The best assessment at the lake was during 2003. Samplings during 2004 and 2005 were down somewhat, but still good. Over the past three years, the numbers of crappie over 8 inches has stayed virtually the same.

There is excellent size distribution throughout the lake, and good numbers of fish up to 12 inches. Anglers also occasionally catch fish up to 15 inches.

A new minimum-size limit is in effect at Buckhorn as of March 1, 2007. Anglers will be able to keep only crappie that measure 9 inches or longer. Frey says it takes crappie at Buckhorn about 3 to 4 years to reach 9 inches. The new length limit should help the fishery remain strong and keep distribution more even.

The lake has a significant drawdown in winter. Anglers can have great success fishing the lake from January through April while fish are confined to the lake channel. During spring, the lower half of the lake tends to be best for crappie. As summer heats up, the lower section loses oxygen, and the fish will spread out more.

During spring, anglers should try fishing around fallen trees and other submerged timber. There are still some old stumpbeds remaining in the lake, but they are scattered and somewhat hard to locate. One trick to finding them is to look on the shallow flats where trees were cleared prior to the lake's impoundment.

The KDFWR has also put in some structure in the form of old Christmas trees. Most of these have been placed in deeper water, though, to provide late-spring habitat after the spawn.

One place in the lake where there has been some structure enhancement is in the upper end of Leatherwood Creek. Along with the Corps of Engineers, the KDFWR placed a variety of structure there, including Christmas trees, wood pallet structures, plastic PVC attractors, and even some hardwood trees.

Casting and vertical jigging are very popular methods at Buckhorn Lake during the spring. Many other anglers will use jigs tipped with minnows or simply fish minnows exclusively. As spring starts to give way to summer, papermouths will begin to spread out more. Some anglers then switch to trolling to locate fish and then, once a school is located, stop and cast. Small baits resembling minnows, jigs, or twistertail grubs make excellent lure choices for trolling.

FISHTRAP LAKE
Springtime will find a good many crappie anglers on the waters of Fishtrap Lake. It is annually a very popular destination for crappie -- and with good reason. It has received a rating of very good for papermouth from the KDFWR. There are good numbers of quality-sized fish there.

Biologist Kevin Frey says the last two assessments have been good and the number of crappie over 8 inches is increasing. Between 2003 and 2005, in fact, the number of fish over 8 inches almost doubled. There is good distribution all the way through 13 inches.

The assessment for 2007 was not available at press time, but it is expected to be very good to excellent.

Crappie seem to grow a little larger at Fishtrap than at Buckhorn. They also grow a little faster. Fish will reach 9 inches in around 2 to 4 years, depending on conditions. They top out at the lake at around 15 inches, which is considered a quality fish in most people's opinion.