From the waterline, the roar from an outboard motor exhibits almost the same unnerving reverberations as a low, muffled groan. It’s difficult to accurately judge the distance, but the fast approach of a powerboat is unmistakable. It was unnerving but not really concerning. I was within casting distance of the button brush. The water was no more than chest deep, if that. I was certain that by the time the boat wheeled into the back of the bay, the pilot would have come off plane and dropped his trolling motor. He would see me.
I was certain of it.
In light of this optimism, I chose to ignore the increasing groan from the outboard and made another cast, lobbing the white, curly-tailed grub inches from the brush. The lure sank, pulling the pencil-thin Thill float vertical, where it remained for only a second or two before the bright yellow crown disappeared, seemingly in slow motion. Even on the nest, crappie are not overly aggressive. I was measuring the white crappie against the marks I’d put on the rod to check the 10-inch legal minimum length, when the wash from the boat rocked my float tube.
Legal by nearly a half-inch. I threaded the fish onto my stringer, which was proving to be cumbersome. Next time, I reminded myself, I’d bring a basket.
“Hey! Didn’t see you down there,” a guy boomed from the front deck of what turned out to be a 16-foot Panfish model Tracker boat. “Doing any good?”
I lifted my stringer, revealing five white crappie. I neglected to mention that I’d tossed back that many more that hadn’t quite been legal size.
The guy nodded absentmindedly, having already turned his boat away from me toward the upper fringe of the cover and launched a cast in that direction.
Crappie can be caught year-round. But April generally is when the fish spawn, and during the typical 10-day to two- week golden fishing window, crappie are in shallow water, actively spawning, easy to locate and relatively easy to catch. They also are one of the best-tasting fish that swim in freshwater. For most anglers, crappie fishing is not a catch-and-release sport.
Opinions vary on what triggers the crappie spawn. But those who spend the most time on the water—fishery biologists and fishing guides—watch the water temperature. When temperatures approach the mid-50s, crappie move toward shallow water to spawn. The sweet spot in water temperature seems to be in the mid-50 to mid-60 degree range, although there is no absolute, no magic number. In Kentucky, the crappie peak activity usually arrives in early April.
If you’re new to the sport, look for brushy shore cover 4 to 6 feet deep. Most public reservoirs, from the large, sprawling lowland waters like Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake to the dozens of small, state-owned watersheds, harbor man-made fish attractors, most easily reached and some easily accessible from shore. These are stake beds and brushy cover that have been dropped and marked with a buoy. Anglers sometimes purposely avoid these spots on the theory that they are heavily fished.
“A lot of people must think that,” Paul Rister once told me. Rister is the recently retired state fisheries biologist who oversaw crappie populations at Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake for three decades. “But the [public] fish attractor spots hold some good fish.”
Crappie success can be had with a low-tech approach. A cane pole and bucket of minnows are the basic tools. Spinning tackle or a fly rod can be equally effective. Spawning crappie often can be reached from the shore. Getting away from the bank opens more water, of course, but a Buick-size boat with a 150-horsepower outboard motor isn’t required. Prime crappie spots can be accessed by canoe, kayak, small paddleboat or float tube. Some areas can be waded, although crappie habitat often floods a soft bottom, which can make wading difficult.
I was introduced to float tubes more than three decades ago while visiting Colorado. My wife and I had stopped at Dillon Reservoir for a sunset picnic. A small flotilla of tubes was pushing off from the boat ramp. Those in the float tubes were casting for trout. We watched them until they were shadows under a full moon.
I came home and transferred the technology to crappie water, where it proved particularly effective in April, when the tasty panfish move into shallow water near shore cover to spawn. A float tube, or belly boat, provides portability, stealth and accessibility to fish for a small price. Tubes start at around $100. Find them at Bass Pro Shops, basspro.com; Cabela’s, cabelas.com; or in the sporting goods section of nearly every big box store and most sporting goods specialty shops. Try one for crappie, and don’t forget to wear a life jacket. But watch out for powerboats. You’ll be invisible to them.
Looking for a place to fish? Public waters flow far and wide. A good source for where fish swim is the annual fishing forecast produced by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Find a copy online by visiting fw.ky.gov, select “Fish” on the pull-down menu at the top of the page, and click on “Forecast,” or call the state game agency at 1-800-858-1549.
Readers may contact Gary Garth at editor@kentuckymonthly.com