Cold Lakes for Crappie?

[Lotech]

I'll be fishing a lake tomorrow that holds browns, rainbows, bass & crappie. The water temp should be somewhere in the mid to upper 50's. What's the chance of catching crappies on a suspended jig fly over stumps or brush? Pretty generic question I know, but I'm ready to try almost anything.

[cycler68]

I'd say yes, you can catch crappies. But where are the bait fishermen fishing? I like to let them do the hard work of finding the fish and then I'll try to figure out how to present a fly in such a way that the fish will bite on it.

[Gigmaster]

The chances are excellent. Just be sure to watch for very, very light hits. A strike indicator is a must.

[tall]

And remember that crappies usually hit up from below. Particularly if they are biting light, watch for your indicator to actually rise in the water rather than going under. It can be really subtle, but often they will have it spit back out and be gone before you realize it if you are waiting for an indicator or bobber to go underwater.

Tall

[cycler68]

One of my favorite ways to fish for fall crappie is to use slow sinking line and cast a small clouser. I cast, let it sink and then retrieve it using the hand twist method. I watch the line very carefully as it tigtens, goes slack, tightens, goes slack. It it's tight when it should be slack, I feel any extra drag on the line at all, a tap, I see the line move or anything at all I strip strike.

[FishnDave]

Crappies here bite pretty well in the Fall once the water starts to cool...all the way until ice-up. The approach you selected (microjig and an indicator) is a very consistent and successful method to tempt crappies.