Now, now, I’m nearing my 40’s and fished Crappie in Nor Cal most my life. I know there are a lot of dedicated crappie anglers in California so lets talk and share ideas. I have spent a few summers chasing crappies in the Midwest and the crappies here seem to migrate a little differently. Anyways, we’ve probably crossed each other on the water and even said hello. In my experiences, crappie anglers are the best because we don’t have to deal with “fish on, so reel your line or I’ll fight you!” You California guys know what I mean.
Here are the waters I have personally pulled crappies out of in the past 3 years and my opinion of them:
San Luis Reservoir: Big crappies but have to find them.
Don Predro Reservoir: Big crappies and an abundant of them.
New Melones Lake: Big crappies and an abundant of them.
New Hogan Lake: Sad lake for crappies. DFG stock stripers and they have overtaken the lake. If you do catch a crappie, I assure you it will be a 2 pounder. I pulled three out on the northeast coves 05/2013. All were 14-15” and that was the day.
Camanche Reservoir: Average size and an abundant of them. Just got to know where to look.
Pardee Reservoir: Small to average size and not many. Live minnows or baits not allowed.
Lake Amador: Ridiculously expensive entrance. Lots of hybrid stock trout’s. Some average size crappies.
Discovery Bay and all the sloughs from Rio Vista to Sacramento: Lots of crappies, some big ones and very scattered but I would not eat them. Just my opinion.
Lake Berryessa: Lots of big ones, but have to know where to look.
Folsom Lake: Small crappies, so don’t your waste time.
Lake Natoma (American river): Surprisingly lots of small crappies. Kayak/Canoe only.
Camp Far West Lake: Eatable size crappies but not thriving.
Englebright Lake: Lots of decent size crappies.
Collins Lake: don’t waste time. I used to catch a ton of them. Crappies are not thriving. Famous for ice cream trout’s if you know what I mean.
Lake Oroville: Lots of big crappies, but have to know where to find them.
East Park Reservoir: Lots of big crappies and thriving due to good cover and lots of threadfin shad to feed on.
Stony Gorge Reservoir: Large crappies but not abundant. Weird when East Park actually flows into this lake. Also has shad.
Black Butte Reservoir: Big crappies but not abundant anymore. Again, very weird as Stony Gorge flows into this lake with no shad at all! Crappies here feed on ghost minnows. Lots and lots of ghost minnows. Water is very dingy here.
Indian Valley Reservoir: Decent size crappies depending on the past rainfall otherwise, don’t waste your time. Road access is horrible.
Clear Lake: Lots of big crappies. Have to know where to look though and water is choppy.
Lake Berryesa: Abundant and big crappies.

That pretty much sums it up. I fish crappies year round and catch them year round. While everyone is out hunting, I’m pulling in big crappies. Let me know your experiences on these lakes and how you catch them.