Why are summer crappie pinned to one exact depth band?
In a stratified lake the fish are squeezed from both directions. Above the thermocline the water is too warm; below it, in many fertile lakes, decomposition has burned the oxygen out of the deep water entirely. That leaves a band — often just 1–2 m (3–7 ft) thick, sitting somewhere around 4–8 m (13–26 ft) — with tolerable temperature above the suffocation line, and the whole food chain from plankton to minnows to crappie stacks into it. Find that band on your electronics and depth control matters more than any lure choice.
The full story
This answer is one piece of a longer lesson — setups, diagrams and the reasoning behind it.
More questions about Breathing & oxygen
Same topic, other species
- How does the thermocline affect where largemouth hold in summer? — Largemouth Bass
- Why do muskie suspend over open basins in summer? — Muskellunge (Muskie)
- Is there enough oxygen in the deep basin under the ice? — Yellow Perch
- Why can't big pike just go deep in summer where the water is cold? — Northern Pike
- Does a summer smallmouth have to move deep? — Smallmouth Bass
- Why do trout lakes need to be deep or spring-fed? — Trout (Rainbow · Brook · Lake)
- How does the thermocline decide where summer walleye live? — Walleye