Luckily the state of Ohio drops everyone’s donated Christmas trees in the area lakes each year, and puts the gps coordinates of each drop on an interactive map. I have hauled fallen trees out of the woods and into creek arms when the reservoirs are low in summer. I’m just never there when the crappie are. I have a reason to believe it’s karma.
If the crappie are running, you'll know quick. I had been going out and giving it 15 minutes a day till I hit the jackpot.
I haven't had good luck fishing the bedding grounds. They don't hit like they do on a run when they are in spawn. Now, shellcrackers... that's different. I was pulling garbage sack sized loads of them off their beds. I fished those beds year after year, till I think I got them all, or they got pissed off and left.
I hit the run dead on about six years ago in Pymatuning, Ohio’s largest inland lake. We were keeping every 15th crappie, and came home with 40 each. The single most fish I’ve ever caught in a day. This isn’t a fisherman’s lie, it was a fish immediately when the bait hit the water from 5am until 11pm. Every fish was bigger than 12”, all black crappie in full spawning color or females fat with eggs. Plus the odd smallmouth, walleye, catfish and hybrid striper (wiper) made for a crazy day of fishing. We were wading off shore.
I ate some fillets quickly, maybe 30% of them, the rest went in the freezer...where they sat. And sat. And then I forgot about them. And then I moved and threw them out. They were old, freezer burned and nasty. I really only like fish when it’s not been frozen, so I felt really awful about wasting all that meat...especially since I knew going in that the meat would sit in the freezer and I’d end up wasting it, but also because so many of the fish were females about to spawn.
The next year, the lake’s crappie limit was lowered to 20. There previously was no limit. I know it wasn’t my fault, there were guys I talked to who kept 200 fish a day and threw out last’s years leftover fillets...but I felt and still feel guilt for my gluttony.
And I haven’t caught any but the odd one or two crappie since.