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Traditionally, crappie are pressured heavily in the spring during the spawn. But the last two winters, anglers have enjoyed excellent crappie fishing with frequent limits and many fish ranging in length from 11 to 14 inches.
“Recruitment (spawn) three to five years ago was excellent, so our numbers are up,” said Greg Stoner, MDC Fisheries Management Biologist. “We’ve also had some very good shad spawns and that added to the crappie’s growth rate."
Stoner doesn’t believe all parts of the lake are producing larger fish. For instance, areas in the upper Big Niangua have only produced average-sized fish.
“One reason anglers have been so successful this winter is probably because of the warmer-than-usual water temperature. It has remained in the mid to upper 40s until recently, causing the fish to stay shallower than usual,” Stoner said.
Crappie are Missouri’s second most popular gamefish, no doubt because of their availability and delicate, tasty fillets. More importantly, anglers can catch them with a modest investment in tackle from the shore, docks or from boats.
According to Wikipedia, the name “crappie” (pronounced CROP-ee) is derived from the French-Canadian word “crapet-soleil,” meaning “sunfish.” But they may have more regional names than any other fish with colorful monikers like bar fish, calico bass, grassback, John Demon, lamplighter, papermouths, slabs, strawberry bass, specks or speckled bass, speckled perch, sac-a-lait (which roughly translates as "sack of milk"), timber perch and tinmouth.
Like largemouth bass, crappie only come in a freshwater version and are members of the sunfish family. There are two versions, however. The most common in our area is the white crappie, less common is the black crappie.
White crappie have eight to 10 vertical broken bars on their sides with five or six spines in the dorsal and anal fins. During the spawn, males ‘dress for the event’ by turning darker and are often mistaken for black crappie.
Black crappie have dark spots on their sides that are scattered or may appear in indistinct horizontal rows, not in vertical rows, and have seven or eight spines in the dorsal fin. In clear and Tamarac colored water, their spots appear iridescent with a greenish hue.
“I am seeing more black crappie each year,” said Stoner.
He believes the trend of clearer water at our lake is contributing to the numbers of black crappie.
“Black crappie seem to like the clearer water while white crappie do very nicely in off colored water,” he added.
Traditionally, crappie are pressured heavily in the spring during the spawn. But the last two winters, anglers have enjoyed excellent crappie fishing with frequent limits and many fish ranging in length from 11 to 14 inches.
“Recruitment (spawn) three to five years ago was excellent, so our numbers are up,” said Greg Stoner, MDC Fisheries Management Biologist. “We’ve also had some very good shad spawns and that added to the crappie’s growth rate."
Stoner doesn’t believe all parts of the lake are producing larger fish. For instance, areas in the upper Big Niangua have only produced average-sized fish.
“One reason anglers have been so successful this winter is probably because of the warmer-than-usual water temperature. It has remained in the mid to upper 40s until recently, causing the fish to stay shallower than usual,” Stoner said.
Crappie are Missouri’s second most popular gamefish, no doubt because of their availability and delicate, tasty fillets. More importantly, anglers can catch them with a modest investment in tackle from the shore, docks or from boats.
According to Wikipedia, the name “crappie” (pronounced CROP-ee) is derived from the French-Canadian word “crapet-soleil,” meaning “sunfish.” But they may have more regional names than any other fish with colorful monikers like bar fish, calico bass, grassback, John Demon, lamplighter, papermouths, slabs, strawberry bass, specks or speckled bass, speckled perch, sac-a-lait (which roughly translates as "sack of milk"), timber perch and tinmouth.
Like largemouth bass, crappie only come in a freshwater version and are members of the sunfish family. There are two versions, however. The most common in our area is the white crappie, less common is the black crappie.
White crappie have eight to 10 vertical broken bars on their sides with five or six spines in the dorsal and anal fins. During the spawn, males ‘dress for the event’ by turning darker and are often mistaken for black crappie.
Black crappie have dark spots on their sides that are scattered or may appear in indistinct horizontal rows, not in vertical rows, and have seven or eight spines in the dorsal fin. In clear and Tamarac colored water, their spots appear iridescent with a greenish hue.
“I am seeing more black crappie each year,” said Stoner.
He believes the trend of clearer water at our lake is contributing to the numbers of black crappie.
“Black crappie seem to like the clearer water while white crappie do very nicely in off colored water,” he added.
Ed Bryant is one of the lake’s premier crappie anglers, pursuing them for fun and by competing in local, regional, and national crappie tournaments. Among his accomplishments is a seventh place finish at the Missouri State Championship on Truman Lake last year.
The Lake Sun asked Bryant for some tips on catching crappie in the winter.
“I am a dock fisherman; I generally start out around docks with isolated brush under the dock. If that doesn’t pan out I move away from the docks,” said Bryant.
His presentation technique doesn’t involve fixed or slip bobbers or live bait, preferring to use jigs almost exclusively.
He mainly uses three presentation techniques — traditional casting, vertical jigging but his favorite is what he calls a drift cast. “I make a short underhand pitch and allow the jig to drift down (as though it were a pendulum) until it is under the boat,” said Bryant.
If he finds fish inside the brush instead of on top or alongside, he switches to a vertical presentation.
“I drop the jig all the way to the bottom then work it up a foot at a time. Most anglers start at the top and work down but I have more success doing the opposite,” said Bryant.
He uses Okuma’s 5 1/2 or 6 foot ultralight rod, switching on rare occasions to a 7 ½ or 8 foot rod. He pairs the rod with Okuma’s ultralight reel and spools it with Vicious Hi-Vis yellow monofilament line. Bryant uses four to six pound test line for fun fishing or if ice is forming along the shoreline and eight to 10 pound test for tournament fishing.
His jighead of choice is a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce round ball head with a gold colored hook.
“I don’t like a jig with a weedguard, I believe they interfere with a hookset. If I get hung up and the jig breaks off, that’s just part of crappie fishing,” said Bryant.
He keeps tail dressings simple, believing there are numerous soft plastics in the one to two inch range that are very productive. Some favorites are Bobby Garland’s Baby Shad or Slab Slay’R and Jack Stevens Slab Buster.
“I might add a Berkley Crappie Nibble but otherwise the basic soft plastic tails do the job,” said Bryant.
Based on the above information, there is no need to wait until the spawn for some tasty crappie fillets – just practice good safety measures when fishing in the wintertime.
