Why are summer crappie out over the open basin instead of on the bank?
Because their food is. In summer the plankton biomass — and the young-of-year shad and minnows eating it — concentrates in open water near the thermocline, and a fish built to hover economically simply moves in with the groceries. Typical summer life is a school suspended 4–8 m (13–26 ft) down over 10–15 m (33–50 ft) of water, or stacked on deep brush piles and cribs at that same depth. Shore-bound thinking catches stragglers; depth-disciplined open-water fishing catches the school.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
Same topic, other species
- How deep do largemouth go at midday in summer? — Largemouth Bass
- What is the core summer muskie pattern — weeds or open water? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- What does a summer day look like for a perch school? — Yellow Perch
- How should I re-think a lake for pike in high summer? — Northern Pike
- Where are lake trout in summer, and how deep is deep? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- What is the standard summer walleye program? — Walleye