The key is to watch water temperature. Look for crappie near shallow- water spawning areas as soon as the water temperature hits the mid-50s.

Their optimum temperature is 58 degrees, so anglers who rely on their temperature gauges can really outdistance those who don't.

The state recently performed a comprehensive study on the patterns of crappie movement at Kentucky Lake. For the details of what this study revealed, read the reports online at www.kdfwr.state.ky.us. After the home page loads, click on the fishing link on the left side of the page.

ROUGH RIVER LAKE
The 5,100-acre Rough River Lake in Breckinridge and Grayson counties is looking really good for crappie. At times the lake suffers from the cyclical trends of the species, but right now it is doing quite well. And crappie populations have not shown as much up-and-down tendencies as in the past.

Biologists sample this lake during the last two weeks of October each year. The sampling efforts show there are lots of harvestable crappies above the 9-inch minimum creel size. Results showed a lot of fish in the 10- to 12-inch range. Biologist Rob Rold says the 9-inch size limit has really helped improve the fishery.

The fall 2005 sampling showed the population levels to be down somewhat, but it was negligible. During the three years prior to 2005, fall sampling yielded some of the best crappie population surveys on record.

Young-of-the-year numbers were still strong, which should bode well for coming years. Rold says for the last two to three years, this fishery has been excellent.

At Rough River, crappie begin heading up the creeks in the springtime to make their annual spawning pilgrimage. Some of the best spots are up in Tules Creek, Georges Branch, and Calamese Creek. There is a lot of standing timber in the upper ends of these creeks. Both natural and artificially placed brushpiles are also excellent locations to find crappie in March and April.

Most of the structure at Rough River is old standing timber. A lot of the natural woody structure and brushpiles are deteriorated due to the annual 20-foot drawdown each winter at the lake. Along with volunteers, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) recently did some habitat enhancement by placing several brushpile attractors and stakebeds in the lake.

At this time of year, additional spots to try are points and secondary points out on the main lake. At times, the mouths of some of the creeks hold a good number of fish as well.

The key is to watch water temperature. Look for crappie near shallow-water spawning areas as soon as the water temperature hits the mid-50s.

Casting minnows directly into the brushpiles and around the standing timber often produces the best results. For anglers who prefer artificial baits, vertical jigging is hard to beat at times. Cast small spinners and twistertail grubs for good fishing on this lake.

BUCKHORN LAKE
Some of our better crappie fisheries can be found over in the eastern portion of the state. Buckhorn Lake in Leslie County is one such impoundment, which has been doing really well of late as far as crappie go. Biologist Kevin Frey says 2007 should be another pretty good year for anglers at this 1,250-acre lake.