Springtime Crappie Fishing by Brad Wiegmann

A full moon is commonly noted as the cause whenever things go crazy. Just like in the springtime when everyone with a boat buys a bucket of minnows and heads out crappie fishing. Insane maybe, but crappie fishing during the springtime is a passion for numerous anglers including Mark Rose.





FLW Outdoors pro Mark Rose excels at finding, catching and winning bass tournaments, but his real passion just like so many other anglers is crappie fishing. “I love to crappie fish and one of my favorite times of the year to fish for crappie is in the springtime. Crappie are coming out of their winter habitat where they have been deep and grouped. Now they are thinking about spring and migrating to shallow water to spawn,” said Mark Rose.


Rose is watching for the water temperatures to get into the high fifties. “In February, you will get some warm days even a week or so of warm days and that starts getting them in the mood. Even if you get a cold night crappie will not move far from shallow water habitat,” said Rose.


Living in West Memphis, Arkansas, Rose has several bodies of water available to fish in the springtime for crappie. He enjoys fishing the little lakes like Arkansas Game & Fish Commission lakes (Links to Arkansas Game & Fish commission Lakes: http://www.agfc.com/fishing/Pages/fishingLakesList.aspx).


These small lakes are stocked and managed by Arkansas Game & Fish commission increasing an angler’s chance of catching fish.


He also likes fishing the Mississippi Delta where he grew up nearby. Rose noted oxbows make for a perfect place for crappie to spawn early in the year or small ponds you have access to crappie fishing make for good crappie fishing in the springtime. Of course, Rose also likes fishing big bodies of water like Enid, Sardis, Grenada or Butler in North Mississippi.


When fishing in the springtime for crappie, Rose likes to use small lures to catch fish. One of his favorite is a Strike King Mr. Crappie Sausage Head (www.mrcrappie.com) rigged with Strike King’s Crappie Thunder soft bodied jig.


For a fishing rod, Rose likes a 7- to 10-foot Lew’s Wally Marshall Pro Series combined with a Lew’s Wally Marshall Signature Series spinning reel (www.lews.com) in a size 50 or 75 rigged with 6- to 10-pound test line. Rose likes his rod tip to have a nice soft tip, but firm enough to set the hook. The smaller sized reel makes it easier to hold on to all day long.


“You can’t go wrong fishing shoreline cover this time of year. Brush piles, cypress stumps, boat docks, stake beds or any kind of cover. This time of year crappie like to move up into the warmer water because they are loaded with eggs.” said Rose.


Anglers can expect crappie to begin nesting activities once the water temperatures reaches 56 degrees. The males will move in first and fan out a nest commonly in groups in one area. These nests can be as deep as 20 feet or as shallow as one foot near a stump, log or vegetation.


“It’s my passion to go crappie fishing, I tell people, I go bass fishing to make enough so I can go crappie fishing. Crappie fishing is fun and enjoyable plus when you get done, you have supper”.



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