The Most Popular Panfish Of This Or Any Other Time

According to Lewis, the fall run generally starts when water temperatures fall to about 60F, usually in mid-October. "The shiners move inshore then, and both species of crappies enter harbors and also swim up most of the tributary streams, mixing with steelhead in the early part of the fall run.

"We don't understand the dynamics of this fall movement. Sometimes you catch all white crappie, sometimes all black, and sometimes a mixed bag. The size of the fall run also varies from year to year. But what's consistent is for smaller fish to start the run. The slabs follow later -- good numbers of 15- and 16-inch fish. In fact, the Ohio record crappie was caught in the Vermilion River. Other top spots are Lorain Harbor, Edgewater Harbor, Sandusky Bay, and Marblehead.

"There's tremendous opportunity for bank anglers or those with small boats. In spring and fall, the countless boat slips are empty and you can fish the dock systems, along with breakwalls and piers."

We also know of excellent spring and fall crappie fishing in Lake St. Clair. There are reports that some bays and ports on lakes Michigan and Ontario offer good opportunities, too, and it's likely that enterprising anglers can discover nearly unfished populations in areas where other gamefish have traditionally been sought. From Duluth Harbor at the west end of Lake Superior to the St. Lawrence River at the downstream end of the Great Lakes, you may find a fall and spring bite.

Northeast: Across New England and the Mid-Atlantic states north of Virginia, crappie remain a minor species, not a target of most anglers and not a priority for fishery managers. In these coastal states with great saltwater fishing opportunities, trout are the traditional favorites of sweetwater anglers, though bass fishing challenges salmonids for the top slot in several states. Most panfish anglers target yellow perch, sunfish, and bullheads.

Perhaps as a result, fishing can be super in many of the countless small weedy lakes of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and central New York. Abundant large black crappie are primarily targeted by ice fishermen during the relatively short winter season.

Ponds: Roger Bullock, an avid crappie chaser now living in Arkansas, notes that private waters may hold the best promise and points to the new Missouri record black crappie, a 5-pounder caught in April as evidence.

CRAPPIE TOURNAMENTS

Organized crappie events began around 1983, when Johnson Outdoors began holding Crappiethon competitions on popular waters across the eastern U.S. They ran through 1995 when the American Crappie Association, also known as Crappie USA, purchased Crappiethon. Crappie USA is the largest crappie organization today, with over 4,000 members in all states of the U.S.

except Hawaii, according to the President, Darrell VanVactor. Membership is $20 per year, which includes a subscription to Crappie Journal, the association's publication.

"Our crappie tournaments are family-oriented and less intense than bass competitions," VanVactor notes. "We have divisions for husband-wife teams and anglers 16 and under, plus an Amateur Division and Semi-Pro Division. At each tournament, we sponsor a Crappie USA Kids Rodeo for local youth, and encourage single parents to bring kids to learn about fishing. We also provide scholarships for youth, totaling around $250,000 since 1996.

"For competition, our Cabela's Crappie USA Classic, scheduled for fall 2007 on Grenada Lake in Mississippi, will have a field of 204 teams and pay $175,000 in prize money. At all our events, we impose a 7-fish limit for 2-person teams, and fish must be alive to count. We release all fish after weigh-in. Many of the anglers have been using the big, round, KeepAlive livewell with the oxygen infusor system, made by LiveBait Technologies in Tennessee."

Crappie USA events are regularly held in at least 15 states, from Chautauqua Lake in New York to East Toho in Florida through Perry Lake in Kansas and Eufaula in Oklahoma. Other regional crappie associations also hold tournaments, including Midwest Crappie, Buckeye Crappie Challenge, Crappie Unlimited, based in Alabama; Crappie Busters of Kansas, Crappie Anglers in Atlanta, and more. In all the events, teams often comprise brothers, husbands and wives, or father-son combos, supporting the family orientation of crappie tournament competition.