by Noel Vick

Prespawn crappie are tough to figure out. Some days they're deep; some days they're shallow. One day they prefer minnows; the next they prefer jigs. Sometimes you can't buy a nibble; sometimes you catch 'em one after another after another.

Despite its complications, early-season crappie fishing is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. In February, few fishermen are on the water, and skiers and personal watercraft rarely bother you. It's like a banquet: fresh air, blue skies and - if you're lucky - a few crappie to bend your pole.

Following are 12 tips to help you enjoy success during your late-winter forays. Study them, employ them and enjoy the prespawn bounty.

When the cold front arrives, crappie return to deeper waters, holding near distinct bottom structure where cover is abundant. If conditions are sunny and windy, wave action cuts light penetration, and crappie remain near mid-depth structures. A few days after the front passes, the wind usually calms, allowing greater light penetration and driving crappie to deeper structure and cover.

If weather remains sunny and begins warming before the passage of another cold front, crappie gradually begin migrating back to shallow waters. Rainy weather - especially a warm rain - sends them scurrying to shallow reaches.

Photo by Keith Sutton

The dropper rig is popular for prespawn trolling. Attach a 1- to 3-ounce sinker to the end of your line. Above this are one to four 12-inch dropper lines a foot apart. Each dropper connects to the main line via a loop knot or swivel. A different type or color of bait is tied to each dropper, and the rig is trolled.

Medium-sized (1/16- to 1/8-ounce) jigs are ideal lures for fishing ledges. Work a lure down the drop-off, hopping it stair-step fashion. Around river ledges, allow lures to drift naturally and bounce along the ledge.

Use sonar to determine the shelter's position; then use a countdown technique to pinpoint feeding fish. Position your boat a cast away from your marker buoy and cast a 1/16-ounce on 4-pound-test line to the buoy. Now count the jig down until you get a hit or contact brush. If you get a hit, use the same count next cast. If you contact brush, use a shorter count.

Grab your line below the line-guide eye nearest your reel. Pull your jig tight against the rod-tip eye. Carefully work the pole through the tangles of the cover until your jig is over your selected fishing hole. Lower the jig into the hole. Some anglers work their jigs with an "up, down, up, down" action. But this causes unnecessary hang-ups when fishing heavy brush. Simply lower the jig to the desired depth, and hold it stationary. Vibrations relayed through your line to the lure impart enough action to attract crappie.

When a fish hits, reverse the action. Keep the line in your hand, set the hook, pull the fish to the rod tip, then back your rod up to get the fish out.

It's difficult to keep crankbaits at favored depths and still move them slow enough to entice lethargic crappie. Using a neutral buoyancy or sinking crankbait eliminates these problems. Use light line - 4- to 6-pound-test - crank the lure down to the proper depth, and then slowly crawl it across the bottom.

Fish crankbaits around cover on each point, retrieving the lure from shallow water to deep, or working across the point toward the deepest side. Crappie move up and down points as weather and water conditions change, and they may be difficult to pinpoint. But when the first fish is found, you might take several on consecutive casts.

Start your search in areas with little current - big backwaters, side channels and other places where current is reduced. If that doesn't produce, try fishing cuts connecting backwaters and the main river, or work your baits around heavy cover in the river proper. Change lures, tactics and locations as often as necessary to establish a fishing pattern.

Be prepared to set the hook the instant your line goes slack or your bait doesn't feel right. Don't wait for anything else. Set the hook and make a mental note of the depth at which the fish struck. There may be a dozen more crappie still down there.