Smithville Crappie Question

Noticed the crappie I catch in the main lake are thin and look kinda pale, crappie caught in the river have good color and are thick and usually catch very few dinks up there, all whites never caught any blacks in the river ( I think black crappie prefer clearer water). They are definitely eating better in the river, Sunday I put in at the free ramp off 240th st. and the whole channel was full of shad, I was completely surrounded all morning. I guess my question is are most of the shad holding in the river or is there another reason for the difference in size of crappie between the main lake and the river. Thanks

Clownfish,

I don't have a good answer to the appearance of the crappie in the main lake vs river. It is usually quite the opposite, dirty water = pale fish, clean water = good color. Although fish caught in deep water do often times appear very pale.

As for the shad. We recently completed our shad surveys on the lake. We sampled shad in Camp Branch, Main Lake, and Little Platte. We seen tons of shad everywhere we went. There were 4 distinctive size classes; 2.5 -3.5", 5-6", 8-9", and 11"+. The amount of 2.5 -3.5" shad in the lake right now is off the charts. In every location the shallow water held the smaller shad. There is no reason that every crappie in the lake should not be fat and happy right now. Now, If I could just find a way for the black crappie to start eating these shad earlier in life we would be set.

Thanks for the info Eric, that's some good news about the shad population, might have some good fall fishing ahead. The only time I catch black crappie is during the spawn and most are not keepers and are usually mixed in with the whites. The past 2 years have been slow for me on the Ville, but with all the shad it should get better or at least get a little bigger. Thanks again and appreciate all the work you guys do on the lake.

I'm not sure about your question, but on Sunday I saw a ton of shad off the main lake points near Sailboat Cove as well. So, I'm guessing there is plenty of food about...