Crappie are often at their largest just before the spawn. Females are full of roe then, and crappie of both sexes still may be carrying their winter weights.

Three or four weeks before the spawn, crappie are usually hunting for warmer and more-shallow water in preparation for the spawn. If you know of a source of warm water, it can be a very productive place to fish in the late winter. Anywhere you can find warm water discharging into small streams or creeks that run into major reservoirs, there's a good chance you'll find a honey hole for big, wintertime crappie.

On major reservoirs, crappie that are preparing for the spawn will run up the warmer creek and river channels and wait for warm weather and the correct water temperature to move out on the flats to spawn.

Look for numbers of big crappie to be holding in a hole or a deep spot near the very end of a ditch or small creek channel. These crappie are likely to be very aggressive because they're feeding for the spawn.