Crappie fishing in flooded water

Question
The areas that I normally fish are oxbow lakes connected to the Mississippi River.  Right now, the river is abnormally high and way up into the oxbows that I fish.  I'm having a hard time locating any kind of fish, let alone the crappies that I love.  The water is way up into the trees and is either murky or even muddy nearly everywhere.  No-one I know is catching them either.  Any tips?

Answer
I haven't done a lot of crappie fishing in oxbow lakes but have done some in somewhat similar places on the Apalachicola River in N.W. Florida.  That river has many sluggish tributaries which are very much like the few oxbow lakes I did fish on the Illinois River years ago.  

My first thought is that Crappie do not like current or at least strong current so the first thing to look for in high water is places with little or no current.  Crappie also like cover especially wood cover but seldome  telephone pole type wood.  They like branches so a fallen tree that at low water is just barely in the water but is now covered or nearly so in an area with little current should hold some crappie.  If the water is high enough go back into areas that is high and dry during normal water and find brush piles or other places that offer cover.  
Of course a part of this may be determined if the spawn has or has not taken plalce.
In the pre spawn the fish may be scattered and you will have to move around trying different places finding a few here and a few there.  One little trick I learned a long time ago was to tie a tiny spinner on the end of my line and fasten the hook to the spinner.  It should be no bigger than about half a dime in size and silver or gold color.  As the minnow swims around this tiny bit of extra flash in merky water may help the crappie find the bait.
Don't let the merky water fool you, the fish can see in it.  If they couldn't they would die. But any little thing that helps them see will help you catch them.

Oxbow lakes often have huge log jams that when the water is down you can climb out on or maybe walk across the old river channel.  When water is high these may be below the water but will still act as a sort of dam to slow the movement of water.The down current side of these log jams may be a mother lode of crappie who have gathered there to avoid the current and to find food coming around the logs. Let the current drift your minnow into the eddie behind these log jams and I bet there will be fish there.  You may be surprised and catch a big catfish or a bass as well as some nice crappie.

Another possibility if the wind isn't too strong try drifting the main part of the lake with several baits (if legal) set at different depths, keeping in mind that crappie move up and down in the water columb so be sure to check which depth the fish was caught at.  When you get a bite throw out a marker buoy and then anchor to fish the area thoroughally.  There may be a bit of trash on bottom that holds the fish or the school may simply be station keeping waiting for the water to go down for spawning.  Or if spawn has already taken place simply waiting for the water to go down.

I hope this has helped some.  Finding fish in situations like this is a difficult thing but one that makes fishing such an interesting and exciting sport.   I hope you catch a bunch of slabs.




Jack L. Gaither
Lake Seminole, Ga.