What is the secret to ice fishing for crappie?

The secret to ice fishing for crappies is finding them under the ice. As the icing starts, the fish are harder to find. If you know where about the fish head to when the water temperature drops, you would have a better idea where to set up. The bait that you use has to be fresh and hopefully alive when you throw it in the water. Use a good size minnow or if you have a 1/8 ounce jig and a night crawler, you could attract some bites. The thing with ice fishing is that your live bait is usually dead when you put it in the water. You can use some artificial bait and save the trouble of constantly replacing the dead once live bait. You would be wise to look towards areas with underwater structures or weed beds that are underwater and still brushy. This is the prime areas to fish. Fish locators will help with this as well. Make two holes about twenty feet away from each other so that you can surround the area where the crappies are hiding. This way you can place one pole at each hole and have a better chance of attracting a bite. If you are fishing with more than one person, you could make four holes around the area to give you a better outcome. As with any fishing, ice fishing takes time and patients. You are going to spend much of your time selecting the right area, setting up your rods, and drilling holes.