Longtime Toledo Bend angler and guide Greg Crafts -- Toledo Bend Guide Service & Lake Cottage, (936) 368-7151, toledobendguide.com, [email protected] -- makes a living helping clients catch coldwater crappie. "My busy season starts up in October," he stated recently, "and runs through into March."

As his livelihood's based on his ability to catch fish, Crafts has put together a pattern for Toledo Bend crappie that keeps him on top of the fish from the coldest part of the year right up until the spawn.

"During the late winter I fish brushpiles on ledges and shelves between 25 and 35 feet deep in the main river channel on the north end of the lake," he said. "As the water gets warmer, the fish will move out of the main-lake channel and up the old creekbeds that lead to the spawning coves, and I'll follow right along with them. If you have a small enough boat, you can follow the fish all the way to the back of the coves and up the small feeder creeks."

While fishing vertically for crappie at depths over 30 feet, Crafts prefers to use a dark-colored 1/32-ounce hair jig on 10-pound braided line. The braided line allows him to feel the light bites, to pull big fish out of thick cover quickly, and to straighten the jig hooks when he hangs up in the brushtops.

As our buddy J.D. said, the fish "are biting every day." You just have to know where and how to fish for them.

When the fish move shallow, he switches over to a 1/32-ounce jig with a blue and white plastic body, Road Runners, and Beetle Spins fished on 4-pound monofilament. Also, Crafts advised, as the fish move shallow they become harder to catch during the day. He experiences some of his best spawn-time crappie fishing during the night.

Another tip that Crafts passed along: where to plant brushpiles to attract the most crappie throughout the year. "I like to put brush in the feeder creeks at the mouths of spawning coves. When the crappie move from deeper water, they will stop and stage in the brush before moving up to spawn. Then, again, after the spawn, the crappie will stop at the brushpiles before moving out into the deeper water for the summer."

A lot of East Texas anglers spend most of their time chasing bass with an occasional crappie trip in the spring to fill their freezers with filets. The only problem with that approach is that they're missing out on some of the hottest coldwater action of the year. As our buddy J.D. said, the fish "are biting every day." You just have to know where and how to fish for them.