Crappie Remain in Deep Water Just Ahead of Mississippi Crappie Spawn.
Keith Lusher 03.04.24
Here in the deep south, crappie anglers are used to experiencing spring early. So it’s no surprise to see popping corks with shiners dawning the rods of crappie fishermen in search of shallow-water slabs. With the latest warm-up that the Gulf South has seen, the boat launches on the Jourdan River in Southwest, MS, were jam-packed with trucks and trailers.
John Guillot of Kiln, MS, fishes the Jourdan River and made a trip to find out if the crappie had moved up into the shallows to spawn. “There were numerous other crappie anglers pounding the banks. Most were fishing shiners two feet under a cork,” he said. Guillot has been catching crappie in deep water leading up to this day so he decided to start there and then work his way into more shallow water if the fish weren’t deep. The crappie fishing veteran motored to a spot that was out of sight of the other anglers who were beating the bank. “I didn’t fish where others could see what I was doing,” he said. While fishing in stealth mode Guillot started casting a curly tail plastic grub on a 1/16 oz. jighead in 9-11 feet of water but came up empty. “I didn’t even catch one keeper,” Guillot said.
Then he worked his way into deeper water and that’s where the magic happened. He was using a black and chartreuse jig on a 1/16 oz. jighead and said, “I had to use the net on all of the fish that I caught in 14 feet of water.” Guilliot finished the day with 18 keeper crappie and said it’s safe to say the crappie haven’t moved up to build their nests just yet.
With the lack of rain during the late summer and fall months, the Jourdan River has seen saltwater intrusion disrupt the crappie fishing. Guillot said the fish seemed to have come back. “I saw lots of small crappie moving upriver which is a good sign since the saltwater intrusion happened last fall,” he said.
