Articles

Transition to SummerOn the way out of spawning areas, back toward the main lake, crappies move across flats and tend to hold on or near the first major...View article

Crappie fishing and the rites of spring go hand in hand. When crappie fishing peaks, the dogwoods are in bloom and forsythia are bright gold. Wildflowers punctuate the gray forests and the songbirds...View article

Building a dam across a low area creates a pond if the watershed and soil type are adequate. The dam backs up runoff, forming a pond from 1 to 50 or more acres. Ponds typically are deepest near the...View article

A reservoir is a body of water impounded behind a dam on a river. When the dam is completed, water floods the terrestrial landscape, covering marshes, plains, forests, road beds—even houses and barns,...View article

Rivers come in many sizes and shapes, provide habitat for many fish species. Different stretches of the same river can have contrasting personalities, producing entirely different aquatic flora and...View article

Obviously, no two lakes are exactly alike. Broadly, though, all can be classified into one of three environmental age groups: Oligotrophic (young, in geologic terms), mesotrophic (middle-aged), and...View article

Classifying lake, river, and reservoir types is important because crappies in hill-land reservoirs in the South behave much the same as crappies in hill-land reservoirs in the North, East, or West....View article

A. Crappies can spawn without cover, but thick cover draws large concentrations of fish. As a rule, cover is weeds in lakes and wood in reservoirs. Reservoirs with abundant vegetation function like...View article

Recruitment is the process whereby fish are added to a catchable population. The number of eggs produced doesn’t determine how many crappies will be available to fishermen in the next generation. After...View article

Winter or Frozen-water PeriodWater Temperature: Coldest of the yearGeneral Fish Mood: Neutral In far northern waters, Winter or Frozen-Water...View article

Turnover PeriodWater Temperature: 60°F to low50°F rangeGeneral Fish Mood: Negative Many lakes stratify by temperature in...View article

Summer Peak PeriodWater Temperature: Mid- to upper 70°F rangeGeneral Fish Mood: Positive During the Summer Peak, weeds have arrived...View article

The Prespawn PeriodSurface temperatures: 50°F to 63°FGeneral fish mood: Neutral to positiveAs the water warms, the focus of crappies shifts...View article

As the seasons change, so do the attitudes and environmental needs of fish. With the passing seasons, crappies alter many things, including type of diet, activity levels, location, even behavior. But...View article

Water clarity—what is it and how does it affect walleye fishing? Lakes, rivers, and reservoirs can vary in water clarity from crystal clear to root beer dark. Understandably, water clarity has several...View article