Spring can be one of the more rewarding times to fish.

Warming water and longer daylight combine to move many fish species shallow; a migration commonly driven by the need to feed and reproduce. But weather patterns play a big role, particularly during periods of extremes such as we’ve experienced lately.

Take for instance two crappie fishing trips I made to a local reservoir. The first was made during the last of a three-day string of 80-degree temperatures. The second was made a few days later, following a massive cold front that provided cold rain, some snowflakes, and lows in the upper 20s.

Trip one: The water temperature was in the mid-50s and rising quickly under sunny skies. I decided to spend some time slowly cruising several areas of the lake while monitoring the sonar unit for variances in water temperature and the presence of fish.

After scoping out several areas it appeared the warmest water was in the upper basin of the lake. Not only was the surface temperature the highest, but fish that I suspected were crappies were present from the bottom to withing eight to 10 feet of the surface. While I cruised over several submerged trees in the area, the sonar did not indicate great numbers of crappies relating to the cover.

Armed with the information that the fish appeared scattered, I decided the best approach would be to slowly troll various levels of the water column. On one light spinning rod, I rigged an 1/8-ounce jig. On another, I also rigged an 1/8-ounce jig, but on this one I added a ¼ ounce egg sinker above a short leader, above the swivel used to make the leader connection. My third outfit incorporated a three-way swivel. A long dropper off the swivel connected to another similar jig. A short dropper attached to 3/8-ounce bell sinker. The final ring of the swivel tied to the main line.

These three setups allowed me to fish three different zones. When moving the boat along at a .7 to .8 mph pace, the unweighted jig ran a few feet under the surface with 30 to 40 feet of line out. The one weighed with the egg sinker ran in the 10-foot zone with the same amount of line out. The three-way rig was allowed to run within a foot or so of the bottom. All three jigs were dressed with Bobby Garland Stroll’R bodies in colors such as Electric Chicken and Mo Glo Ghost Sprakle.

During the limited time I had to fish, a dozen nice crappies – including three in the 12.5-to-14-inch range – succumbed to the trolled jigs. Most came on shallow and mid depth jigs, though the three-way produced a couple of crappies.

Trip 2: The water temperature had fallen a few degrees. The shallow basin of the lake, judging from the returns on the sonar, was devoid of fish. Slowly cruising farther down the lake, I began to mark big schools of fish over 14-to-18-foot flats located between the main creek channel and the shore. The areas with the most fish also had lots of shoreline lay-down trees, though the fish did not seem to be in the submerged tree sections.

I again deployed three outfits to cover the water column, as again the fish were scattered. An hour or more of slow trolling produced a couple fish, but nothing too exciting. However, as I slow trolled over offshore sunken trees, I noticed fish stacked up in good numbers. I switched tactics, using a ¼ ounce blade bait to vertically jig amongst the branches. Fish started coming in greater frequency. An 1/8-ounce jig dressed with a Bobby Garland Baby Shad also produced some fish.

Each sunken tree would give up two-to-four fish before they shut down, perhaps spooked. Interestingly, at times catching crappies from such cover does the opposite, gets the school fired up. I’ve seen this many times with smallmouth bass. I suspect recent nasty weather pattern had much to do with the subdued action.

When fishing for weather sensitive fish such as crappies, it pays to remain mobile and not put too much faith on what worked the last time out.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle