Angling legend Gary Roach tends to forgo walleye fishing during the winter in favor of targeting susceptible crappies of slab proportions. Photo by Tim Lesmeister.

Minnesota's Gary Roach may be known as Mr. Walleye, but when he takes to the ice in the winter, he tends to focus on crappies. "It's because the big crappies become vulnerable as they quit suspending and move out of deep water right after ice-up, and then school up and hover over the deep holes as winter progresses," he said. "Those fish you couldn't find all summer are now right below you."

Of course, not all of your favorite lakes produce big slab crappies. While most lakes in Minnesota will hold some crappies, many lakes carry a population of small fish. It seems as though the lakes that have the most crappies don't always have the biggest. Fortunately, there are enough bodies of water with decent populations of big crappies sprinkled around the state that anglers won't be left wanting for a place to go.

"Crappies can come and go in cycles," said Roach. "On some lakes, you have a few years of great fishing, then the population of big fish gets knocked down, the older fish die and you have to wait a few years for it to come back. On some lakes, the fishing for big crappies in the wintertime is always good. Those that produce solid fishing every year are usually the big lakes."

So it would seem that an angler must do his or her research to figure out where the big slabs are in any given year. "It pays to do your homework," said Roach. "Keep one ear glued to the bait shop wall, and never stop asking around. When that big slab bite begins, you want to be the first one on it."

Roach says there is no secret to catching crappies under the ice. His number one priority is finding the fish. "You need to drill plenty of holes, get out that sonar and look," Roach said. "Crappies tend to suspend high off the bottom, even when they are on the edge of the vegetation. You find those suspended fish, and you got crappies."

Lures for crappies should be able to hold a minnow in a horizontal position. The jigging spoon setup that Roach uses is the Buckshot Dropper Spoon, where the spoon is an attractor and the bait is attached to a small hook on a tag line coming off the spoon. This allows the minnow to be suspended slightly below the spoon, where it is an easy target.

Roach tends to use the horizontal jigs quite a bit for winter crappie fishing. The Bro Bug is a horizontal jig, and so is the Gum-Ball jig. With these, he slides the hook point into the minnow's mouth and runs it out behind its head. It's the perfect horizontal presentation.

"Light line is important too," said Roach. "When fishing suspended fish in clear water, you will discover they get line-shy real quick, so the lighter the line, the better the success."

Fortunately for us, Roach stays on the pulse of the Minnesota fishery, and he has a good idea where big slab crappies can be found. And fortunately for us, he likes to share his knowledge with anglers. "I've always wanted to see people out on the water and on the ice having fun," he said. "If you catch fish, it's fun, so letting people in on some great spots to catch fish is my way of helping out."

WHITE SAND LAKE
Crow Wing County
White Sand Lake is just west of Baxter, just a short hop from Roach's house. You might run into him there on a midweek evening as he sets up for the low-light crappie bite. He'll be sitting on the hole on the south side of the lake in a one-person, black-tarp fishing shelter. If the wind isn't blowing, the flaps will be open, and he won't mind if you stop and say hello.