“We’ve had solid year-classes and spawns in three years back to back, from 2003 through 2005, and believe that is what anglers are experiencing right now. And that holds true into 2008,” said the biologist.

When consecutively good years of reproduction occur, it provides a prolonged period of good fishing, sometimes improved fishing. And that’s what’s going on at Green River.

“We keep having a group of fish recruiting into the harvestable size range for two or three seasons in a row,” Cummins said, “and it is really noticeable to anglers.”

Consistently good quality crappie fishing is hard to achieve because the species is very cyclic in nature. Weather plays a huge role in whether a good spawn occurs or a poor one. In recent years, Green River has enjoyed enough good ones to supply a lot of fish in that “good enough to keep” range, making Green River a top pick for this season.

Cummins’ recommendations for areas of the lake to concentrate on include the middle to upper portions of the Robinson Creek arm, upriver from Lone Valley, and in the Green River arm from Corbins Bend upstream. Better spawning habitat and cover can be found in these portions of the lake, but that’s not to say that all the crappie are just in those areas.

On Green, anglers can expect to catch white crappie almost exclusively and should be keying in on shoreline cover where they can locate some colored water. In late March, crappie will pre-stage a little farther out from the bank and, as the water temperatures climb, gradually move into bedding areas closer to the bank.

“I think Green will be an excellent choice this spring, and I hope anglers are successful on these fish while they are present in good numbers,” said Cummins.

FISHTRAP &
BUCKHORN LAKES
“For the eastern part of Kentucky, Fishtrap and Buckhorn will stand above the other reservoirs for higher quality and better spring crappie action this year.”

District biologist Kevin Frey places these two lakes at the top of his list, based on some good year-classes in recent years, and on angler success on white crappie last season.

Frey says Fishtrap is coming off two very good crappie fishing years in 2006 and 2007, and he expects it to continue for another season. He is pleased with the size distribution and overall number of fish, saying that populations are well balanced for crappie up to 12 inches -- and along the way, some lucky fishermen will connect with some crappie from 13 to 15 inches. Those are big fish!

Buckhorn Lake also gets the nod above Paintsville, Grayson, Dewey and some other major lakes in this region. When the redbuds and dogwoods start blooming, Buckhorn is a strong candidate to consider for dunking a few minnows or swimming a jig over a brushpile or around other woody cover.

When significant rainfall comes at the right time, in some of the mountain watershed lakes like Buckhorn and Fishtrap, it can push water up into shoreline cover that normally doesn’t have water over it.