Gearing up to fish for crappie in lakes near and far

With spring approaching, a good many fishermen and fisherwomen are thinking about crappie fishing. Most have cleaned their gear, changed the lines and resupplied all their tackle boxes. Some have probably worked on their boats and updated their electronics and such. Many are busy tying new jigs or dreaming up new jigs to tie. Many are planning on taking a few days off, traveling to distant water in search of some big slab crappie.

Some are making plans to head south to lakes such as Sardis or Enid in Mississippi. Enid is supposedly one of the top 10 fishing lakes in the United States. Crappie on the other side of 2 pounds can be caught, along with a few more than 3 pounds. Enid is about 250 miles straight south, while Sardis is about 210 miles straight south. Lake Guntersville in Mississippi is another popular fishing spot for crappie. It is about 380 miles, and it is south of Nashville.

There are some local lakes that may not be quite as good or have as many large crappie but they are a lot closer. Several can be found over in Illinois. One local favorite is Cedar Lake.

Cedar Lake's south side can be reached by driving east of Ware over to 127 and driving North for several miles. Cedar is a fairly large lake that tends to be fairly clear. Another lake in Illinois is Crab Orchard, which is East of Carbondale. It is also a fairly clear lake with miles and miles of coves and shoreline. Another lake is Grand Tower, which is on North of Ware. Many local fishermen used to fish Grand Tower. I haven't heard any reports lately. Cedar has a 9.9 horsepower limit, and, the way it sounds, you will be checked.

There are a number of Missouri lakes from which one can catch crappie. The largest is probably Lake Wappapello. It is a kind of tricky lake to fish because it has some rather large shallow mud flats. Until you learn the lake it might be best to stick to the main river channel. The reports I've heard is that you will catch numerous small crappie but if you are selective you can end up with some nice fish in the one-pound range.

The water supply for Perryville seems to be another good lake but the fish tend to be smaller. You will catch quite a few crappie, but they will tend to be less than a pound in the six- to 10-inch size. I would imagine if you would focus on larger fish, you will find some nice fish.

Upper Big Lake down by Charleston is another lake where you can catch a boatload of smaller crappie with a few of them being keepers. It is just north of Charleston. The lake tends to be fairly shallow with most of it being less than 10 feet deep. There is standing and sunken timber and such all over the lake. Avery Dees used to fish Upper Big Lake quite a bit and did quite well there. There are several areas around the lake you can fish from the shore. The lake is electric motors only. This lake has some huge large- mouth bass in it.

One that I enjoy fishing is Lake Girardeau, which is west of Jackson. Drive over to Gravel Hill, which is west of Burfordsville and then head south. It is a decent-sized lake that runs from shallow coves to fairly deep water that is close to 30 feet deep. This lake has crappie in it, but I have never done real well on crappie. It does have quite a few red ear, bass, catfish and bluegill. The lake tends to be clear. You can fish a number of spots around Lake Girardeau from shore, but a boat sure helps. You can use your outboard but it is a no-wake lake.

Another lake is Tywappity Lake over by Chaffee. This lake is smaller and fairly deep with spots around 25 feet or so. The bottom of the lake is covered with standing timber, with much of the timber being just below the surface of the lake. Tywappity has a good amount of bass, catfish and bluegill along with the crappie. Tywappity is fairly hard to fish from shore, with a boat being almost a necessity. There are a lot of stumps so go easy with your trolling motor. Lake Tywappity is an electric motor lake only.

Once the ice goes out of the lakes and the ramps are free from ice, it will be time to go fishing. Happy fishing.

Until next time.