one fish specie that most anglers will readily agree can bring great satisfaction when they are biting but can lead to frustration when they refuse to bite. Crappie have earned the description “finicky biters” honestly, but anglers have come to better understand why these fish will bite with abandon one day and then suffer complete lock-jaw the next day.

Crappie live their lives mostly in deeper water or at least away from shorelines except during the spring when they return to shallow shoreline cover to spawn. It is during the spring spawn when crappie are caught in the greatest numbers. During the spawn, the crappie will readily hit jigs and minnows for even the most novice angler.

During late winter and during the period leading up to the spawn, even the most experienced crappie angler can suffer frustration and tough fishing. The novice crappie angler can become so frustrated that he/she will just opt out of fishing until the spawn actually begins.

We are currently in the late winter period when the experienced angler knows that larger crappie can be caught and large numbers of crappie will readily bite. However this is the time when crappie are especially susceptible to weather changes. These weather changes include fronts, seesawing water and air temperatures, sunny and cloudy conditions and changing moon phases. And boy has the weather of late been rather strange.

The above changes and conditions impact the crappie, their movements and their desire to feed and bite. Anglers can become frustrated trying to figure out from day to day where the crappie are located and what they might bite.

Stable weather with warming temperatures can signal excellent crappie fishing and if you throw in an approaching full moon in February and March, you might be looking at a crappie fishing bonanza. Normally this is the time of year that is not known for weather stability.

The crappie will bite well in a normal winter season and will in fact provide some of the best fishing for the larger crappie in the lake. But this winter has been anything but normal. We can usually expect some really cold weather during the late winter period in middle Georgia but this winter has seemed more like early spring in January.

Early season flowers were blooming in January instead of March. I noticed several Japanese Magnolia in full bloom this week. We have had enough nighttime cold weather to drop the water temperature into the low 50s but certainly we have had a mild winter by all counts. The greatest impact that crappie anglers have had to deal this winter was initially the clearer water from the fall drought and now the very stained to muddy water now from recent rains.

The crappie spawn normally occurs in the middle of March into early April but if the mild weather continues we will likely have an early spawn. One thing we have not had is stable weather for a long period. One day the temperature is in the 40s and then two days later the temperature is in the 70s. Oh, we have had a few winter fronts to pass by but they have been mostly insignificant.

This year, the late winter crappie fishing on Lake Oconee has not been predictable or as good as normal for anglers using both the pushing and pulling techniques. You have avid supporters of both techniques and don’t for a minute think that you can convince a puller that pushing is best or vice-versa.

For those not familiar with the crappie terms of pushing and pulling, it simply defines whether the angler is pushing the crappie jigs out ahead of the boat or pulling the jigs behind the boat. Both techniques are being used right now on Lake Oconee and if we finally get some stable weather, the crappie fishing should be great for the next 2-3 months.   

The crappie may be a little confused by the weather, but most avid crappie anglers can figure them out from day to day but crappie remain one of the most finicky species at times. Now is the time to be out on the lake. Take advantage of good weather days and catch some crappie.

Outdoors Columnist Bobby Peoples can be reached via e-mail at brpeoples995@gmail.com.