Summer officially arrives in June but crappie don't need a calendar to know what the season is. Their where-abouts, like all seasons of the year, are determined more by the location of their forage (shad). Other factors such as water temperatures and oxygen levels again have a role too but basically, the crappie follow their forage.

June, July and August are good months for what most anglers refer to as the deep water pattern for the country's most popular panfish. It's a time when the fish return back to the outer reaches of reservoirs and occupy the submerged sandbars and creek ledges where they find a comfort zone around stumps and brush.

For all practical purposes, the crappie have completed the spawn and are now back to a more normal pattern. That is, the fish are more likely to be structure oriented and schooled together than they were back in May when the post-spawn era had them scattered and reluctant to take a bait.

Many good lakes across the country produce fine stringers of crappie throughout the summer for anglers who are willing to change their techniques and move with the fish. Perhaps the first order of business is to back off the shoreline and put the visible stickup style of fishing out of your mind.

Over the next few weeks many reservoirs will have mayfly hatches. Crappie tend to feed on the larva stage of the mayfly as it emerges out of the lake substrate (bottom). This happens more around the main stream areas.

I've seen the crappie hitting minnows or jigs good for a few days in June or July, only to suddenly stop and take on a finicky feeding mode. In a few days I'd notice a massive mayfly hatch and upon dressing the fish find them feeding heavily on the millions of larva that suddenly appeared courtesy of Mother Nature's buffet line.

Still, I'd suggest working the deep ledges of the main river channel or where creeks drained into the main river before the lake was flooded. The overbank of the river itself where stumps or cover can be found are certainly worth trying. Depths of 15 to 25 feet are common with most of my success coming in the 18 to 22 foot zone when I'm home here on Kentucky Lake.

Depth zones for summer crappie will vary according to your favorite lake, especially if it's a deep and clear reservoir. Such lakes are difficult to catch summer crappie on in daylight hours. That's why fishing at night under floating lights or lanterns hung over your boat or pontoon might be the ticket. When anchored over river or creek channels ledges, this summer setup can draw insects and mayflies which bring the shad and guess who is following their forage? It's effective and you beat the heat of the summer doldrums.

Current is a factor and it can work to your advantage as the crappie often lay on the downstream side of a sandbar or ledge where baitfish are washed their way. The fish will often be in a submerged eddie caused by the current and this can be great for finding a concentration of deep water slabs.

The most common technique is the double-book, bottom bouncing rig developed here on Kentucky Lake in the old days by guides who stalked the dropoffs in the era before depth finders. They used the heavy sinker to feel the bottom and find the stumps where crappie resided.

Comprised of two books tied on a 6-inch drop loop and some 18 inches apart, it's designed to present the bait at two different depths at the same time. A bell sinker in the 1-ounce size range is tied on the bottom end. Hooks sizes are in the 1/O to 2/0 range and I choose to use a Eagle Claw light wire hook in either a gold finish or bronze. Incidentally, the bronze will bend and straighten out easier when you're snagged.

The rig can be armed with either live minnows or a jig and minnow combo. When using minnows I prefer to use shiners as they more closely resemble the silver appearance of threadfin or gizzard shad, which is what the crappie prefer most of the time.

Learning to read a depth finder, such as a flasher unit or LCR, is a must. Added to this needs to be a good topographical map where you must search the elevation readings to find potential areas where the two extremes of deep and shallow come together. Most of the better size crappie will be found in the main lake area as the bays are likely to be warmer and offer less flow in terms of current.

Should you find some stained water the crappie are likely to be more shallow as this situation filters light and might give them a better comfort zone in, say a 1O to 14 foot brushpile.

It was June last year when my partner Jim Perry and I found our winning stringer of crappie that brought us the title of National Champions. It was during the Crappiethon Classic on Chickamauga Lake near Chattanooga and we found the fish on a secondary channel leading into the main river.

After reading maps and making some checks on the pages we searched them out with our sonar gear. We found huge stumps loaded with baitfish activity and made our stand.

In a few hours we had boated a dandy stringer doing exactly what I've suggested to you in the previous paragraphs. Our stringer of 1O fish culled down to 12.49 pounds and earned us $56,500 in the "Superbowl" of crappie fishing!

While you may not win the National Championship you can find and catch some dandy stringers of crappie by doing exactly what we did. That is, accept the fact that crappie don't dry up and disappear after spring spawn. They're out there in your favorite lake throughout the summer if you're willing to change your presentation a little and interpret your sonar while studying a topo map.

To obtain lake maps check to see who is the governing body of the reservoir such as a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer office or Department of Natural Resources. For a few bucks you can usually obtain a color coded may revealing the summer spots where crappie stay until fall rolls around.

Steve McCadams, a professional fishing and hunting guide on Tennessee's Kentucky lake is current National Crappie Champion and Director of Public Relations for CRAPPIE USA. Personal autographed copies of a book he co-authored titled: CRAPPIE WISDOM are currently available for $14.95 by writing: Steve McCadams,655 Anderson Dr., Paris, TN 38242

Crappie USA, Inc.