Spring fishing season advice

When spring rolls around, my mind usually goes in two directions: gardening and fishing. I'm not sure which I like to do more. I like to garden, but really love to eat the produce. But I also like to fish and eat the fish. Both fishing and gardening are right up there at the top of my list.

When the dogwoods start blooming in the spring, it's time to go catch a spawning crappie.

Crappie can be caught year 'round in open water and through the ice, but once a year in the spring, the crappie venture into shallow water and spawn.

The males will come first and fan out some beds for the females to lay their eggs on. Once they have the beds ready and the water temperature gets in the low to mid-60s, the females will come onto the beds and lay their eggs.

Depending on the clarity of the water, they might be in just inches of water on out to several feet deep. The clearer the water, the deeper they will spawn.

I had caught crappie in Nebraska, but it was pretty much by accident. I fished most of the time for bass or bluegill. When fishing for bluegill, I would now and then catch a crappie. There was one time Marge's dad, Keith King, and her brother, Milton, and I were fishing at Merritt in Nebraska. I fished for walleyes for a while, and they didn't seem to be biting, so I went to fishing for crappie. I'm not sure how many I caught, but I bet it was close to the limit. But, honestly, I wasn't really good at catching crappie.

So when we moved to Missouri I needed some instruction. Dennis Blankenship took me fishing a lot. He showed me how to skull a boat on Larlie and Horseshoe over in Illinois.

We even went to Cedar and caught some nice ones over there. We also spent a bunch of time out at the Cement Lakes.

Tywappity was another lake where I just sat and watched. There were days when I spent most of the time watching others fish rather than actually fishing.

I'd watch where they fished and how they fished. I'd carry my binoculars and just sit and watch. I'd watch guys like Charlie Rogers or Morris Owens. They had totally different ways of fishing for crappie.

I'd also talk to guys like Harold Ulsmen. Harold would share what he was using and how he fished.

I paid attention. I loved to read, so I'd read everything I could on crappie fishing.

I was watching a couple guys at Twappity one time from across the lake when they decided they had had enough. So they floated over where I was and we had a discussion.

They were a little heated up at first, but when I admitted I knew very little about catching crappie, it was like a switch came on, and I learned a lot from them. I talked to them a lot that summer. Nice guys.

At that time I had a 14-foot V-bottom boat with a trolling motor and 6-horsepower motor. It worked really well, and I didn't have a lot of money tied up in it.

Eventually, I got a 16-foot crappie boat with a 9.9 on it with a foot-controlled trolling motor. Now I was uptown. The odd thing was, I didn't catch any more crappie.

It's not how fancy a rig you have but how you fish that makes a difference. I don't know how many fish our boys and I have caught out of an old canoe.

The farm ponds will warm up quicker than the bigger lakes like Tywappity or Lake Girardeau or Cedar. And the lakes down south, like Enid and Sardis, are a lot warmer than here.

Those who fish down south are tearing them up even as I write this column. There are enough pictures of 2-pound crappie on Facebook to make even the most stalwart guys' knees go weak.

Some have boasted of some 3-pound crappie. I'd brag on a 3-pound bass, let alone a 3-pound crappie.

When the spawn is going on, almost any bait will work -- tube jigs like Southern Pro, minnows, crickets, meal worms, hand-tied squirrel jigs and the list goes on. Almost any color will work.

Some people like to fish under a bobber and cast up toward shore and then reel back toward the boat. Some like to use a long jigging pole and just drop the jig or such straight down around cover up by the bank. Some use Road Runners. I'd go with a No. 6 or No. 4 hook size.

I used to walk along the bank out by the Cement Lakes and stick my jigging pole out where I could drop a jig in the water. I don't know how many crappie I caught doing this.

Vic and Doug liked to wade and fish for crappie and redear sunfish. Jim Miller and a friend of his used to wade and fish for crappie at Larlie and they did really good.

If I had the courage and if I weren't afraid of snakes, I'd get one of the inner-tube boats and fish from that. I used to fish lakes in Nebraska with one, and it was a blast. But there weren't any water moccasins up there.

Grab your pole and head out on some country roads down south of Benton. When you cross a creek, stop and fish both sides of the road. I bet there are fish there.

Before you venture away from the road, I'd get permission from the land owner. I'd also wear a pair of those knee-high rubber boots. You will undoubtedly run into a snake or two. Spray down with bug spray. Ticks are out, as well as chiggers and such.

Have a good time and be safe.

Just me.

Until next time.