The Easter weekend often brings families together, and few family activities can rival the
fun and affordability of crappie fishing. But as all anglers know, springtime fishing can be a
rollercoaster ride of ups and downs with the extreme temperature swings and storms that are
often a part of the weather patterns during this season.
So, what should you be doing to catch crappie around Easter time near your home? We asked
that question of several Bobby Garland pro staffers, knowing their information is current and
their techniques can be matched to similar water conditions across the country. Here’s what they
had to say:
Alabama River, Alabama
Mike Parrott - Charlotte, NC
The Alabama River is formed by the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers about 15
miles north of Montgomery. From there it meanders westerly for about 100 miles before turning
southwesterly for 200 more miles to join the Tombigbee River.
Mike Parrott teamed with Whitey Outlaw for back-to-back wins of the Crappie Masters Alabama
State Championship on this river system in 2010 and 2011. In both events, the water had been
high but was falling quickly, serving as a good comparative pattern for many places for this time
of year when spring rains do cause water level fluctuations.
During the March tournament, the team found quality fish scattered across a flat in a creek off of
the main river. Parrott said the fish were wanting to move to the bank, but the receding shoreline
had them dropping back out from the bank from the first tournament day to the next. Where the
fish ended up as a result was a small ditch on the flat that was about one foot deeper than the rest
of the area. The concentration and quality of the fish provided the win.
“As a general rule, I like to start looking for crappie in the shallows when the water temps hit the
mid-50s,” Parrott explained. “I’ve found that when a lake level is falling, fish have a tendency to
move to the same depth they’ve been in. If they’re liking three feet on one day but the water has
fallen by the next day or trip, I’ll check for them first wherever that ‘new’ three foot depth might
be.”
Parrott and Outlaw used Bobby Garland Slab Slay’Rs and Minnow Mind’Rs tipped with live
minnows to record this year’s win with their two-day total of 13 fish weighing 22.91 pounds.
Parrott said their best spring producing colors are usually Electric Chicken, Bluegrass and Black/
Hot Pink.
Grenada Lake, Mississippi
Brad Chappell – Madison, MS
Grenada Dam is located 113 miles north of Jackson, MS and 99 miles south of Memphis,
TN. It was formed in 1954 for flood control of the Yazoo River Basin and the lake covers
approximately 36,000 surface acres at normal level.
A recent outing on this famed giant crappie lake was successful for Brad Chappell while spider
rigging, targeting creek arms near spawning flats in the Graysport area. He reported the water
was low and muddy, with main lake temperatures being around 66-68 degrees, and the back of
the creeks being in the low 70s.
Chappell was rigging with his favorite selections: a 3/16 oz. Mo’ Glo orange jighead rigged with
a Garland Minnow Mind’R bait in Ladybug color at the end of the line, and with a 1/0 hook tied
above it using a Doppler loop and also sporting a Ladybug Minnow Mind’R. Both soft plastic
baits were tipped with minnows.
He concentrated his efforts in four to six feet of water that was next to shallow spawning flats
of one to two feet. “The best trolling speed was around .04 - .06 mph, and my best seven fish on
this day totaled just under 17 pounds. This will be a solid fishing pattern for awhile,” Chappell
said.
McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, Oklahoma
George Foster – Coweta, OK
Known by most anglers in northeastern Oklahoma simply as the “navigation channel,” the
McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System is part of an inland waterway system for
commercial barge traffic that originates at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and runs southeast through
Oklahoma and Arkansas to the Mississippi River. Each “pool” within its series of locks and
dams offers a variety of fishing, including crappie.
“Big George” Foster lives near the Afton pool that is a short drive from Tulsa, and considers
this stretch to be “in his backyard” and a fun and productive place to fish. “While the navigation
channel wouldn’t be my first choice for catching big crappie, it ranks high on my list as a
fun place to take the family or friends to catch a lot of crappie,” Foster said. He said the main
oxbows off of the channel offer a good selection of stumps, lay-downs and brush piles to target,
and all can be really good right now.
“Water is clearer than usual this spring than in past years because of lack of rain, so it is making
it easier to see cover and know where the fish are hiding. With bright, sunny skies, the crappie in
here are holding tight to cover and you can catch them,” he said.
Foster likes to begin about the middle of the oxbows and creeks and fish his way down one side
to the back, and then come back up the other. He keys on any kind of visible cover, working a jig
underneath a cork in and around it. His baits of choice are Garland’s Baby Shad in Pearl White
or the Scent Wiggl’R in Fluorescent White Sparkle. “I think the pearl sheen and the size of these
baits look just like the shad and other baitfish in here that these fish regularly feed on.”
Foster said he doesn’t believe the majority of crappie in the area have spawned yet, so between
now and the next full moon (May 17) should continue to provide good crappie fishing in the
navigation channel, as well as in other nearby and popular northeastern Oklahoma waters such as
Ft. Gibson, Grand, and Oolagah lakes.
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
Terry Blankenship – Ozark, MO
Lake of the Ozarks is a 55,000-acre reservoir located in the northern part of the Ozarks in central
Missouri. Its primary river system is the Osage, with the smaller tributaries of the Niangua River,
Grand Glaize Creek and Gravois Creek adding to its diversity.
“This is my home lake and the dock-shooting has been so good for so long, I find it hard to make
myself do anything else,” Terry Blankenship said. “Lake of the Ozarks water level has been as
low as 653 due to early spring drawdown but is typically refilled to the normal 659 pool level by
the end of April.”
He reports water color is stained right now and main lake temps are from 55-65 degrees, with the
cooler temps being in the deeper water areas on the dam end of the lake; the backs of the creeks
have warmed to around 68 degrees. His point about the temperature discrepancy is a good one
for anglers to note when fishing large reservoirs, meaning not all crappie spawn throughout these
lakes at the same time.
In spring, Blankenship is looking for coves or “cuts” with pea gravel and scattered brush in the
backs of them. He also points out that Lake of the Ozark has lots of docks and not to overlook
fishing around their cables and ramps for spawners, too.
Regarding a preferred depth for spawning fish, Blankenship likes to fish about two feet deeper
than visibility. He says he tosses a white jig out and determines the depth it “vanishes.” If it
disappears at two feet, then he targets depths of around four feet, which he confirms is a good
catching depth for right now.
Blankenship said he is catching up to 100 keepers per day at this time with the dock-shooting
technique. His lure of choice is a Garland 3” Slab Slay’R, in Blue Ice or Bluegrass, rigged on a
1/16 ounce Mo’ Glo jighead, pink or blue.
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri
Kevin Rogers – Kansas City, MO
By contrast to what Terry Blankenship has been finding on Lake of the Ozarks, Kevin Rogers –
an accomplished jig fisherman by his own rights – had a different recent experience on this lake.
“With Truman Lake so nearby, I don’t get over to Lake of the Ozarks much but the crappie
fishing on it has been outstanding for the past several months,” said Rogers. “Right now the
crappie are in a pre-spawn or spawning mode, which can make for a lot of fun.”
Rogers reports that on a recent outing he found the lake to be down about 1½ feet and the water
temps to be around 58 degrees in the main lake, and in the mid to upper 60s in the creeks and
spawning pockets by afternoon. He said he started fishing around mile marker 60 and fished his
way up to marker 70, targeting main feeder creeks.
His preferred technique for this time of year, and what he was doing on this day, is slow trolling
right outside of the spawning areas trying to either catch the big females before they go in to
spawn, or catch the ones that have spawned and moved back out to the first drop or breakline.
In his eight hours of fishing, 105 crappie were caught and released, with the majority of the
fish being females. Kevin said he caught 15 fish that weighed over a pound, with the biggest
weighing 1¾ pounds. His bait of choice was a 3/16 ounce pink Mo’ Glo jighead, rigged with a
Garland Minnow Mind’R, Dragonfly color, and tipped with a minnow.
Lake Shelbyville, Illinois
Greg and Luke Humphrey
Lake Shelbyville is located in the heart of central Illinois and consists of 11,100 acres of water.
As happens on many lakes, its north end crappie spawn can be two or more weeks ahead of its
south end. As a result, anglers have to adjust accordingly.
“With the water drawn down to winter pool right now, the north end of Shelbyville is
treacherous to navigate with its sand bars, stump fields, laydowns, and other obstructions,” said
Greg Humphrey. “So, regardless of your experience on this lake, be extremely cautious if fishing
in this area and at this time.”
Both brothers said weather is the key element in deciding when and where to fish on Shelbyville.
Studying the wind direction days before you fish will give insight on where the crappie are
setting up, knowing you need to focus on the area where the wind has blown baitfish into. They
said water temps last week on average raised from 58 into the upper 60s across the lake but then
nosedived down to the upper 50s again with the cold front that passed thru.
“Male crappie will move to the banks in the lower 60s and being able to find areas where there
is deep water close to spawning spots will help when conditions aren’t ideal,” Luke Humphrey
offered. “Even with indecisive weather, the fish aren’t moving away from the creeks too far. On
warm days, fish the stump flats and pockets.”
The Humphrey team likes to spider rig the creek channels for staging females and then will often
go to single pole jigging or slip corks to target fish on wood in the shallows.
“Our most recent outing yielded over 50 fish that ranged in size from 8-12 inches,” said
Greg. “By far our most productive rigs have been the Bobby Garland Baby Shad in Blue Pearl
and Mo’ Glo Outlaw Special colors rigged on a 1/8 ounce jighead.”
Logan Martin Lake, Alabama
Gary and Barbara Kendrick – Pell City, AL
Logan Martin Lake is located on the Coosa River system about 30 miles east of Birmingham
and below the Neely Henry Dam. Because of its extensive 275 miles of shoreline, it has been
nicknamed the "Lake of a Thousand Coves."
Gary and Barbara Kendrick report that the majority of the crappie have already spawned on their
home lake. The water is down about 2 ½ feet from normal summer pool, and surface water temps
are running between 64 and 67 degrees. The water has a moderate stain in the main parts of the
lake.
The Kendricks’ most recent outing produced 16 crappie in about three hours of fishing. Their
best success came from fishing creek ledges with cover at around 8-15 feet. They were casting
to or jigging alongside the cover with 1/16 ounce Mo’ Glo jigheads rigged with Garland Scent
Wiggl’Rs in glow-in-the dark Ghastly Minnow and Electric Chicken colors.
“We found we had to work our baits really slow in and around the cover to entice these post-
spawners to bite,” Gary Kendrick said. “Even though the catching now is a little more difficult
than it is during the spawn, it’s still a lot of fun and successful. They will get more active again
upon recovery from spawning.”
Ross Barnett Reservoir, Mississippi
Bo Hudson – Ridgeland, MS
Mississippi’s Ross R. Barnett Reservoir is located just outside of Jackson to the north. The lake
is relatively narrow and shallow, with about 3 ½ miles being its widest point over its 45-mile
length. Its average depth is 12 feet.
Bo Hudson said, “Ross Barnett is on fire for crappie right now, if you can catch the wind right.”
On a recent guide trip he said he began at the S curve at the north end of the lake, fishing the old
river channel. He found the fish to be staged along the east side of the ledge at depths of 10-15
feet next to shallow flats, and caught several up to a pound and a half.
From there he moved to Oil Well Woods and Sawdust Pile, known fishing areas on the lake,
continuing to target ledges as well as brush piles. He and his client finished the half-day trip with
36 keepers, the biggest being 2 ½ pounds.
Hudson is long-lining with Bobby Garland Stroll’Rs rigged on orange Mo’ Glo jigheads. The
colors he prefers for the stained waters of Ross Barnett are Vegas, Pink Phantom, Shiny Hiney
and Blue Lips.
Truman Lake, Missouri
Ned Rutledge – Warsaw, MO
Missouri’s Truman Lake, located between Clinton and Warsaw, is the largest man-made lake in
the state. At 55,600 acres and fed by four major river systems and several smaller streams, the
reservoir offers a wide degree of diversity for anglers.
“The crappie here on Truman Lake are in a pre-spawn pattern over much of the lake and fishing
is great,” said Ned Rutledge. “Many anglers are catching a limit in about two hours.”
Rutledge reports the water is 2-3 feet above normal, but not at the high level it has been in the
previous couple of years at this time. He said both the Osage and Grand River arms seem to be
producing equally well. Water temps are running about 52-55 degrees in main lake areas, and
warming to the low 60s in the backs of creeks and pockets.
Rutledge said the areas to target for the pre-spawners are the cuts and creeks leading back into
the spawning areas. “Look for areas with water temps in the 60s, and fish a jig around cedar trees
and hedge rows, and spider rig along the creek ledges,” he explained.
He also said that if there is a “flow” through the lake, be sure to target the leeward side of cover
because that’s where the crappie will position, making it even easier for anglers to find them.
Rutledge says a top choice for Truman right now is the Bobby Garland 2” Slab Slay’R in
Gumdrop or Bluegrass colors. “If the sky is cloudy and dreary, and the water stained, go with
a Black/Hot Pink Slab Slay’R,” he added. Sometimes he tips his jig with a minnow, letting the
mood of the fish dictate when he does or doesn’t.
For more information about Bobby Garland crappie baits, and tips and techniques for fishing
them, visit www.GeneLarewLures.com.
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