When the days finally arrive where there’s just a bit of nip in the air, yet the sun warms our backs in the afternoon, we know it’s getting close to the time for good crappie fishing. That’s when we’ll start watching for water temperatures to ever so slowly creep up into the 60-degree mark, which is about the same time that the dogwoods start blooming. When that happens, the scramble for our crappie gear begins. It’s time to raid your nearest tackle shop for some new jigs, twistertails, and to see what’s new on the market.

White and black crappie are both found in many of Kentucky’s lakes and reservoirs. White crappie prefer cloudy water and are often in deeper structure, while black crappie like clearer water. Photo by Mike Skinner.

Kentucky biologists are, in general, predicting a pretty good year for crappie angling this spring. Some of the state’s old standbys will remain hot, while other waters should be experiencing some better quality fishing as we greet the spring 2005 fishing season. Let’s take a look at Kentucky by the various management regions, and see where the best picks for this spring are expected to be, including what biologists with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) have to say.

It is interesting to note that on several reservoirs, the presence of black crappie is increasing, and anglers may find this species in their creel more and more often. Black crappie and white crappie act similarly, moving into the shallows in spring, but more often than not, when you fish a specific hole or cove, you will only catch one type or the other. They seem to group together as a species, and depending on where you fish, sometimes you only catch one type even though both may be abundant in the waterway.

EASTERN & SOUTHEASTERN REGIONS

In most lake environments in eastern and southeastern Kentucky, the lack of fertile land, and subsequently the waters, makes it tough to carve out and sustain a really high-quality crappie fishery anywhere. Some lakes, though, do offer good fishing, thanks to careful management and sometimes supplemental stocking.

The supply of microscopic organisms, and other items at the lower end of the food chain in eastern Kentucky waterways is generally less than lakes in the central and western parts of our state. You may notice that there isn’t nearly the volume of crop farming in the eastern end of Kentucky that you find elsewhere. The land is simply poorer, and the run-off that feeds lakes in this region just isn’t as packed with nutrients to help grow small plants and animals for crappie to eat, which ultimately enables this species to grow fast and big.

It takes a few years for crappie in less fertile waters to get to a harvestable size, sometimes up to five years to have a 10-inch fish. Luckily, not every lake has that slow growth pattern, and in some cases, things move along more quickly.

Buckhorn Lake this season is continuing to get high marks for crappie, as a couple of strong year-classes are moving into the “take-home” category size wise.

“I’d call it excellent fishing right now in comparison to other waters in the region,” fisheries biologist Kevin Frey said. “We have excellent size distribution and numbers of fish are quite good.”

The early spring period, especially March and April, is perhaps the best time to fish, too, because the lower water levels concentrate fish and make them a little easier to locate.

Anglers may want to spend most of their time in the main-lake channel and look for dropoffs with cover or breaks. Crappie will spend time on this kind of structure in early spring, and as water levels come up, will move closer to the bank and look for cover there to complete the spawn.

“I think we ought to have a good year on Buckhorn for crappie, if we get good fishing weather to work with,” Frey said.

According to the latest data available, anglers may also want to give Yatesville Lake a hard look this year as well. A sizeable population of white crappie were moving into the 7- to 9-inch range late last fall and should be available to anglers this spring. Yatesville is also harboring fish in the 10- to 15-inch range in lower numbers, but anglers are likely to catch a few of these fish during the spring when they are most vulnerable and active.

Frey suggests anglers look for the higher quality fish around tree laps, blowdowns and sloughed-off banks in the upper end of Yatesville. Dunking minnows or tossing a jig into the cover and fishing at varying depths may yield some really nice slabs during the spawn.