Summer crappie fishing

[fishinfreak]

I'm wanting to put some brush piles for crappie fishing out but I don't have a clue how deep they should be in summer pool when the crappie go deep after the spawn. Any help would be great.

[Hlleonard]

I'm wanting to put some brush piles for crappie fishing out but I don't have a clue how deep they should be in summer pool when the crappie go deep after the spawn. Any help would be great.

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I don't sink any brush piles but I do like crappie fishing in the summertime... Normally for me, between 10 and 15 feet seem to hold fish fairly consistently in the lake where I spend a good bit of my fishing time... Most crappie fishermen seem to quit after the spring spawn but I seem to be able to catch crappie all summer long although they do seem to be smaller... I would think you would need to keep the brush above the thermocline which here seems to be around 20 feet give or take a foot or so.... Crappie are actually easier for me to pattern in the summer after they have spawned and returned to the deeper cover... I guess most of the time I am fishing somebody else's brush pile that I have managed to find... Good luck.

[missionFISHIN]

It really depends on the nature of your lake.
I fish in the summer for crappie also and I fish Dale, Cumberland, Green and Barren.
It is amazing how different these lakes fish in the summer.
Dale and Cumberland are fairly similar in that early and late in the day they can still be caught in the 15-18 foot range but during most of the day the best range is 18-24 feet deep. On Dale they tend to stay in the 20-24 foot range just about all the time once you get into late July thru August period. On these lakes I would sink it in the 23-24 foot depth which will cover up to the 18-19 foot depth with structure also.
Green and Barren Lakes are different animals, even in the summer I wouldn't fish Barren much deeper than the 14-17 foot range and Green the 15-18 seems the best. The reason is dissolved oxygen. These 2 lakes are shallow lakes and it is very interesting when you look at the water quality charts on the internet. Barren's oxygen goes to basically nothing at, you guessed it, 16-17 feet deep and Green's does the same around 18 feet deep.
I would sink these in the 19-20 foot range to cover up to the 14-15 foot depth with structure.
So what I am trying to say is yes the comfort of the thermocline, especially in the deeper lakes is important but in the shallower lakes oxygen becomes even more of a concern for the fish.
Hope this helps and good luck fishing.

[fishinfreak]

Thanks a million guys. This helped alot, now I need to figure out were to sink these bad boys.