Where do crappie go in late winter under the ice?

In shallow, fertile lakes, oxygen sags as winter drags on: ice and snow block light, plants stop producing, and decay keeps consuming. Deep basin water goes stale first, so late-ice crappie often lift higher off the bottom and drift toward basin edges, green weed lines that still photosynthesize, and inflow areas where fresh oxygenated water enters. At higher latitudes with long ice cover — much of Canada — this late-season shift is pronounced; on big deep lakes with plenty of oxygen the fish may hardly move at all. Watch your sonar: fish suspended far off bottom in late winter are telling you the deep water has gone bad.

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