In short, there is no definitive answer to this question. Many anglers will designate a certain time range that they believe the best temperature for fishing crappie. And these ranges vary from year-to-year depending on environmental factors such as water temps and available food sources. Fishing over deep, dark standing timber pockets in the river is one of my favorite ways to locate crappie. These areas are ideal because they can produce fish even when other cover or proximity baits fish are not biting well at all. Rivers with heavy flows and lots of overhanging trees create plenty of shade during hot summer months and spawning pits in colder months, making them excellent places to find baitfish schools, which is consequently running.