Hey everyone, I was wondering do crappies usually live in rivers or stream and also where would most smaller panfish congregate around in streams and rivers. Is there a way to locate them?

Never been one to fish streams, access around my home is tough. I have fished the Fox River(Il) and caught gil, rock bass and other panfish. They seem to prefer slack water like inside bends and any kind of current break. Harbor areas out of the current can also be good if fishing is permitted. Tom

Panfish will mostly hang out in the slack water or any other backwater of the streams.  They will occassionally hang out in the main channel on the bottom waiting for food source that will drift down with the current.  If there's a dam of any sort, you should find lots of panfish there as well, both above and below the dam.

Get yourself a local map that shows backroads and streams. You'd be quite suprised how big a crappie you'll catch. The upstream and downstream sides are usually productive. Farm ponds are gold mines too. Remember ask permission and at stream crossings respect no tresspassing signs.