Photo by Ron Sinfelt

By Paul Moore

The spring crappie run in Kentucky is heating up. It is a time marked on the calendar of thousands of anglers all across the state. Whether vertical jigging, trolling, casting or dunking minnows, crappie fishing hits its peak during the early months of the year. From pre-spawn right on through the actual spawning time, some of the best crappie fishing of the year occurs at this time before spring gives way to the heat of summer.

Spring, though, is not the only good time for crappie in our state. After all, Kentuckians can enjoy tremendous success for slab papermouths all year long by varying depths and tactics. Bluegrass State anglers are fortunate to have many lakes, rivers and ponds that produce some excellent crappie fishing. Papermouth enthusiasts from one end of the state to the other can usually find good success not far from home. This year should again be another good one for crappie anglers in Kentucky.

Obviously, some waters provide better opportunity with regard to number of fish or even the size of fish. Crappie populations also fluctuate through up-and-down cycles throughout most of our waters. Some years may provide excellent fishing, while others may see a downturn in success. Here's a look at some of the top spots across the Bluegrass State at which to target crappie during 2004.

Although the two lakes are separate, each with its own characteristics and individual nuances, they both share a common denominator - superb crappie fishing. Thriving populations of both black and white crappie yield some of the largest stringers and heaviest slabs in the state. Papermouths of 2 pounds are not uncommon.

Fall trap-netting is the basic tool used to estimate fish populations and make predictions about the future of the fishery. Western District fisheries biologist Paul Rister of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) said, "Based on fall trap-netting results, we should have an excellent crappie population for at least the next couple of years unless something unforeseen happens. There is an overabundance of fish over 10 inches in the lakes."

High water last spring on Lake Barkley had many anglers questioning the status of the spawn. All indications show a good spawn and a good population of fish over 10 inches. It takes three years for crappie to reach the minimum harvest length of 10 inches, so last spring's spawn should help the fishery keep a good number of fish over 10 inches for at least the next three years. On average, Lake Barkley tournament anglers have needed to catch 2-pound fish to win tournaments on the lake.

The KDFWR conducted a tagging study last spring to track crappie and attempt to determine patterns with both the black and white crappie. Although trap-netting showed a higher percentage of black crappie in the fishery, anglers have consistently caught more white crappie. This has been evident in creel surveys. Fishery biologists wanted data to help determine if anglers needed to change tactics to harvest more black crappie. The results were interesting.

One glaringly obvious difference is that black crappie move into shallow water much sooner than do white crappie. But most anglers typically will not start fishing in very shallow water until mid-April. Prior to then, most anglers are fishing deep water for suspended fish. The tracking effort shows black crappie moving into shallow water in early to mid-March.

Another important revelation in the study was fish movement after the spawn. Anglers catch huge creels during the pre-spawn feeding frenzy. Then as the spawn arrives and then subsides, fishing success usually diminishes as well. Most anglers surmise the crappie have moved back into deep water. Tagging reveals that most of the fish never leave the general area of the spawn until sometime in July when the water temperature rises significantly.

These initial aspects of the tagging study should help anglers better target crappie at the twin lakes this year. Additional studies have also been underway this past winter, which may reveal even more insight into the habits of the crappie.

At both Kentucky and Barkley lakes, anglers are allowed to keep up to 30 crappie per day that are 10 inches or greater.

The lake is located in Breckinridge and Grayson counties in the north-central area of a triangle formed by Owensboro, Elizabethtown and Bowling Green. Rough River Lake has "always been very popular for crappie fishing," according to Rob Rold, a fisheries biologist with the KDFWR. The lake averages around 5,100 acres during summer pool.

Recent trap-netting has resulted in catches of good numbers of crappie as well as decent-sized crappie. White crappie make up the bulk of the population at Rough River Lake. Only around 7 to 8 percent of the fishery includes black crappie.

There were very good numbers of crappie caught in the 1-year age-class during 2002 surveys. This indicates that the previous year's spawn was good and the survival rate was also good. This group of fish would be 3 years old this year.

It takes around three years for crappie at Rough River to reach the minimum size of 9 inches. All indications point to excellent numbers of fish over the minimum. Although there has been no official creel survey data collected, the average size crappie caught by anglers is estimated at around 9 1/2 to 10 inches.

Crappie are caught at the lake by a variety of methods including fishing with minnows, jigs, spinner-type baits and others. Spider-rigging and trolling are also highly effective. Spring success comes from fishing submerged brush and woody structure. Deeper areas of submerged structure often produce larger fish.

Taylorsville had some water problems in the '80s, which were partially due to drought conditions. Things started to improve in the late '80s and early '90s. The crappie fishery has been cyclic since then, but has been good the last couple of years. This year is expected to offer the same quality of angling, if not actually improving somewhat.

A creel clerk was hired to conduct angler surveys between March and October of 2003. This is something the KDFWR tries to do at least once every five years. Results look very good with many fish reported in the 9- to 11-inch range with an increased number of crappie exceeding 12 inches. This is "good news and something we haven't seen much of," according to Central District fisheries biologist Kerry Prather.

The wet years from '96 to '98 resulted in good spawns. This translates to good numbers of harvest-size fish within about three years of the spawn. Taylorsville has been producing many crappie over the minimum 9-inch size limit with the average going around 9 1/2 inches. There is a 15-fish creel limit imposed on crappie at Taylorsville.

Taylorsville receives a lot of fishing pressure. But there is also lots of habitat and an opportunity for anglers to find their own spots. The primary crappie forage in the lake is gizzard shad.

The crappie fishery at Taylorsville has primarily consisted of white crappie in years past. However, black crappie are on the increase at the lake as they are in many of Kentucky's reservoirs. Trap-netting in 2002 indicated close to 40 percent were black crappie.