Chances are, there are some discarded Christmas trees around your neighborhood, free for the taking. Hard core crappie anglers take note of such debris, knowing their favorite quarry is attracted to submerged pine trees. From late fall through winter, crappies enjoy the thick cover of a good Fraser fir or scotch pine placed by anglers for just that purpose, though some anglers claim planted hardwoods last longer underwater and ultimately attract a few more fish.

Whether you find them huddled around sunken Christmas trees, submerged shrubs, tucked into fields of green foliage or suspended in the abyss, catching post-Christmas crappies from the trees isn’t a guarantee, as plummeting water temps and declining metabolic rates induce sluggish, unwilling-to-chase attitudes among the resident slabs. Baits need to dangle for a while in their line of sight to draw interest.

With a season of bass tournaments behind him and back on his favorite crappie lake, Major League Fishing star David Walker understands the situation all too well. It’s Walker’s favorite time to pursue crappies, as well as white bass and other panfish.

“I can’t believe more anglers haven’t discovered the magical properties of these baits for crappies,” remarks Walker, referring to micro finesse baits. “But they will. And when they do, every crappie angler out there is going to catch a lot of fish.”

Winter means cooling water and receding lake levels, which can consolidate crappies around remaining wood cover, docks, submerged vegetation or suspended in open water. “When the water falls and a lot of my favorite cover is left high and dry, I’ll chase crappies like I’m bass fishing on a smaller scale,” Walker explains.

“I’ll target ends of points or go right down the middle of pockets in creek arms, looking for bait and groups of crappies on sonar. With live sonar, I’m also sniffing out isolated pieces of cover—sometimes, a single rock or log is enough to hold some fish. What’s also cool is that crappies school by size, and often, you’ll catch the biggest fish in the school first. But I always release those bigger 14- to 16-inchers in favor of 11s and 12s, which taste so much better in crappie tacos.”

His new favorite crappie bait—a Z-Man Shad FryZ swimbait—is orders of magnitude smaller than bass-sized offerings. But according to the professional, its subtle, lively action, buoyancy and durability put it right at the top of his crappie l57ure depth-chart.

“What’s cool is I can rig the Shad FryZ on a slightly heavier 1/10-ounce Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead and retain plenty of weight for casting distance. Meanwhile, the bait’s buoyant ElaZtech material slows its rate of fall. So, in terms of drop-speed, the lure flutters and fishes more like a 1/16-ouncer; it’s got that nice little tail-kick on the fall that attracts a lot of crappies.

“As veteran anglers know, crappies primarily feed up,” he continues. “So, keeping your lure at or a few feet above their eye level is of utmost importance, especially in colder water.”

I’ve shared my experience with these Z-Man plastics in these pages before, which unlike traditional PVC soft plastics, which sink, ElaZtech baits float, slowing the drop-speed of the jighead and giving the crappies more time to see it. “That’s something you simply can’t do with other crappie baits, because traditional plastic baits sink fast—often, shooting right through the active strike zones of cold water panfish.”

To further tweak rate of fall, Walker spools with straight 6- or 8-pound test braided line and no leader, explaining: “After trying those micro-thin 2-, 3- and 4-pound test braids, I realized thicker diameter braid, which floats, slows the lure’s rate of fall a bit more.”

While most anglers target shallow water fish, Walker prefers to pursue bigger, less pressured crappies in 15 to 25 feet of water. “Simply count the lure down to the right depth and begin a slow, steady retrieve. The hover can also be key to triggering reluctant fish. While retrieving, I’ll pause every 5 to 10 seconds. Let the bait stop and hang momentarily. That hesitation or hover—when the bait isn’t darting away—often makes a fish that’s been following commit; it opens its big pouting jaw and gulps the bait down.”

And that’s when the post-holidays fishing fun begins.