Ever notice that crappie fishing seems to grind to a halt during midsummer? It's not just your imagination -- there are verifiable reasons why the dreaded "dog days" can indeed spell poor fishing. Many lakes suffer oxygen depletion in summer, which causes crappie to become lethargic and, in extreme cases, can lead to fish kills. Some Sun Belt lakes may have surface temperatures approaching 100 degrees, putting crappie into a stupor or sending them into the depths where they're hard to locate and catch.

Fortunately, not every body of water containing crappie is subject to the summer doldrums. Great fishing is typically found on river-run reservoirs, those man-made lakes where current flow is regulated by an upstream dam. As you're about to learn, current breathes life into the ecosystem and can be responsible for a tremendous crappie bite...if you know how to fish it properly. In this Bass Pro Shops' OutdoorSite exclusive, Steve McCadams and Jim Duckworth, two legendary Tennessee crappie guides, explain how they use current to their advantage when targeting summer slabs. Their insights into this seldom-discussed topic can turn those dog days into the most exciting crappie fishing season of the year.

OUTDOORSITE: You seldom hear anglers who fish for anything but trout or catfish say anything good about current. To the contrary, most fishermen find it a nuisance. What can current mean to the serious crappie fisherman?

McCADAMS: Current has a rejuvenating effect on a reservoir that's especially noticeable in summer. When there's generation from the upstream dam, fresh, cool water washes down through the system. This helps keep the summer temperature of a river-run reservoir significantly cooler than that of a slack-water lake. Plus, the tumbling action of current distributes significant amounts of dissolved oxygen throughout the entire water column -- slack-water lakes, on the other hand, are often low in oxygen in hot weather below a certain depth. You also don't get the stratification or "layering" of hot or oxygen-depleted water in a river-run reservoir that you get in lakes with no current. Current also jump-starts the food chain. It stirs up plankton and algae, which stimulates shad and other baitfish to move around and start feeding. Gamefish higher up the food chain, including crappie, sense an increase in forage activity and become more active as well.

DUCKWORTH: Current also positions crappie in predictable places. They'll face upstream in current to feed on minnows that are moving in the direction of the flow. If you know the dam's generation schedule, you can get a good idea of when the best feeding times will be. As Steve indicated, crappie in a river-run environment tend to feed when there's some current moving, because they instinctively know their forage will be most active then.

OUTDOORSITE: Do crappie favor light, moderate or heavy current?

McCADAMS: I find they use current as a food-delivery system, but will do what they can to get out of anything greater than a light flow. If there's light generation, they'll hold right in the current, but when it picks up, they'll move behind objects on the bottom such as rocks, trees, stumps, etc. The water is then flowing over and past them at a good clip, but they're sitting in slack water behind a current break. From this vantage point, they can hold for long periods regardless of the flow, and rush out to grab a passing meal.

DUCKWORTH: It's important to understand that current isn't the same throughout the entire water column -- it tends to be slower on the surface and bottom than in the middle, due to air and bottom friction. Even during a fairly strong flow, irregularities of the bottom contour may slow down the current enough to make it comfortable for crappie.

OUTDOORSITE: Besides sitting on the bottom behind objects, where else do crappie gravitate during current generation?

McCADAMS: They love eddies -- a lot of food concentrates in these areas. They'll also get on the down-current side of a ledge or sand bar, especially if there's some stumps, rocks or brush there.

DUCKWORTH: I also catch 'em on the back sides of humps and islands -- any place trash collects, they'll be there.

OUTDOORSITE: Do you normally catch bigger crappie from river-run reservoirs than slack-water impoundments, and if so, why?

McCADAMS: Definitely! Crappie don't have to move around nearly as much when they have current as a food delivery system. They learn to go into a holding pattern when there's no current running and wait until it cranks up again to feed. They get big, fat and lazy when current brings the food to them.

DUCKWORTH: I actually catch bigger crappie in deep, clear highland reservoirs with no current flow like Tennessee's Center Hill and Dale Hollow lakes, but crappie are far less numerous in these bodies of water than in murky river-run reservoirs. The average size, however, tends to be excellent in current reservoirs.

OUTDOORSITE: How do crappie react to intermittent current generation?

McCADAMS: Generation is often heaviest in a river-run reservoir in summer, when power demands are highest -- it takes lots of juice to keep all those air conditioners running. I find the feeding times of crappie are strongly tied to water movement, and in summer, the same generation schedule often prevails for long periods. The bite tends to be strongest during the first hour or so of generation, probably because of all the plankton that's uprooted during this period. Then after an hour or so, the bite usually stabilizes. If generation kicks in by mid-morning for several days running, the fish will get strongly acclimated to this, and the bite will be predictably good around 10 o'clock or so. They will usually stay on a mid-morning feeding pattern until the schedule changes.

DUCKWORTH: The bite is usually strongest while the current is running, but crappie bite better than either most other species in the lake, including bass or stripers, when the current shuts down. You just have to fish differently for them.

OUTDOORSITE:  How do you mean, Jim?

DUCKWORTH: When generation stops, they move off the bottom and away from cover, and suspend in the water column, usually just above the thermocline. I'll often vertical-jig these fish 20 to 25 feet deep.

McCADAMS: Crappie are a lot more scattered out than when current is running, and usually on deeper structures -- 18 to 25 feet would be a good average depth. Trolling with multiple pole rigs is a good option now. You want to use a shotgun approach instead of a rifle approach, because the fish won't be holding tight to current breaks and eddies.

OUTDOORSITE:  So when current flows, crappie tend to move shallower on structure?

McCADAMS: Right, but remember it's summer, so they won't move too shallow. If they were 25 feet deep with no generation, they might slide up to 15 feet, but not 5. The baitfish will dictate where and how shallow they move, so always watch your graph for schools of shad and concentrate your efforts at that level.

DUCKWORTH: I've caught 'em extremely shallow in weedbeds adjacent to a flowing channel (See Catch Crappie from Grassy Lakes). A ton of bait can pack into the grass now, and crappie will move in to gorge themselves. Then when the current stops, the bait scatters and the crappie go deeper.

OUTDOORSITE: Clarify why baitfish move when current starts flowing.

DUCKWORTH: Many crappie anglers believe the current literally washes the baitfish into an area, just as they believe the wind blows the bait around. Actually, healthy baitfish have little problem dealing with either current or wind. They move because their food source, plankton and algae, are subject to the whims of current.

McCADAMS: True, but out of a big school of shad, you're going to have many sick or injured individuals, and they represent a huge feeding opportunity for crappie. These less healthy baitfish are swept away when current kicks in, and crappie waiting downstream suck 'em up like a vacuum cleaner.

OUTDOORSITE: We've touched on bait and lure presentations in current, but let's get into this subject deeper. What presentation techniques work best when the water is moving?

McCADAMS: I prefer a vertical presentation with a bottom-bumping "Kentucky" rig with multiple hooks. It's critical when current is flowing to use enough weight on the end of your line so you can stay in touch with both the bottom and cover -- I generally use a 1-ounce bell sinker in a light to moderate flow. I tie two hooks 18 inches apart and bait up with live minnows. By slowly dragging and bumping the sinker along the bottom, I'm presenting baits at two different levels in the water column. Very often most of my bites will come on either the lower or higher of the two hooks. This tells me the fish are either holding around the base of the cover, a common scenario when there's a pretty good flow, or suspended right above the cover, which is typical during light generation. I also keep several rods rigged up with different line diameters. Normally I use 14 to 17 pound test on the Kentucky rig in light current, but I'll switch to 12 pound in faster current.

DUCKWORTH: I fish a lot of artificials in moving water. My favorite is the Slider Whirly Bee grub spinner. I'll cast it upstream and retrieve it close to the bottom with a series of light jerks -- this is a fantastic presentation on river bars with brush on the ends. I'll also use a marabou jig set 2 to 4 feet under a bobber and cast into eddies -- the jig suspends and shakes with the motion of the swirling current. I generally stick to 6 pound line when fishing current, because there's less line drag, and so I can break off easily when I get hung up. In murky water, I'll slow-troll a crappie-size crankbait, keeping it just off bottom.

OUTDOORSITE: Summing up, what's your final advice to crappie anglers about fishing current?

McCADAMS: Have several rods pre-rigged so you can get another presentation out there quickly when you get hung up -- it you've only got one rod, by the time you re-tie, you may have drifted 200 yards from your spot. Use your graph and a set of marker buoys to pinpoint offshore ledges and humps that hold baitfish and crappie when current is being generated.

DUCKWORTH: Get a trolling motor that's more powerful than you think you'll ever need -- it'll hold your boat in position when they switch on the current. Keep everything you're going to need -- tacklebox, pliers, water jug -- close by so you don't have to root around in storage boxes looking for them while your boat drifts off crappie-holding structure. And always wear your life jacket.