As we get deeper into the summer season, you do not hear much about crappie fishing. During this period, few anglers target crappie except at night. Truth is you can catch good numbers of crappie during the hot daylight hours on both Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee. All you need is a good sunscreen, plenty of cold water and a little knowledge about where the crappie will hang out during the summer months.

Summer crappie angling at Lake Oconee is rated much better than on Lake Sinclair due to its large abundance of submerged timber. Unfortunately Lake Sinclair’s bottom was pretty much cleaned when the lake was constructed. Lake Sinclair has very little natural standing timber (I do know where a few natural trees are located) but it does have many natural stumps and man made trees and brushpiles that can hold good concentrations of fish.

Summertime crappie in Lake Sinclair relate more to the lake bottom around ledges, points, creek/river channels and stumps in deeper water. But they will relate to brushpiles and trees that have been added by smart anglers and in those cases the fish will be relatively shallow. Bottom dwelling crappie in Lake Sinclair will be found in 12-20 foot of water but around man made upright trees or tree plots they can be found in 8-17 foot of water.

Summertime crappie in Lake Oconee relate best to the standing timber and almost always the crappie will be 10-17 feet deep regardless of how deep the water. I fish standing timber in water that varies from 20-65 feet deep but in all cases the crappie will usually be suspended in the trees at 10-17 feet deep.

The primary reason you find crappie at that depth is good dissolved oxygen, less sunlight and the actual trees. As water temperatures rise during summer, the dissolved oxygen in the water goes down and when dissolved oxygen levels drop below five mg/l (milligrams per liter) the crappie and other fish are under stress. Below three mg/l the fish cannot survive for very long.

The crappie search for the best dissolved oxygen, avoid sunlight and seek the safety of the trees. The best depth of water during the summer seems to put the crappie in 10-17 foot of water. Anglers can catch crappie on the ledges, deep points and creek/river ledges in Lake Oconee but standing timber offers better fishing.

Whether fishing for summertime crappie in Lake Sinclair or Lake Oconee, two things are always required. First anglers must have a good depth finder and second they need a good dose of patience and more patience is required on Lake Sinclair than on Lake Oconee.

Unless anglers have invested some time in placing and marking some trees Lake Sinclair, they will have to move from place to place on an almost daily basis during the summer months to find the fish. This requires spending time looking at the screen of your depth finder and a little patience as you may have to move to several locations before finding fish.

Successful crappie anglers on Lake Oconee must spend some time locating good standing timber in the middle of acres of trees. Once a good tree is found, anglers can return time after time too that same tree and catch crappie. The secret to a good tree lies in finding the single biggest tree with the most limbs in an underwater plot of trees.

In a three acre plot of trees there may only be one or two trees that will consistently hold crappie. Anglers must spend time with their depth finder searching these tree plots for the best trees. Once a good tree is found you can mark it with your GPS and return time after time and catch crappie. During summer, anglers on Lake Oconee might have to visit several of those spots or trees to catch their limit but the action is almost guaranteed.

Whether fishing for summer crappie on Lake Sinclair or Lake Oconee, the angling technique on both lakes is about the same. In both cases we are talking about sitting directly over the crappie and fishing straight down. Both artificial jigs and live minnows will catch summertime crappie.

Rigging varies from angler to angler but as a rule of thumb anglers will use four to eight pound test line and will position a split-shot or small weight on the line about a foot above either the jig or the live minnow. The weight will get the lure or minnow into the strike zone faster and give you a better sense of feel for the light crappie bites.

Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that crappie will not bite during the hot summer. Certainly it is more comfortable fishing at night but daytime anglers will catch their share of crappie. If the August heat is too much for you to handle, just remember the crappie will stay in those locations I have mentioned until the first real cold snap of fall which may be at least three months away.

It takes some work and patience to locate and mark the best summertime crappie locations but your efforts will be rewarded with some excellent fishing. Good fishing and see you next week.

 

Bobby Peoples can be reached by e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net.