When the wind starts to shift around to the north, the days get shorter, and yes, when football season kicks off, crappie anglers know it’s time to get excited. Fall crappie fishing brings a new rhythm to the water, with far less traffic on the lakes and cooler weather that’s much more enjoyable for a day on the boat.
Best of all, fall means great crappie fishing. These fish become more cooperative as the days shorten and the water cools, offering some of the year’s most rewarding action. To learn more about how to take advantage of this seasonal bite, we spoke with our friend and long-time Weiss Lake guide, Captain Lee Pitts. Known as “The Crappie Capital” guide, Captain Pitts shared his insights and experience on how to make the most of fall crappie fishing.
Understanding Crappie Behavior in Fall
Before we can catch crappie in the fall, we have to understand what they are doing at this time and why they are doing it. Captain Lee has studied the behavior of crappie for many years in the fall, and he has learned a lot.
He says, “These fish know winter is coming, they know it is time to start fattening up and feeding up for the long cold days and nights of winter. Most of these fish have migrated to the river channels, creek ledges or any deep water they can find with cover.”
Of course, as all experienced crappie anglers know, crappie are traveling fish, and they do not lock up on any specific location for long periods of time. Successful fall crappie anglers need to be flexible in their approach to catching big crappie- what worked yesterday may not work at all today.
Best Locations for Fall Crappie Fishing
One of the first things a serious angler learns when spending time chasing after any and all gamefish is that the most important element of any successful fishing trip is finding where the fish are. The best tackle, gear, and intentions in the world won’t help an angler at all if the angler is fishing in the wrong places.
Whether fishing his home waters of Weiss Lake or the other big Coosa River lakes or any of the chain of Tennessee River lakes and other major impoundments, Captain Lee Pitts knows what sort of locations fall crappie like to hole up when the weather turns toward fall coolness.
Captain Lee tells us, “I look for a mixture of structure and water depth. Crappie like to look for the deeper creek ledges where the bait can winter. That way they do not exert a lot of energy that they need to store, so they will stay close to the bait in the rivers and creeks.”
So finding fall crappie is simple: find the bait, and you’ll probably find crappie.
Best Fall Crappie Lakes
All of the big Alabama lakes have good populations of crappie, and an angler who spends time looking for crappie in these big lakes will soon find that some lakes are just better than others for day-in, day-out fishing. For more on top crappie destinations across the Southeast, check out our guide to crappie lakes around the southeastern U.S..
When asked what lakes he prefers for fall crappie fishing, Captain Lee was brief and to the point. He says, “Weiss Lake, Neely Henry Lake, Logan Martin Lake, and Lake Guntersville are all fall favorites.”
Fall Crappie Fishing from the Bank
Although most serious crappie anglers use a boat of some kind to reach crappie in the fall, it is very possible for a land-based angler to have success fishing for crappie. Of course, this time of year is not like the spring spawning bite time when crappie will be up shallow almost everywhere in most lakes. Fall crappie fishing from the bank requires anglers to do some scouting and looking for specific types of locations where crappie can be reached from shore.
Captain Lee advises fall land-based crappie anglers, “You can catch crappie from the bank, crappie also love to get in the shallow flats in the afternoon and run bait, but you need a creek or deeper water close by.”
Crappie anglers who fish from shore would be wise to get a good map of a lake to be fished and look for locations which provide just the things Lee Pitts advises. Look for flats which have a creek running through, and see if there is adequate shoreline access to both the flat and the creek’s deeper water.
Essential Gear for Crappie Fishing in the Fall
As the summer weather cools, crappie anglers may need to change their approach to gearing up for a successful crappie fishing trip. Many crappie anglers use long, long rods for multiple “spider” rigs for summer fishing, but fall demands a different approach in many cases. When asked what gear he prefers in fall, Pitts says, “I rely on my shorter rods to be able to adapt more for depths such as my LEWS 7 to 8′, and for my chasing roaming fish, I prefer the 7′ Mafia Crappie Rods, very light weight with a quick tip.”
How to Fish for Crappie in the Fall
Finally, for the best fall crappie fishing techniques, anglers will need to find the fish, find what they are eating, and then fish in the right way.
After many years of on the water experience and success in catching fall crappie, Captain Lee Pitts advises those who want to be better and more successful crappie anglers, “ I love a hands-on approach. I still prefer dock shooting on Coosa Chain Lakes, because these fish really hold tight to our docks and to go to the exact opposite, you can also roll out to the creek channels and main river and catch them on wood cover throughout the winter.”
Pitts is a master at long-line slow trolling for crappie, and as fall goes into winter, Pitts catches many crappie by pulling small jigs along woody creek channels and deep water drop offs. It’s all a matter of finding where the fall crappie are holding and putting a lure or bait before them- they’ll bite.
