I’ve just moved to Tennessee to live with my father. We live in Granville right on Cordell Hull Lake. My dad really wants to catch crappie so I’ve been brushing up on everything I can find on the internet, but as of yet we have been unsuccessful in our crappie hunt. Now we only have a 12′ johnboat with a trolling motor but fortunately we have over 20 boat ramps on our lake so it’s easy to get around. Now we’ve caught loads of bream, small and largemouth bass, a few stripers but no crappie. I’ve used live worms, grub tailed jigs (white) and crankbaits. We’ve stuck mostly to shallow waters, often only a couple feet deep average maybe 6′. I’ve heard that I’m always to fish every structure in or hanging over the water. I assume my techniques are ok cause I caught all the other fish. Now I really only knew about jigging at the bottom. I recently saw that you can use a bobber to adjust the depth at which you jig. I guess my real question is What am I not doing? Should i try deeper water? I know I’m supposed to use the channels, fish slowly cause they’re lazy. I haven’t really been able to find any specific “spots” on the internet. But…I was hoping if you took a look at all of this you could help. I should probably ask a local but i figured I’d go straight to the best. So, thank you for your time, sorry about all details, and anything at all you can tell me will be great. Thanks again. I’ve already learned some things from reading your other answers.

Crappie can drive even pros to tears, at times. They are one of the moodiest, and uncooperative fish in the summer. After the spawning frenzy, crappie move out into open water, suspend and sulk until things start to cool off in the fall. They will suspend at any depth, without regard to any structure, and refuse to bite anything unless it is almost right in their mouth, at times. At night, they will often cruise the shallows in large schools in search of minnows and shad, then move back out come sun-up. Most of the time, they will be suspending near the thermocline, and wherever the water PH is 7.5 or higher (slightly acidic). A SONAR unit is helpful in finding them, but it won’t make them bite. Night fishing the shallows is probably your best bet this time of year. Be sure to fish the shoals, flats and coves. During the day, I would try the discharges from Lake Cumberland and Dale Hollow, as this water comes from the hypolimnon of these lakes and offers colder water than the rest of the lake. Crappie may be a bit more active in these areas in summer. Try trolling with spider rigs along these discharges with small jigs, paying special attention to lines of structure. I would also try the tail-races, especially near creek mouths. Crappie often hang out near eddies, whirlpools and breaks in the cooler, heavily oxygenated water. Drift minnows and jigs through any current breaks. Happy fishing.